News and Journalism are not synonyms

Adam Tinworth
Adam Tinworth

vanityfeature My most recent bugbear has been the confusion between “news” and “journalism” in the online debate about the future of our industry. As I see it, news is a subset of journalism, but not the entirety of it. But then, as a former features editor, I would say that, wouldn’t I? 🙂

I was reminded of this over lunch, most of which I spent reading this feature from Vanity Fair: The Case of the Vanishing Blonde, linked by Kottke.

It’s not, by any standards, news. The core facts and events were reported a while back. But it is a great piece of journalism. Compelling reading, telling a great story that’s factual. It’s great, compelling feature writing. (And yes, I did read it on a screen…) Great journalism, in other words.

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Adam is a lecturer, trainer and writer. He's been a blogger for over 20 years, and a journalist for more than 30. He lectures on audience strategy and engagement at City, University of London.

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