I am introducing a new group to Shadowrun. A couple of the players have played a little with older versions, but they are all experienced role-players. One of the characters wants to make a character that is something of a journalist that is running the shadows to get a feel for the underside of society and to see what stories the world should hear about.

That being said, what skill would you use for the journalistic/creative writing? Artisan is what I see in the main book, but I don't know if it's quite right.

Now, a skill like this would mostly be used to see how well the article is put together and possibly how well it was received. The main reason for the actual skill is to represent what the character actually knows. That being said, I could also see it being something of a knowledge skill.

I'm curious to see how some of you would approach this.

Definitely go for knowledge skill (journalism), since it hasnt any big effect in game altogether.

How about Journalism Studies as an Academic Knowledge Skill and Artisan (Writing) as the Active (Specialization) Skill? The Active Skill could be used to determine the general quality of writing, and the Knowledge Skill the impact of the piece.

You could go with new active skill Journalism, would fit better then the uber general artisan skill.
Yes, the skill doesn't have much uses, but it's not like there aren't quite a few other skills that are mostly for character fluff in the game allready.
I mean for a journalist character, this skill will come up much more often then skills like riding or parashooting(but this one is really nice to have if it does ever gome up ) do to most characters in most campaigns.

I'd go with
Professional Knowledge skill: Journalist
Academic Knowledge skill: Journalism

The AK:J tells him how to write, while PS:J tells him how to survive and succeed.

^^^ This, but I'd call the specialisation "Journalism". ^^^

This, along with maybe a few other knowledge skills to reflect past work and/or interests the writer has (a political journalist? economic?, etc.), and with the Artisan (Writing) skill as well so the character has a practical way to apply the knowledge skills into something tangible.

It seems that a combination of Active and Knowledge skills seems to be the overall consensus. Instead of creating a new Journalism skill, which does make sense, I think I'll go with the Artisan: Journalism specialization and corresponding Knowledge skills.

Thanks for the input.

I think I'd do Artisan (Writing) based on the breadth of the specializations listed (Carpentry, Guitars, Painting, Sculpture) but that's just me

Depending on the intent of the journalism, I'd probably go with charisma linked skills. If it's a scaremonger piece, use intimidation, if it's a fabrication, use con, etc. Use the charisma modifiers table to consider what effect it might have on the people reading it. Negotiation is used when trying to get payment from your employer (or advertisers), if you're doing a piece by contract. I would say knowledge skills dictate what he can write about off the top of his head, with little research, just references and fact checking. Data search is used to research articles and find sources. The positive quality that gives a bonus to matrix social tests might apply. I can't imagine rolling for a good article would be that much fun. The fun would be in squeezing the truth out of a contact, or getting in the right position for that photograph that proves it all. As long as you don't get all tangled up in a comm hacking scandal, those are the things that get him paid and laid. Artisan? Not so much, leave that to the art department.

I imagine writing an article would require meeting GM set thresholds to indicate time spent, in a range of skill rolls and legwork. It's all very specific to GM/situation. Ask the players what sort journalistic activities would be fun to do in game and consider how they might turn into plot hooks.