TV vs. Print Journalism for Reporting Accuracy

Which is More Accurate? Newspaper or Television Journalism

Nov 2, 2009

Let's discuss the differences between newspaper journalism and television journalism for reporting accuracy.

Print journalism and television journalism are not exactly rivals, as many companies do both. However, they are certainly both aiming to have the largest audience, and in order to do this they must convey the latest stories and get as accurate as possible. The accuracy of each is in part due to the different styles of reporting, which are examined below.

Newspaper Reporting – Investigative Journalism in Print

Journalists who write newspaper stories may have several hours, days and even weeks to compose a story for the paper. While many newspaper journalists have a fresh story on a daily basis, it’s true that they can spend as much time as necessary going over the story and ensuring that it’s the best it can be. Therefore, newspapers tend to focus on the entire story rather than just one or two small aspects. The story is reported, and then follow-ups are done as necessary. Sometimes, bits of the original story are reprinted to keep facts fresh in readers’ minds.

Television Reporting – Investigative Journalism on TV

Television journalists report in a very different way. Most have a few hours to find details for their stories before they are on air, giving those details to the public. Rather than focusing on an entire story at a time, television journalists typically focus on one aspect of the story and report on that. For instance, if a murder case has made national news, a newspaper may do the entire story while the television journalists pick up on one aspect – such as a hair found at the crime scene. The television journalists will dissect this one aspect, and the focus will be on reporting the facts only rather than a larger background on the story.

Television reporters may follow up on their stories over the internet, providing more of a background and information about the story.

While newspaper and television reporters both strive to be as accurate as possible, the fact remains that neither one can be right one hundred percent of the time. Whether one is more accurate than the other is unknown – and studies must be done in order to determine that for sure. However, newspaper stories are more likely to be seasoned with opinions while television stories are typically told with a fair and balanced objectivity. The facts are more relevant than the reporter’s opinion in this case.

While television reporters may have their opinions, their audiences trust them to bring the facts so that the viewers can make up their own minds. If a television reporter fills his or her story with personal opinions and angles the story to be advantageous of one side or another – it is not fair and balanced reporting. Of course, this all depends on the particular news outlet as well. Certain magazines lean to one side or the other, while most newspapers try to be as fair and balanced as possible. The same goes for certain news shows – many of them lead toward a particular side.

With all of these factors coming into play, it’s difficult to tell which news outlet is more accurate, but the general consensus is that television journalism focuses mostly on facts only.

Additional Resources

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