Journalism is scientific because it observes the rules of science. Science is more of a practical discipline than it is theory. Journalism is less theoretical, and its practical aspect follows certain laid procedures in an established sequence. This makes it a process. As science follows the same procedures in much the same order, therefore, it follows logically that journalism is scientific.
Journalism as a process revolves around people and their activities, hence, it is directly related to sociology. Sociology is a science. It studies the human being, his social interactions and culture. For the human to be a fully fledged being, he has to interact with fellow humans. As the saying goes, that “Iron sharpens iron”, so indeed no human can live in solitude.
Journalists work with people either when disseminating to or tapping information from the public. They need to know the kind of people they are interacting with in order to be familiar with their culture. This helps to get their news or programmes across. Knowing the audience or the people who will provide news, however, is a process which follows some kind of procedure; hence journalism and sociology are closely related.
Sociology as a science, looks at the human being, the group, the organization, the community, and the culture. In order to study the individual and the subsequent levels of human groupings, there is an aspect of science. First, there are the terms used. There are the clearly defined terms used in the study. It also identifies the problem and defines it. By trying to define the problem, one analyses it in order to understand it better. Then a hypothesis is made. After that, data collection follows. Data is analyzed in order to prove the hypothesis positively or negatively. After that, conclusion is made. Following the drawing of the conclusion, more data is collected to establish the clear cut disparities. Lastly, theories are made as a product of all this process. This, then makes sociology to be a science.
As sociology is reflected in journalism, a journalist needs to equip him or herself with knowledge of the society in which he or she is working. Before preparing a news article or carrying out an interview, whether it be in the print or electronic media, one has to be conversant with the morals of the society or his particular audience. To acquire this knowledge, a journalist has to study the society. When a problem arises in this society, the journalist will first of all identify the right vocabulary or terms to use in communicating with his or her audience. This will help him to be in line with the society’s morals and ethics when reporting on the issue. Then the problem will be identified and defined. The journalist also makes an assumption of what the problem really is. He or she will now collect data, as their next step to prove or disapprove his or her hypothesis. The data is analyzed, after which, the conclusions are made. In journalism, data can be collected through observation, examinations, interviews, and questionnaire or through discussions. Going through all his process, one looks at the empirical nature of journalism and deductively concludes that it is scientific.
