What are the four types of journalism?

Plus, great stories and their characters and themes are likely to stick with you long after the facts themselves have faded from memory. Conversely, sometimes a good story can oversimplify the situation and pigeonhole people or concepts into categories such as the good guys vs. bad guys.

The newshound is focused on exposing facts that are hidden or unknown. Newshounds possess a relentless curiosity and drive that helps them constantly uncover new facts.

News has a tendency, however, of crowding out context. We tend to give outsized focus to novel information at the expense of known facts that might help us legitimately understand an issue better.

A systems analyst is someone who understands the world and explains it clearly. Systems analysts have a gift for sniffing out root causes, key trends, and important patterns that underpin a story. They pride themselves on cultivating genuine expertise, knowledge of a subject that lasts far beyond a news cycle.

That degree of authority can inspire a loyal audience, as folks find themselves coming back again and again to get the journalist's take on news developments.

Conversely, it can be difficult to write about systemic patterns in ways accessible to general audiences. It also takes time to foster a deep, genuine understanding of a subject; the metabolism of that process cuts against the demands of the continuous news cycle.

The provocateur reveals the many complex facets of the world. Provocateurs surface distinctive ideas and angles, disrupting the natural tendency of media types to exhibit herd behavior. They can motivate us to think in new ways about a topic or identify emerging trends or patterns worth watching.

Provocateurs are particularly good at posing questions, poking at conventional wisdom in a way that encourages us to think critically about it. Conversely, provocateurs have to be careful not to make too much out of outliers and exceptions.