by Saman Indrajith
Writing a handbook for a profession of public and social occupation is not easy and this is true for the profession of journalism which is considered an occupation that both supports and sustains the credibility of the decision-making system and drives its functions.
Compiling a handbook for media professionals is hard because it can never be a completed task owing to many practical reasons including the difficulty of providing a clear-cut, all-agreed definition of what journalism is. It has been defined as a job, an art and a profession among many others.
Yet there are a number of handbooks for journalists and some of them have come to attention having been prescribed for the courses of study by various journalism schools both local and foreign. The most recent handbook for journalists was released last week by the Federation of Media Employees’ Trade Union (FMETU), an affiliate of the Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI) and the local member of the International Federation of Journalists.