A raw file is close to what the sensor actually recorded, typically 12 or 14 bits per channel, with white balance, sharpening, and color treatment stored as instructions rather than baked in. A JPEG is the camera's finished interpretation: 8 bits per channel, processed, and compressed with loss.
The difference shows when you edit. Raw files hold recoverable detail in blown highlights and blocked shadows, tolerate large white balance shifts without artefacts, and survive aggressive grading. Push a JPEG the same distance and you get banding in skies, color breaking apart, and compression blocks surfacing in flat areas.
JPEG still wins on speed and size. Files are a fraction as large, need no processing step, and are ready to send instantly — which matters for news, sports, events, and any device built around immediacy. Many cameras shoot both simultaneously, giving a JPEG to share now and a raw to return to later, at the cost of card space.