Academic Writing Vs Journalistic Writing!

I scored a 58/100 on my first assignment in my master’s after joining the university in the UK. The minute I saw the score, I went blank and didn’t know how to react. I was sure I did the assignment well. The comments from the professor read: “…Though you have explained and analysed the topic well, your writing style is not academic but journalistic. Use references when and where required.” After almost eight months here, I can say I quite understood the requirements for academic writing, but if you ask me if I have mastered it to score a distinction, it’s a no! So, I thought I will come up with differences between the two styles and why a journalist might find it challenging to write academic writing. Different writing styles: Academic writing and journalistic writing have different conventions. For a broad audience, journalists are taught to write in a clear, interesting, and accessible style. The method needed for academic writing, on the other hand, is often more formal and organised, with a focus on intellectual discourse, research, and supporting evidence. Tone and voice: Journalistic writing often uses a persuasive and subjective tone to grab readers’ attention and evoke strong feelings. However, academic writing is typically more unbiased, objective, and focused on presenting information and analysis in a reasoned and evidence-based way.Sources and citations: A key component of academic writing is the use of reliable sources, which must all be properly cited. Journalists also rely on sources, although they frequently value timeliness and breaking news over in-depth citations in their reporting. Therefore, completing in-depth research, analysing academic sources, and incorporating them into academic writing can be challenging and time-consuming for journalists.

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