Masterclasses – Genres & formats

In little over a century, journalism has developed classic genres: interviews, reports, investigations, press cartoons, editorials and even columns. There are also specialisations: economic, judicial, political, sports and many other types of journalism. The dazzling technological developments of the last two decades have revolutionised the media and their formats. Writing no longer involves paper, radio is no longer dependent on the airwaves, and so is television. Photojournalism enables live images to be transmitted. These very varied distribution channels are conducive to the emergence of hybrid formats: web-documentaries, blogs, multimedia reports. The technical revolution is also bringing the “live” audiovisual debate within reach of mobile phones (Skype, Zoom, Facebook Live, etc.), with the risk of confusion for the “citizen journalist” (i.e. not a journalist) between the tool and the profession.