Towards a wider conceptualization of journalism professionalism for emerging democracies
Western media theory characteristically assumes a strict understanding of journalism professionalism in which the role of the media practitioner is defined in opposition to other professions; as an antithesis to other societal estates; and distinct from other areas of life. This in turns aggravates an agreed set of professional ethics and a defined professional fraternity. In an emerging democracy context, however, the composition of journalism professionalism appears to be more complex. Several factors contribute to a less defined professional framework in such societies. First, journalistic reporting usually has a shorter and less established tradition than in the West. Second, the media structure in emerging societies is characterized by strong state media institutions and the journalism fraternity is consequently regarded as an extension of the civil service. Third, personal commitment to family and social surroundings infringes on work obligations in a number of ways. Overall, the complex composition of the occupation makes it less tenable to speak of ‘journalism professionalism’ in emerging democracies as if it were one agreed entity. The aim of this paper is to forward this theory on the basis of three years of fieldwork among journalists in the emerging democratic context of Ethiopia.
Publisert i Paper presented at the 20th Nordic Media and Communication Research Conference (Nordmedia), Akureyri, Iceland, 2011
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