Journalism in Eberron - craft or profession?
- Thread starter Driddle
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Oni
First Post
My personal take is that writing is a craft, it's the skill you call upon to right well. If you wanted to do a news story then to get the information to write about the most appropriate thing would most likely be gather information. Of course if your just making up the news rather than going for the facts that doesn't matter as much.
I would argue a craft involves producing some physical thing from other things, like making horse shoes, or arrows.
A profession is perhaps more concerned with ideas and their application.
I conside writing (and thus journalism) to be a profession, not a craft. There is much more to being a journalist than simply writing. There is research and investigation involved. A journalist is like a detective who doesn't arrest people. Would a detective be considered a craft, or a profession? I would argue, profession.
Another way to look at it is that a craft is a mundane, physical pursuit, where as a profession is more cerebral.
A profession is perhaps more concerned with ideas and their application.
I conside writing (and thus journalism) to be a profession, not a craft. There is much more to being a journalist than simply writing. There is research and investigation involved. A journalist is like a detective who doesn't arrest people. Would a detective be considered a craft, or a profession? I would argue, profession.
Another way to look at it is that a craft is a mundane, physical pursuit, where as a profession is more cerebral.
Rodrigo Istalindir
Explorer
Profession. Presumably a journalist would have ranks in Profession (Journalist) that covered the mundane details, Craft (Writing) used when making DC checks for influence, etc (similar to a Perform check), and ranks in Gather Information, Diplomacy, etc., for when actually playing out investigating the story.
Craft
rofession::Writing:Journalist
Craft
rofession::Writing:Journalist
Timeboxer
Explorer
I'm going to have to concur with Deimodius. Functionally, in terms of making a living, Craft and Profession work the same way -- you earn half your check result in gold pieces per week. The difference is that with another application of Craft, you have some "raw materials," which have a monetary value, that you can transform into a "finished product." Newspaper articles, I gather, don't work that way, and so occupations that don't actually result in a saleable good probably are more suitable Professions.
I suppose if you really want, you can say, "Well, I'd like to make a masterwork news article!" but I don't think that's what Craft was intended to do.
I suppose if you really want, you can say, "Well, I'd like to make a masterwork news article!" but I don't think that's what Craft was intended to do.
Torm
Explorer
Both?
Raw reporting skill - just putting facts down in an orderly, understandable fashion - seems more like Knowledge (whatever), which is an INT skill.
Yellow journalism or entertainment writing seems more akin to Perform (storytelling), which is a WIS score.
So maybe it depends on what kind of journalist they are?
Raw reporting skill - just putting facts down in an orderly, understandable fashion - seems more like Knowledge (whatever), which is an INT skill.
Yellow journalism or entertainment writing seems more akin to Perform (storytelling), which is a WIS score.
So maybe it depends on what kind of journalist they are?
TwilightWhisper
First Post
I'm assuming you mean writing for the various newspapers all over Khorvaire.
Craft would be used for writing the articles which would result in promotion and readability. Profession with a high Craft would result in notoriety, local or national. Perform is for something physical like instruments, singing or stand-up comedy (something I want to do with my rogue).
Craft would be used for writing the articles which would result in promotion and readability. Profession with a high Craft would result in notoriety, local or national. Perform is for something physical like instruments, singing or stand-up comedy (something I want to do with my rogue).
Last edited:
Thanks for the feedback. Did some reasearch of my own.
Appropriately enough, even in our own reality, the journalism career definition is still hazy. This was clipped from a paper submitted to the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication for a conference in 1998 (byline, L.Demo). It's a delightful treatise with lots of nifty info and perspectives:
Craft or Profession?
ABSTRACT -- In the early 1990s, the courts issued conflicting rulings on three cases that asked whether newspaper journalists are professionals exempt from overtime pay under federal laws. The conflicting rulings can prove puzzling for newspaper managers who want to follow the law while also controlling newsroom payroll costs. This paper examines the professional orientation of journalists from sociological and legal perspectives and offers editors guidelines for how they can increase the professional orientation of their staffs. ...
http://list.msu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind9812a&L=aejmc&F=&S=&P=2772
Appropriately enough, even in our own reality, the journalism career definition is still hazy. This was clipped from a paper submitted to the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication for a conference in 1998 (byline, L.Demo). It's a delightful treatise with lots of nifty info and perspectives:
Craft or Profession?
ABSTRACT -- In the early 1990s, the courts issued conflicting rulings on three cases that asked whether newspaper journalists are professionals exempt from overtime pay under federal laws. The conflicting rulings can prove puzzling for newspaper managers who want to follow the law while also controlling newsroom payroll costs. This paper examines the professional orientation of journalists from sociological and legal perspectives and offers editors guidelines for how they can increase the professional orientation of their staffs. ...
http://list.msu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind9812a&L=aejmc&F=&S=&P=2772
As for game discussion...
Yeah, I agree that the gathering of information and related interactions with people would fall under the category of 'profession' for our purposes.
But as soon as you put those words on paper, rearrange them, shape them and hold them in your ink-stained hands, they become a product that would imply a craft skill instead. Fiction or fact-based news, shouldn't make a difference once you've got 400 words or so put on paper.
(And, yes, I believe you could produce a 'mastercraft' story ... assuming someone contracted the job for the right price.)
So I'm still undecided.
Ultimately, though, it probably wouldn't make a difference to the DM or anyone else at the table.
Yeah, I agree that the gathering of information and related interactions with people would fall under the category of 'profession' for our purposes.
But as soon as you put those words on paper, rearrange them, shape them and hold them in your ink-stained hands, they become a product that would imply a craft skill instead. Fiction or fact-based news, shouldn't make a difference once you've got 400 words or so put on paper.
(And, yes, I believe you could produce a 'mastercraft' story ... assuming someone contracted the job for the right price.)
So I'm still undecided.
Ultimately, though, it probably wouldn't make a difference to the DM or anyone else at the table.
Kid Charlemagne
I am the Very Model of a Modern Moderator
In D&D terms, it's definitely a Profession. Craft should apply to the making of things, from a physical point of view. Supplies are needed, while a journalist needs little in those terms. I know in real world terms, it's more in question - not that I really feel the term matters much; craft, art, profession - just about any kind of work can be any (or a combination thereof) of the three.
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