INVESTING IN YOURSELF: ENTREPRENEURIAL JOURNALISM IN THE DIGITAL AGE by Maggie Reid Master of Information, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2012 Bachelor of Arts, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2009 A dissertation presented to Ryerson University and York University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Joint Program in Communication and Culture Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2018 ©Maggie Reid, 2018 AUTHOR’S DECLARATION FOR ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION OF A DISSERTATION I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this dissertation. This is a true copy of the dissertation, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I authorize Ryerson University to lend this dissertation to other institutions or individuals for the purpose of scholarly research. I further authorize Ryerson University to reproduce this dissertation by photocopying or by other means, in total or in part, at the request of other institutions or individuals for the purpose of scholarly research. I understand that my dissertation may be made electronically available to the public. ii Investing in Yourself: Entrepreneurial Journalism in the Digital Age Maggie Reid, PhD, Communication and Culture Ryerson University, 2018 Abstract This dissertation is grounded in a Critical Political Economy of communication theoretical framework in conjunction with extensive, qualitative interviews with eighteen emerging journalists, three journalism educators from different types of journalism schools (academic, vocational, hybrid) and four editors from different types of news organizations (legacy, public broadcaster, digital first media) in order to navigate between institutional structures and the agency of individual actors. This work examines how the current structural configurations of the news media industry are impacting how emerging journalists negotiate the expectations that they develop personal brands online, including their perceived control and autonomy over their work. It also aims to understand how journalistic training and hiring practices in news media organizations are changing given the financial uncertainty of the industry. The death of the advertising business model, the increasingly precarious nature of the journalism workforce, and an increased reliance on social networking sites for distribution, referred to as the ‘new media environment’, are shaping the way news is produced and the ways in which emerging journalists are able to achieve paid employment. iii This dissertation presents an original inquiry into the online brand building and professionalization practices of emerging journalists. This study finds that as journalists are increasingly required to personally brand themselves and act as entrepreneurs, the governing values of the profession and the work of doing journalism has changed greatly. It was found that the notion of journalistic autonomy is complex and contradictory as journalists prefer the freedoms that are afforded from working in a freelance capacity but are also compelled to use social networking sites for professionalization and must engage in self-promotion and personal branding. The findings further demonstrate that emerging journalists must undergo layers of what the researcher refers to as visibility labour, which refers to the layers of unpaid labour, the processes of self-commodification and personal branding that emerging journalists must undertake to promote themselves, gain recognition and build audiences around themselves in attempts to build a sustainable career and resist precarity. This dissertation considers policy responses and proposes ways forward for the news industry, journalism education, and for journalists themselves. iv Acknowledgements When people say it takes a village, it is not hyperbole. In a world where we often celebrate achievements in life as belonging to individuals alone, what of those that surrounded the individual, supported the individual, enabled them? I consider myself extremely lucky to have such a strong support network. Each person mentioned here in various ways has helped me to achieve this milestone and I am extremely grateful for all of you in more ways than I can express here. To my PhD supervisory committee, Dr. Greg Elmer, Dr. David Skinner and Dr. Jeremy Schtern, thank you for always pushing me to be a better scholar and for guiding me with your expertise. Your meticulous feedback has made me a better researcher and your commitment to public interest media policy has shaped the way I think about communications in Canada and around the world. Greg, thank you for your ideas and your support with this project. I would not have made it this far without you! To Alan Sears, your commitment to your students and supporting other academics is something I aspire to. I am so lucky to have met you and worked with you. Your encouragement and mentorship kept me going more than you know. To Tonya Davidson, Stephen Muzzatti, Melanie Knight, and Stephen Scheps; you all were more than professors I worked for, you were people I wanted to have a beer with. You were people who supported me along this journey, as well as facilitated and improved my teaching and research. Thank you for everything. v To my partner, Michael Darlington, you have really been there through it all. You have been my ultimate hype person. Thank you for always being on my side, making meals for me, talking me through my ideas, debating with me and always believing I could do this. To my parents (Tom and Ginny), who have supported my educational journey both financially and emotionally over the years. Despite some hiccups along the way, you always had my back and are always willing to listen to me drone on about my research. To my siblings (Theresa, Katie, Sheila and Tommy), you all have been my biggest supporters and always in my court as I navigated this terrain. I have so much respect for each of you on your individual paths in life and I love you all so much. To Emilia Zboralska, from meeting on the first day of our PhD to becoming such close friends, to starting a company together, you have always been so positive and supportive. I am very grateful that we met. To my grease fire girls (Catherine, Megan, Michelle, Katie), thank you for putting up with me and keeping me sane over the years. I am so lucky to have a group of strong, supportive and smart women in my life who want to make the world less shitty than it is now. Finally, I am deeply grateful for the support I received from the Ontario Graduate Scholarship, the Edward S. Rogers Sr. Graduate School Fellowship, the family vi of Liss Jeffrey, and the Canadian Media Research Consortium. Without their support, this research would not have been possible. vii Table of Contents AUTHOR’S DECLARATION FOR ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION OF A DISSERTATION .... ii Abstract .......................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................... v Chapter 1- Introduction ...................................................................................................1 Context ................................................................................................................................... 4 Theoretical Frame: Critical Political Economy of Communications ........................................ 12 Literature Review ................................................................................................................... 15 Journalistic Identity ............................................................................................................ 16 Brand Culture .................................................................................................................... 19 Digital Labour .................................................................................................................... 25 Chapters................................................................................................................................ 35 Chapter 2- Research Design and Methodology ............................................................39 Sample .................................................................................................................................. 44 Emerging Journalists ......................................................................................................... 44 Journalism Educators ......................................................................................................... 47 Editors at News Media Organizations ................................................................................ 48 Generalizability .................................................................................................................. 49 Semi-structured Interviews ................................................................................................. 50 Coding............................................................................................................................... 51 Ethics..................................................................................................................................... 53 Chapter 3- A Political Economy of the Canadian News Media Landscape ....................54 Trends Towards Corporate Convergence.............................................................................