Journalism is a discipline of writing. News-oriented journalism is sometimes described as the "first rough draft of history" (attributed to Phil Graham), because journalists often did record important events, however producing news articles on short deadlines. While under pressure to be first with their stories, news media organizations usually edit and proofread their reports prior to publication, adhering to each organization's standards of accuracy, quality, and style. Many news organizations claim proud traditions of holding government officials and institutions accountable to the public, while media critics have raised questions about holding the press itself accountable. Digitalization of news production and the diffusion capabilities of the internet are challenging the traditional journalistic professional culture.

The concept of participatory or citizen journalism proposes that amateur reporters can actually produce stories inside or outside professional media outlets, ending the information production monopoly of the press.

The news media refers to the section of the mass media that focuses on presenting current news to the public. These include print media (newspapers, magazines); broadcast media (radio stations, television stations, television networks), and increasingly Internet-based media (World Wide Web pages, weblogs).

Usually the term includes all working journalists and is often used by those who would make generalizations about the product of "most" journalists, for example that journalists who work for large media corporations, or who are based in New York City or Washington, D.C, harbor a liberal or conservative bias.

The term news trade refers to the concept of the news media as a business separate from, but integrally connected to, the profession of journalism.

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