PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY IN CHANGING MEDIA LANDSCAPES JournalismJournalism EducationEducation inin Sweden,Sweden, Russia, Poland, Estonia and Finland Karin Stigbrand & Gunnar Nygren JOURNALISTIKSTUDIERJOURNALISTIKSTUDIER VIDVID SÖDERTÖRNS HÖGSKOLA 6 JOURNALISMJOURNALISM STUDIESSTUDIES 66 SÖDERTÖRN UNIVERSITY PREVIOUS PUBLISHED TITLES 1. Gunnar Nygren, Journalist - och sen då? (2010) 2. Norwald, Wicklén, Hellström, Hansson & Forsstedt, Ständig deadline, multimedia och twitter (2011) 3. Kristina Lundgren & Birgitta Ney, Pennskaft, reportrar, tidningskvinnor (2011) 4. Gunnar Nygren (ed.), Journalism in Russia, Poland and Sweden - Traditions, cultures and research (2012) 5. Annika Hamrud, Intervjuer mot väggen (2012) PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY IN CHANGING MEDIA LANDSCAPES Journalism Education in Sweden, Russia, Poland, Estonia and Finland Karin Stigbrand & Gunnar Nygren JOURNALISTIKSTUDIER VID SÖDERTÖRNS HÖGSKOLA 6 JOURNALISM STUDIES 6 SÖDERTÖRN UNIVERSITY Södertörns högskola SE-141 89 Huddinge www.sh.se/journalistik © Karin Stigbrand & Gunnar Nygren Cover: Jonathan Robson Design: Per Lindblom & Jonathan Robson Printed by: Elanders, Stockholm 2013 Journalistikstudier vid Södertörns högskola 6 Journalism Studies 6, Södertörn University ISBN: 978-91-979140-5-5 Abstract The aim of this comparative research project is to investigate academic programmes in journalism in relation to models of journalism and professional values. Five countries are included: Russia (Moscow State University), Finland (University of Jyväskylä), Estonia (University of Tartu), Poland (University of Warsaw) and Sweden (Södertörn Uni- versity). Research questions – Teachers perspectives. Knowledge and Professional Values in the Edu- cation? Reflections on the role of journalism in society? Autonomy of Journalists? Cooperation with the Industry? – Studies in Journalism – in the eyes of the students. Future careers in journalism? Labour market? Professional identity? The role of journal- ism in society? Reflections on the programmes? Method Official documents, curricula and descriptions of courses give the context. Qualitative interviews with altogether 40 teachers have been analyzed. A survey of 527 journalism students (157 from Sweden/ Södertörn, 141 from Russia/ Moscow, 145 from Poland/Warsaw, 47 from Estonia/Tartu and 31 from Finland/Jyväskylä) shows how the students see their future role. Results Opposing demands characterize the programmes in journalism at all the universities. They exist in a dynamic interface between prevailing aca- demic traditions, the media industry and the political establishment. Ideological shifts are especially dramatic in the post-Communist countries. The similarities in some responses suggest a convergence of perceptions of journalism independent of national context. Keywords: Journalism, Journalism Education, Professional Identity, Media Systems. Contents Introduction 1 Journalism and Democracy 3 Journalism Education 9 Professional Identity 13 Changing Media Landscapes 21 Research Questions and Method 25 Interviews with teachers 26 Moscow State University 28 University of Warsaw 29 University of Tartu 29 University of Jyväskylä 29 Södertörn University 30 Student survey 31 Research sample 33 Validity and reliability 34 Teachers’ Perspectives 37 Who are the teachers? 37 Journalism in the Academy 37 Reflections on Praxis 46 Cooperation with the Industry 63 Relation to the Government 70 Contacts with journalists’ unions 74 Journalism in society 78 Professional identity 81 Contributors 87 Studies in Journalism - in the eyes of the students 95 The social profile of the students 95 Three dimensions of motivations 98 Professional Identity - competences and character 102 Journalistic values and ideals 105 Journalism in society 108 Journalism education and the future as journalist 112 Journalism studies as a road to other areas 115 Similarities and differences 118 Journalism Education – between academy, industry and politics 121 Conclusions 122 Further International Cooperation 133 References 137 Appendix 1 Teachers in the study 143 Appendix 2 Interview guide 151 Appendix 3 Student survey 153 Appendix 4 The Tartu Declaration 2013 173 Introduction The aim of this comparative research project is to investigate program- mes in journalism in relation to models of journalism and professional values in Russia (Moscow State University), Finland (University of Jyväskylä), Estonia (University of Tartu), Poland (University of Warsaw) and Sweden (Södertörn University). The countries have been chosen because they represent media systems and journalistic cultures in transition. The universities have a strong position and a tradition of international cooperation in the field of journalism research. The focus is to see how teachers and students understand the future role of journalists in their respective countries. The first steps in this project were taken in 2010. We contacted the various universities that were to be involved in the study. Our partners in this project were to be Maria Lukina in Moscow, Raimo Salokangas at Jyväskylä, Halliki Harro-Loit at Tartu and Dominika Rafalska/Marcin Larcynski in Warsaw. Just like us, they were interested in professional values and the differences and similarities between the programmes. Our colleagues in our own department at Södertörn University in Sweden were given the same information as the other universities. We stressed that the idea was to shed light on the historical background to current practices and to document how different elements of the pro- grammes were related. At the same time we noticed that the point of departure could be found in our shared challenges in the media land- scape: the democratic role in relation to technological developments, the increasing difficulty of defining the role of the journalist, the global deluge of news, the diminishing advertising revenues of the media com- panies and the desperate search for new business models. The study is based on earlier research and discussions about jour- nalism education as the “agent for change” (Josephi 2009, 2012). Changes in what direction? Who are the driving forces in the academic 1 PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY IN CHANGING MEDIA LANDSCAPES world? How do teachers and administrators balance the opinions of the sector and the commitment of the state with their own personal con- victions and their students’ wishes? Josephi (2010) voices a need for research into programmes in jour- nalism that have a broader approach than the focus on the countries normally studied in western media research. Our study is one step in this direction. Is homogenization of future journalists taking place, so that both the skills required and the ideals and values are merging. How do students view their future professional roles? Professional identity is a core concept. It has been the subject of sociological research since the days of Talcott Parsons (1964). The Swedish researcher Thomas Brante (2005, 2011) sums up views on professions in the following way: their members use skills based on theoretical knowledge, they have been trained in their field and have an official qualification. Shared codes of conduct guarantee profess- sional integrity. In addition, members share a sense of identity, com- mon values and a language. This is one way of defining the concept that is close to ours. In research on journalism studies of professionalization and editorial practice have sometimes been combined (Weaver et al. 2006). Journal- istic identity creates a culture that its members embrace. Everyday activities in the newsroom influence in their turn the professional identities of journalists (Hanitzsch 2009). In other words there is inter- action and mutual dependence. Our curiosity is based on this interplay. The report begins with a section on journalism and democracy as well as earlier research on programmes in journalism and the concept of professional identity. A brief review is offered of the development of the media in Europe. Research questions and methodological considerations are followed by the results of the study. We hope that this account can contribute to the discussion of aims in journalism education – and how to achieve them. Perhaps also enable some teachers to recognize themselves and discover new ways of relating to developments in the sector. 2 Journalism and Democracy Approaching academic programmes in journalism can be risky for a researcher. It is easy to be caught in the crossfire of opposing demands. Representatives of the sector do not recognize the requirements that are formulated in the different academic disciplines. Everyone can agree about technical skills needed, as well as quick thinking and responsive- ness to the audience. What more? Perhaps nothing? Barbie Zelizer (2004, 2009) claims that journalism can be found everywhere and now- here. The concept of journalist poses even greater difficulty. There is a professional core but the borders to adjacent fields are wide open. Researchers in journalism, communication, sociology, history, political science, language and the humanities identify and study various ele- ments of this indeterminate whole. Representatives of different programmes in journalism met in Paris in 2005 within the framework of a UNESCO initiative. The idea was to collect experiences and sketch the outline of a model for the education of future journalists – a model that could be used to develop indepen- dent journalism in countries with limited economic resources. The outcome, the report Model Curricula for Journalism Education