Journalism identity beyond professionalism: Perspectives from a society in transition
Understanding journalism identity is a key concern in making sense of journalists' norms, behaviour and self-perception. Especially in a semi-democratic society like Ethiopia, where strong tensions exist between actors on the public arena, insight into journalism identity is of interest because it provides further knowledge of how journalists perceive their roles within media organizations and as members of a wider society. Investigating journalism identity could, for instance, seek to unravel whether reporters and editors first and foremost see their allegiance as adhering to a professional journalism community, to the media organization, to owner expectations, or to society at large. Furthermore, an investigation of identity issues needs to examine the composition of identity (for instance personal vs. professional identity), including its internal conflicts, longitudinal changes and situational adjustments . In turn, an examination of journalism identity/ies could bring further understanding of topics like inconsistencies in professional behaviour, tensions in media organizations, and performance of the media in a given society.
What I attempt to do in this text is to map out what I consider to be the two major theoretical traditions concerning journalism identity, and on the basis of this suggest a theoretical framework that could inform my own research in relation to journalists in Ethiopian state media organizations. The theoretical framework has in turn implications for the methodological approach in the project. In terms of theoretical traditions of journalism identity, I concur with the view of several others (e.g. Zelizer, 1993; Tumber and Prentoulis, 2005) who identify two major frameworks: the first approaching journalists as professionals and the second approaching them more widely as members of interpretive communities. However, I do not agree that these traditions are dichotomous, as they are sometimes portrayed as. I believe some of their apparent contradictions are rather a result of different research purposes and what could be regarded as a predictable refinement of research focus throughout the decades. This is also underlined by some recent theoretical contributions which have proposed a return to more stringent sociological approaches with the view to disentangle the complexities of journalistic professionalism in today’s media society (e.g. Dickinson, 2007; Örnebring, 2009). In line with this, I will argue that my research project needs to borrow from both theoretical approaches concerning journalism identity. First, a focused view of professionalism is needed to understand why Ethiopian journalists are preoccupied with professional constraints when explaining deficiencies in their work situation. At the same time, seeing journalists as members of more than an professional community appears important in order to identify the competing loyalties that have an impact on the journalists’ work behaviour and their self-perception as journalists. On the basis of this double approach to making sense of journalism identity and belonging, I will continue by arguing for the use of multiple identity theory in journalism sociology. This represents a move away from a strict analysis of roles and functions of journalists to looking at a wider set of belonging beyond characteristics of professional identity. It is argued that such an approach is particularly fruitful when examining ideals and performances of journalists in a complex media context like the Ethiopian one where journalists experience various types of internal and external pressure. In this regard, I will draw on a few recent studies which have approached journalists as members of contradicting communities (Zandberg and Neiger, 2005; Nossek, 2004). I will end by suggesting how this theoretical framework might be bridged to a methodology of the particular PhD research project.
What I attempt to do in this text is to map out what I consider to be the two major theoretical traditions concerning journalism identity, and on the basis of this suggest a theoretical framework that could inform my own research in relation to journalists in Ethiopian state media organizations. The theoretical framework has in turn implications for the methodological approach in the project. In terms of theoretical traditions of journalism identity, I concur with the view of several others (e.g. Zelizer, 1993; Tumber and Prentoulis, 2005) who identify two major frameworks: the first approaching journalists as professionals and the second approaching them more widely as members of interpretive communities. However, I do not agree that these traditions are dichotomous, as they are sometimes portrayed as. I believe some of their apparent contradictions are rather a result of different research purposes and what could be regarded as a predictable refinement of research focus throughout the decades. This is also underlined by some recent theoretical contributions which have proposed a return to more stringent sociological approaches with the view to disentangle the complexities of journalistic professionalism in today’s media society (e.g. Dickinson, 2007; Örnebring, 2009). In line with this, I will argue that my research project needs to borrow from both theoretical approaches concerning journalism identity. First, a focused view of professionalism is needed to understand why Ethiopian journalists are preoccupied with professional constraints when explaining deficiencies in their work situation. At the same time, seeing journalists as members of more than an professional community appears important in order to identify the competing loyalties that have an impact on the journalists’ work behaviour and their self-perception as journalists. On the basis of this double approach to making sense of journalism identity and belonging, I will continue by arguing for the use of multiple identity theory in journalism sociology. This represents a move away from a strict analysis of roles and functions of journalists to looking at a wider set of belonging beyond characteristics of professional identity. It is argued that such an approach is particularly fruitful when examining ideals and performances of journalists in a complex media context like the Ethiopian one where journalists experience various types of internal and external pressure. In this regard, I will draw on a few recent studies which have approached journalists as members of contradicting communities (Zandberg and Neiger, 2005; Nossek, 2004). I will end by suggesting how this theoretical framework might be bridged to a methodology of the particular PhD research project.
Publisert i Paper presented at PhD seminar, Copenhagen University, Denmark, 2010
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