journalist
Americannoun
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journalists
plural
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a person who practices the occupation or profession of journalism.
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a person who keeps a journal, diary, or other record of daily events.
noun
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a person whose occupation is journalism
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a person who keeps a journal
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of journalist
Explanation
A journalist is a person whose job involves writing nonfiction stories for newspapers, magazines, or online news sites. If you are reading or hearing a news story, you have a journalist to thank for providing that story. One type of journalist is a reporter, who researches topics and interviews people before writing a story or producing a piece for TV. Editors, photographers, and columnists can also be described as journalists, particularly if they work for a newspaper. Another kind of journalist is a person who regularly writes in a journal or diary. Journalist comes from the Old French jornel, "day" or "day's work," which became journal, "daily publication."
Vocabulary lists containing journalist
Journalism
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"Hip-Hop as Culture" and "I Am Somebody"
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocabulary for April 1–April 7, 2023
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
In a statement, Washington Post executive editor Matt Murray said Levine had been clearly identifiable as a journalist.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
When running for re-election in 2008, he told journalist P.J.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
Born and raised in the San Fernando Valley, the film critic, author and journalist has made a career out of celebrating her city.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
If you scroll through Twitter, you might encounter Tanden engaging in a testy back-and-forth with progressive journalist Mehdi Hasan.
From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2026
After meeting my parents and me, and talking to the doctors responsible, journalist Hugh Lunn wrote a feature that was published in the newspaper in May 1977.
From "Ugly" by Robert Hoge
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When they have been effective, they have managed to ride the choppier waves while also smoothing relations with the media - providing context for inquisitive journalists and helping tamp down any simmering issues.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
“I don’t expect this environment to begin to become significantly easier over the next few years,” Leiters told journalists last week as he unveiled a highly anticipated turnaround plan.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
Student activist Neha Bora was also detained and taken away in a bus by police as she was leading a march close to Central Park on Friday, AFP journalists witnessed.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
A few weeks before release, AFP got hands-on with the game at the Japanese giant's European headquarters in Frankfurt, alongside other journalists and content creators.
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026
Filipino journalists faced numerous challenges to publish their newspapers.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.