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Content uploaded by Ana Milojevic
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Medij. istraž. (god. 22, br. 2) 2016. (83-105)
IZVORNI ZNANSTVENI RAD
DOI: 10.22572/mi.22.2.5
Zaprimljeno: 7. 4. 2016.
The Future of Journalism
as a System, Profession and Culture:
The Perception of Journalism Students*
Ana Milojević**
Aleksandra Krstić***
Aleksandra Ugrinić****
SUMMARY
Currently, there is clear need for traditional journalism to redefi ne itself. The
intention of this article is to portray the voices of future journalists in this quest.
Therefore, Belgrade University journalism students were assigned to write down
their contemplations about the journalism of tomorrow in essayistic form. In
order to systematize their narratives, three theoretical understandings of jour-
nalism are introduced based on a literature review: journalism as a societal
system, profession and culture. The essays were analyzed using quantitative and
qualitative content and critical discourse analyses. The students’ anticipated
changes in journalism understood as a system, profession and culture are dis-
cussed, with a special focus on language, in order to deconstruct how students
evaluate the future of journalism. Furthermore, the article shows how students
perceive their role in redefi ning journalism.
Key words: journalism studies, journalism, students, critical discourse analysis,
future of journalism
* The earlier version of the study was presented at the 8th CEECOM “Digital Media,
Communication, Media, Communication Technology and Social Media practices”
conference in Zagreb, 14–16 June 2015.
** Ana Milojević, Ph.D., Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Belgrade, Serbia,
anamilojevic@gmail.com
*** Aleksandra Krstić, Ph.D., Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Belgrade, Serbia,
aleksandra.krstic@fpn.bg.ac.rs
**** Aleksandra Ugrinić, M.A., Faculty of Political Sciences, University of Belgrade, Serbia,
aleksandra.ugrinic@fpn.bg.ac.rs
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Medij. istraž. (god. 22, br. 2) 2016. (83-105)
Introduction
The fi eld of journalism is going through tremendous changes, which are attributable
to global economic and technological factors. Academics, experts, media owners,
journalists and citizens are expressing concern about the future of journalism as we
know it. The main aim of this article is to include the voices of future journalists in
the discussion about the uncertainties facing journalism. Since these future journal-
ists are social actors who will shape the journalism of tomorrow, it is important to
explore their attitudes and projections in order to anticipate possible trends in jour-
nalism and the durability of different legacies in journalism.
Tomorrow’s journalists have often been the subject of academic research, and since
the 1970s, substantial research has been conducted on the national scope of their
attitudes. Lately, the amount of comparative work in this area has seen an increase
(for example, Mellado et al., 2013; Nygren et al., 2010), but most of the research is
quantitative and survey-based and mainly focuses on students’ vocational motiva-
tions, their perceptions of the role of journalism, the ideals of journalism, students’
views on ethical and professional standards, and the infl uence of education on jour-
nalism cultures. Students have rarely been asked about their thoughts on the future
of journalism or been presented with the opportunity to express their opinion in an
unstructured way. The study of Blaagaard (2013) is an exception, as it uses focus
group interviews to incorporate the voices of students of international journalism
into the discussion about citizen journalism. We have also opted for a qualitative
research design, by asking students to write about their perception of the reinvention
of journalism in an essayistic form. By using a combination of quantitative and
qualitative content with critical discourse analysis of the students’ essays, this arti-
cle aims to answer the main research question, which is ‘How do journalism stu-
dents perceive the future of journalism?’
In order to deconstruct and systematize the students’ discourses, we have started
with the same question that has guided many scholars: ‘What is (legacy) journal-
ism?’ (Deuze, 2005; Hartley, 1999; McNair, 2005; Russial et al., 2015). As Deuze
(2004: 276) notes, journalism can be observed as ‘a profession, as a social system,
or as a certain set of practices and skills enacted by the particular group of “news
workers” in the context of media organizations’. There is a multitude of such per-
spectives on the fi eld of journalism studies, which is relatively young, interdiscipli-
nary and cross-fertilized with theories, mostly of the middle range, with the scholars
coming from different social sciences and humanities backgrounds (Löffelholz &
Quandt, 2005; Steensen & Ahva, 2015; Zelizer, 2004). The last two decades have
been marked by such efforts to solidify and demarcate the fi eld of journalism stud-
ies. As a result, signifi cant overviews of conceptual approaches with a national or
language-speaking scope have emerged. Some of the key contributors have been
85
The Future of Journalism as a System, Profession and Culture: The Perception…
Zelizer (2004) and Schudson (2003) for the USA and McNair (2003) for Great Brit-
ain; moreover, Löffelholz and Quandt (2005) have developed a synopsis of theo-
retical perspectives in Germany and Austria. Other scholars have had a chronologi-
cal focus: for example, Domingo (2008) has summarized the development of online
journalism research in three waves – normative, empirical and constructivist. On the
other hand, Wahl-Jorgensen and Hanitzsch (2009) present a broader view, by iden-
tifying four distinct, but overlapping and co-existing phases, in the history of jour-
nalism research: normative, empirical, sociological, and global comparative.
In an attempt to synthesize the different theoretical approaches, this article offers three
understandings of journalism: as a societal system, as a profession, and as a culture.
This matrix was not developed to offer an all-encompassing generalization of the di-
versifi ed theoretical observations about journalism, but to make sense of the future
journalists’ narratives about their vocation. However, we believe that it correlates
strongly with the main theoretical perspectives and research strands in journalism
studies, and can serve as a basis for more meta-theoretical discussions in the fi eld.
Theoretical framework: Three understandings of journalism
Journalism as a system
Journalism can be perceived as a specifi c societal system or a subsystem function-
ing in a larger system. Some German authors have used the theoretical perspective
of a system in studying journalism quite often (Görke & Scholl, 2006; Loosen,
2015; Luhmann, 1996; Weischenberg, Malik & Scholl, 2012). From their point of
view, journalism enables society to observe itself by providing it with fact-based,
relevant and up-to-date information (Görke & Scholl, 2006; Loosen, 2015; Weis-
chenberg, Malik & Scholl, 2012). As Loosen (2015: 72) argues, ‘the point of depar-
ture of every systems theoretical analysis is the difference between the system and
its environment and drawing lines of demarcation is its basic operation’. Although
relatively confi ned, societal systems are not isolated and self-suffi cient, but rather,
they are interrelated and interdependent. According to Görke and Scholl (2006:
648), ‘systems are closed in the sense that they operate autonomously: they consti-
tute their identity on the basis of system-specifi c operations’, while at the same time,
‘every system needs stimulations or irritations from outside the system, although
these external stimuli cannot determine the operations of and within the system’.
Therefore, the autonomy of a system is an important line of investigation, which in
the case of journalism comes down to its structural and functional couplings with
other societal systems – especially political and economic. Whether journalism is
capable of guarding its performance from environmental impacts and infl uences has
been a rather important and enduring question in journalism studies.
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Medij. istraž. (god. 22, br. 2) 2016. (83-105)
Scholars have been emphasizing on the huge infl uence of the economic realm on
journalism since its beginning, but critique of its commercialization has been on the
increase since the 1980s. According to McManus (1994), news production is gov-
erned by the interests of advertisers, investors, sources, and media consumers, rath-
er than journalistic norms. Similar argumentation has been raised by scholars of
political-economic orientation such as Bagdikian and McChesney (Bagdikian,
2004; McChesney, 2003). However, Fengler and Ruß-Mohl (2008: 667) fi nd the
normative economic perspective to be insuffi cient with regard to explaining current
phenomena such as ‘pack reporting’, ‘horse-race journalism’, ‘the rising infl uence
of PR’ and ‘spin doctors’, and describe journalists ‘as rational actors seeking to
maximize materialistic and nonmaterialistic rewards (e.g. attention, reputation, and
fringe benefi ts)’.
Journalism can be equally instrumentalized by political actors (Mancini, 2012), and
the level of parallelism between news work and politics is one of the main factors
for classifying media systems (Hallin & Mancini, 2004; Merrill & Nerone, 2002).
This line of thinking is also closely interlinked with the high-modern, classical par-
adigm of journalism (Dahlgren 2009; Vobič, 2014), or the highly normative, hegem-
onic western model according to Nerone (2013). This model assumes that news or-
ganizations are the keepers of democracy, so journalism must retain its independ-
ence against those in power and maintain trustworthiness in order to act as the
‘watchdog’ of people’s interests by providing expert accounts of important public
affairs.
Journalism as a profession
Journalism can be understood as a profession, and this lens has been used rather
often: for example, Steensen and Ahva (2015: 10) state that ‘the perspective of so-
ciology with a focus on professionalism seems to have a fi rm position in the fi eld’.
Further, Das (2007: 145) has approached this from three angles: (1) investigating
whether journalism can be considered a profession, (2) examining how journalists
deploy the notion of professionalism in their practice, and (3) determining on what
grounds journalists claim its professionalism.
The fi rst line of research, which leans on the so-called ‘trait approach’ to evaluate
the acquired level of professionalism within journalism, has proven to be almost a
dead end. Analyses of specifi c traits that constitute a profession have usually led to
the conclusion that journalism can be considered as a ‘quasi, pseudo or failed pro-
fession’ (Schudson & Anderson, 2008: 91), or that ‘the conventional model of pro-
fessionalism, does not fi t into journalism’ (Das, 2007: 145). Therefore, scholars
have turned their attention towards the notion of professionalism inside media or-
87
The Future of Journalism as a System, Profession and Culture: The Perception…
ganizations and underlined the ‘dependency’ of journalism from the commercial
and owners’ perspectives (Soloski, 1989). Even arguments against the profession-
alization of journalism have been raised, rooted in the differentiation between two
discourses of professionalism – organizational and occupational. Evetts (2003) de-
fi nes organizational professionalism as a discourse of control used by managers in
work organizations, and occupational professionalism as that which is employed by
practitioners and is based on shared education, work culture, occupational identity,
and codes of ethics endorsed by professional associations. In the context of journal-
ism, the managerial concept of professionalism often collides with the journalistic
notion of professionalism and impedes the independence of practitioners (Örne-
bring, 2009). In other words, economic constraints are transferred from the macro
to the mezzo level, and transform into organizational pressures on news work.
The third way of thinking about professionalism in journalism coincides with the
broader sociological shift from a structural-functionalist to a Weberian study of pro-
fessionalization, viewed as the ‘professional project’ by Larson (1977) and ‘profes-
sional struggle’ by Abott (1988). Examining how occupations gain professional
status and authority turned out to be more productive lines of inquiry. In a review of
the literature on the professional project, Örnebring (2013: 38) distinguishes three
core elements of the professional project, or ‘three domains where claims of legiti-
macy are made’: expertise, duty and autonomy. Expertise refers to a cognitive di-
mension, namely, the technical and formal knowledge required for ‘professional’
conduct. In this domain, entrance into the profession can be controlled. Duty is re-
lated to society, because the purpose of a profession is not only income, but also
other higher duties, such as public service in the case of journalism. This is also a
normative dimension that aims to standardize professional practice by enacting
codes of ethics. Finally, autonomy implies that professions should be self-governed
or relatively independent from the market and the state. These three dimensions or
domains of professionalism (expertise, duty, and autonomy) have been rather resil-
ient and consistent despite the signifi cant changes in journalistic work during the
past few decades. Moreover, although professionalization can be a confl icting force
in journalism, most journalists today consider themselves as professionals and
would not argue against further professionalization.
Journalism as a culture
The third understanding of journalism strongly correlates with the cultural strand in
journalism studies, although it could also be roughly associated with newsroom
ethnographies (such as in Peterson & Domingo, 2008; Tuchman, 1978). Anderson
(2008) marks the work of Zelizer (1992) as a ‘cultural turn’ that has enriched jour-
nalism studies with the discursive approach. Zelizer (1992) introduced the view of
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Medij. istraž. (god. 22, br. 2) 2016. (83-105)
journalists as members of an interpretive community united by a shared discourse
and collective interpretations of key public events. Such an approach, according to
Anderson (2008: 225), ignores the forms of power not grounded in narrative, name-
ly, ‘other factors that might contribute to the reality-shaping abilities of journalists:
state power, questions of hegemony, concentrations of economic capital, ethnic and
class-based exclusions, and legal decisions’. However, Zelizer underscores the dis-
cursive aspects of journalistic identity (stories, symbols, and self-descriptions) and
sets the grounds for elaborating a cultural understanding of journalism.
Hanitzsch (2007) has provided probably the most comprehensive defi nition of jour-
nalism as a culture, and it has been implemented in comparative research on journal-
ism all over the world. He starts with the notion that culture manifests itself in the
form of ideas (values, attitudes and beliefs), practices and artefacts (cultural products),
and defi ned ‘journalism culture’ as a ‘particular set of ideas and practices by which
journalists, consciously and unconsciously, legitimate their role in society and render
their work meaningful for themselves and others’ (Hanitzsch, 2007: 369). Drawing on
this conceptualization, Hanitzsch (2007, 2011) distinguishes three essential constitu-
ents of journalism culture: institutional roles, epistemologies and ethical ideologies.
These constituents are further divided into seven principal dimensions.
Hanitzsch (2007: 370) has tried to distinguish the concept of journalism culture
from similar notions of ideology by arguing that professional ideologies are the
crystallizations or articulations of professional culture, and that ‘journalism culture
is more than an ideology; it is the arena in which diverse professional ideologies
struggle over the dominant interpretation of journalism’s social function and iden-
tity’. However, Deuze (2004: 279) defi nes the set of discursively constructed ideal
typical values by which journalists legitimize what they do as a ‘shared occupa-
tional ideology among news workers which functions to self-legitimize their posi-
tion in society’. Similarly, Koljonen (2013: 142) introduces the concept of profes-
sional ethos as ‘the shared discursive resources which journalists think about and
identify the core ideals of the profession and negotiate its permanence and change’.
Based on these works, it could be argued that the concepts of ‘journalism culture’,
‘professional ideology’ and ‘professional ethos of journalism’ overlap in many
ways, but that they all point towards an understanding of how journalists give mean-
ing to their news work.
Background and context
Journalism and journalism education are context dependent and deeply bound to
specifi c socio-historical circumstances, or rather, the political, economic and cul-
tural realms of different societies. In that respect, journalism and journalism educa-
89
The Future of Journalism as a System, Profession and Culture: The Perception…
tion in Serbia have a complex legacy, stemming from the country’s communist past,
authoritarian rule and democratic reformation. Therefore, we can roughly differenti-
ate between three historical periods with specifi c journalism cultures and education,
which have shaped the Serbian media landscape and the journalism of tomorrow.
The fi rst period is Socialist Yugoslavia (1945–1991), during which a journalist was
defi ned as a ‘socio-political worker’ who advocates for the ‘working class by pro-
viding common truth’ (Vobič, 2014:10). The role of journalism was considered sub-
ordinate to that of the communist party and state interests, while work was bureau-
cratized and professional autonomy was limited. Accordingly, journalism was
taught only at the University of Belgrade, Faculty of Political Sciences (UB FPS),
and the curriculum mostly focused on political ideas, especially Marxist tradition,
political systems and so on, and only offered a few theoretical courses about com-
munication and journalism.
The second period (1991–2000) started with the collapse of communism and the
separation of the Yugoslav republics. It was shaped by authoritarian regime, civil
war, a decade long economic isolation and NATO bombing. In this period, the role
of journalism was strongly attached to nation building and nationalistic interests.
The media market was as poor as the rest of the country, and commercial media had
just started to appear. Journalism had the societal status of a low paid, instrumental-
ized and overworked profession. Education remained centralized at UB FPS and
encapsulated in an economic and academic vacuum, with scarce resources to im-
prove and renew the journalism curriculum.
Lagging behind the rest of post-communist Europe, the economically and culturally
devastated society entered a period of democratic transformation in 2000. The
media system started reforming and assuming a more liberal form, while strong
‘media assistance projects’ resulted in the redefi nition of the journalism role as a
high-modern or classical paradigm (Dahlgren 2009; Nerone 2013; Vobič, 2014).
Along these lines, journalism education began to adapt to new market and societal
conditions. Private universities started to fl ourish, offering more vocational training
and practical journalism courses instead of theory and political science courses.
Faced with growing competition, UB FPS opened their doors for experienced jour-
nalists and editors who are now lecturers and mentors to students. The practice of
print, radio, TV and online journalism started both in classes and in faculty news-
rooms, where students were given the opportunity to create their own newspapers,
web portals, radio and TV programs. Today, journalism education in Serbia is in
accordance with Bolognian standards in two private and three state universities.
Despite this, the journalism curricula differ only slightly, and mainly focus on
normative aspects, suffering from the same challenges as journalism education
worldwide.
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Medij. istraž. (god. 22, br. 2) 2016. (83-105)
The numerous challenges in journalism education in Serbia are strongly intercon-
nected with the journalism practice in newsrooms. The context of Serbian journal-
ism, media and society also plays a role in the journalism students’ articulations, and
shapes their discourses about journalism and its future.
The Serbian media system is considered as an unsustainable mixed media system
which only minimally meets the objectives of free speech, professional journalism,
plurality of news sources, business management and supporting institutions (IREX,
2013). Additional problems are the incomplete process of media privatization, lack
of fi nances and underdeveloped media competition (Krstić, 2016). The market is
overcrowded with numerous media outlets, whereas many newspapers, TV and ra-
dio stations depend on local government subsidies (Krstić, 2012; Milivojević et al.,
2012). Although the media legal framework has been reformed in the course of
several time cycles since 2002, competent regulatory bodies are barely managing to
survive independent of external infl uences.
The crisis of journalism as a profession refl ects the severe political and economic
pressures infl uencing media independence (Media Center, 2003). The practice of
‘curtailing editorial independence’, which stems from the interplay between the
business elite, political parties and other societal actors in many post-communist
countries of the Central and Eastern Europe (Štětka, 2013, p. 18), has been also
identifi ed in Serbia. Local electronic media, for example, are often conditioned to
make contracts with large companies to reduce advertising rates or to broadcast
advertorials within regular news bulletins to be able to survive (Krstić, 2016).
Moreover, the two national journalistic associations have not been able to improve
the overall status of the profession or reduce media instrumentalization. The asso-
ciations do not cooperate with each other, and therefore, lack the infl uence to protect
journalists from various pressures.
Along the shifting route of journalistic culture in Serbia, during the last fi fty years,
journalists have transformed from ‘socio-political workers’ into independent pro-
fessionals who maintain a watchdog role in society. However, the changes around
understanding of journalism are yet to see light. For example, ethical standards exist
within the Code of Conduct, but are often ignored. On one hand, tabloidization and
profi t orientation lead to violation of basic ethical standards. On the other hand,
even journalists admit that they often do not recognize, apply or comply with the
ethical norms of journalism (Milivojević et al., 2012: 61). Therefore, the crisis of
journalistic culture is defi ned by loose professional standards and a crisis of ethics,
which have created an ambience in which it is diffi cult to practice the watchdog
role.
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The Future of Journalism as a System, Profession and Culture: The Perception…
Method
In line with the main aim of this research, journalism students of UB FPS were
asked to write an essay about the journalism of tomorrow. UB FPS was selected for
this study on several grounds. The journalism department was opened in 1968,
while the rest of the universities have had journalism programs for less than a dec-
ade. Furthermore, several private faculties and journalism programs have been
opened and closed in the past ten years. Compared to the other two state universi-
ties, UB enrols more students and offers more state scholarships, so it attracts the
best pupils from all over the country. Students from the south of the country gravi-
tate to the University of Niš, while those from the north, to the University of Novi
Sad. UB FPS, with the highest rank in the country and the longest tradition, has the
most important infl uence on the journalist workforce in Serbia. Based on this, it can
be argued that Belgrade University students are good representatives of the upcom-
ing population of journalists in Serbia.
Undergraduate students in their fi nal year were chosen as research participants,
since they are the closest to entering practice or have already been working as jour-
nalists. Furthermore, they already have good theoretical knowledge and at least
some practice, either through internship or by working for student media at UB FPS.
They were asked to write an essay during two connected classes (total time: hour
and a half) as part of the Communication Theory course. Since the assignment was
given in the introductory class, the curricula of the course had no signifi cant infl u-
ence on the students’ narratives. The topic was explained on the spot, and students
were given only practical instructions (length and organization of the essay) to min-
imize infl uence on their opinion. Moreover, the students were assured that the es-
says would not be graded for the course.
A total of 80 students, most of them female (80%), completed the assignment.
Twenty seven essays were discarded, because the argumentation was poor, the stu-
dent had missed the topic, or the thoughts were unsubstantiated. Fifty-three essays
that were between 500 and 800 words long were used for quantitative and qualita-
tive content analysis, in combination with critical discourse analysis (CDA). Al-
though quantitative and qualitative methods are usually used separately in research,
strong arguments are also raised in favour of the mixed-methods approach (Bran-
nen, 2005; Onwuegbuzie et al., 2009). Scholars even argue that CDA, being prob-
ably the most complicated qualitative method of textual analysis, can be fruitfully
synergized with other linguistic methods (Baker et al., 2008). Since the main re-
search question has been further divided into four elaborate questions, different
methods were applied. Following Krippendorf’s (1980) defi nition of content analy-
sis, we have searched for the linguistic structures in the essays to answer the follow-
ing questions:
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Medij. istraž. (god. 22, br. 2) 2016. (83-105)
RQ1. How do students’ essays relate to the theoretical understandings of jour-
nalism?
Much like the fi eld of journalism studies, the student essays were also boundless.
Most often, the students leaned on different understandings of journalism in build-
ing the argument in the course of one essay. Therefore, a complete thought, or sen-
tence, was defi ned as a unit of analysis. It allowed for the classifi cation of the ob-
tained data from students’ essays and the quantifi cation of references to journalism
as a societal system, profession and culture. For example, references to professional
domains, i.e. professional values, ethics, authority, autonomy, inter-organizational
constrains, and the socio-economic status of journalism, were placed under the un-
derstanding of journalism as a profession. When students wrote about economic,
political and other pressures endangering the independence of journalism in the
society and media instrumentalization, we considered their narrative to refer to jour-
nalism as a societal system. References to the interpretation of news, perceptions of
various roles and professional norms of journalism were used for the analysis of
journalism as a culture. However, the quantitative treatment of data was not ade-
quate to answer the following question:
RQ2. How do students evaluate different aspects of journalism within the three
understandings: journalism as a system, profession and culture?
For answering RQ2, qualitative content analysis was considered as the most appro-
priate method for identifying the underlying themes in the textual material (Bry-
man, 2004). In order to anticipate the development of journalism, it is valuable to
investigate what students aspire to achieve and which practices they condemn in
journalism. Therefore, the underling themes about journalism as a system, profes-
sion and culture were identifi ed, as well as the most important trends which students
stressed as being negative or positive. Although students were explicitly asked to
write about the future of journalism, their prognosis was based on actual trends. The
present and future of journalism were equally discussed in most essays. Such essay
structures affected the analysis. We therefore decided to differentiate between posi-
tive and negative evaluations of present and future journalism within the three un-
derstandings and to structure the results accordingly. As journalism students have
also been considered as an important source of social power, we have also examined
the following question:
RQ3. How do journalism students label the future of journalism?
In line with various aspects of their personal and group views on journalism, we
have used CDA to answer RQ3. In contrast to other critical perspectives in com-
munication studies, CDA allows for a ‘general, structural and focused’ examination
93
The Future of Journalism as a System, Profession and Culture: The Perception…
of various groups in a society, as it not only deals with power relations between
groups, but also provides an interpretive and explanatory approach and ‘general
insights, and sometimes indirect and long-term analyses of fundamental causes,
conditions and consequences’ of various issues (Van Dijk, 1993: 253). The labels
used throughout the analyzed essays show that the content is not simply semantic.
According to Van Dijk, statements become credible only if they have other persua-
sive moves embedded in the specifi c discourse (1993: 264). These moves are recog-
nized in the students’ discourse as: lexical style (words chosen to describe the nega-
tive evaluation of certain issues), rhetorical fi gures (euphemisms, metaphoric phras-
es, etc.), and argumentation (when the positive or negative evaluation follows the
facts given in the description of the journalism as it is seen in the nowadays–future
relation). Finally, students have been considered as important ‘agents of change’.
Therefore, we have examined the following question:
RQ4. How do students see their role in shaping the future of journalism?
These perceptions were coded at the level of the whole essay according to the fol-
lowing scale: 0 (do not see their role), 1 (see themselves as agents of change) and 2
(unable to infl uence the future). For example, essays referring to ‘young genera-
tions’, ‘our generation’, ‘us’, ‘educated young people’ or ‘future journalists’ were
coded in relation to students’ perceptions of their ability or inability to infl uence the
future of the profession.
Results: Mapping the understandings of journalism in students’
narratives
Quantitative content analysis data show that the number of units of analysis ad-
dressing journalism as a system and profession is only slightly lower than the units
referring to journalism as a culture (see Figure 1).
An in-depth look reveals even higher correlations between students and academic
narratives.
Students’ evaluation of journalism as a social system
The fi rst outlined discourse depicts the tensions between democratic ideals that
journalism should serve and the prevailing practices. This discrepancy is ascribed to
malfunctioning of the Serbian media system: ‘in our country, journalistic standards
do not supplement democracy’ (essay 1). Yet, this discourse is at the same time
positive towards the democracy–journalism nexus. Students believe that the func-
tion of journalism in society should stay the same: to investigate, provide facts and
94
Medij. istraž. (god. 22, br. 2) 2016. (83-105)
ensure the running of democracy (essay 27). In this context, the students call upon
the entire society to contribute to the ‘rise of democratic values’ (essay 2), in order
to amend the democratic defi ciency of journalism as a system.
In the second discourse, journalism was portrayed as largely dependable on profi t,
and journalists were seen as ‘puppets on strings’ (essay 5), pulled mostly by interest
in profi t. The students seem to be pessimistic, and believe that negative trends will
expand further, that even the technological developments are not suffi cient to secure
the economic foundation of journalism. The students also echo scholarly accounts
of political pressures on journalism. They emphasize that media are susceptible to
the infl uences of various political actors. Journalists are blamed for having a shady
relationship with those in power, acting as ‘advertisers of the ruling elite’ (essay 33),
thus subordinating ‘journalism to the needs of the political establishment’ (essay
16), and creating the impression that ‘media content has not been created by jour-
nalists, but politicians’ (essay 49). Some students interpret political parallelism as a
form of rapidly growing ‘censorship’ and see the Serbian media system as lagging
behind contemporary processes of technological media development: ‘while other
countries try to improve television digitalization, we are still dealing with issues of
media freedom discussed in the 19th century’ (essay 53). The evaluation of future
developments is divided between ‘pessimists’ who predict the growth of self-cen-
Figure 1. The number of student references to journalism as a culture, profession
and societal system (counted by the number of complete thoughts
or sentences)
Slika 1. ???
???
Journalism as a
culture; Total; 39
Journalism as a
profession; Total; 33
Journalism as a
system; Total; 34 Journalism as a culture
Journalism as a profession
Journalism as a system
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The Future of Journalism as a System, Profession and Culture: The Perception…
sorship, the diminishing of critical thinking and the maintenance of the status quo,
and simplifi ed optimistic views that the professional system which will eventually
win over the restraints imposed by political actors.
Students’ evaluation of journalism as a profession
The students have identifi ed the same issues as scholars, and point to the need for
journalism professionalization or completion of ‘professional projects’. They have
criticized the openness of the profession and stressed on the signifi cance of journal-
istic education. A common argument among students is: ‘If anyone can be a journal-
ist, regardless of the education or knowledge, no one will be able to improve news
reporting and empower the profession’ (essay 15). They also note that the education
system must be suitable for new generations of multitasking journalists and suggest
the adoption of a ‘mentoring approach’ aimed at ‘building practical journalistic
skills’ (essay 31).
The low economic and social status of journalists is identifi ed as an immediate
threat to professional practice. The fear of losing jobs, stressful working environ-
ment and miserable salaries has been identifi ed as the main cause of the ‘disturbed
foundations’ of journalism, which is ‘showing the last signs of existence’ (essay
38). The public image of journalists prone to ‘infl uences’, ‘biased reporting’ and
‘spreading false information’ is ascribed to weak solidarity between colleagues (es-
say 20). Overall, the students are of the opinion that the profession is in permanent
crisis, and that journalists are degrading into ‘storytellers for children’ (essay 37).
Such perspectives on the current state of journalism expand over the students’ views
of the future. Only a few believe that journalists will earn more if media managers
employ less but more qualifi ed journalists.
Professional and ethical standards are also considered as problematic. The students
share the impression that journalists now ‘follow cash’ instead of ‘professional
standards’ (essay 47), but believe that ‘high ethical standards’ must make the ‘base
for tomorrow’ (essay 10). Besides those who believe in ‘well educated journalists
applying ethical principles’, there are others who predict that the new media envi-
ronment will lead to further erosion of professional standards.
The students perceived that professional integrity and autonomy were being vio-
lated. Media organizations are observed as an impediment to the profession: ‘Media
are like puppet theatre. Owners and editors are directing their puppets behind the
curtain and if some puppet does not act according to scenario, they simply replace
it’ (essay 31). Therefore, a number of students have questioned the power of jour-
nalists to improve the profession within organizational constraints. However, sev-
eral of the analyzed essays highlight journalism as a powerful profession, acknowl-
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Medij. istraž. (god. 22, br. 2) 2016. (83-105)
edging ‘good’ journalists who will contribute to overall empowerment, and refer-
ring to the ‘unused societal potential’ of young generations who will be able to
‘wake the profession up from existing social inertia’ (essay 39).
Students’ evaluation of journalism as a culture
The students have evaluated the present state of journalism as a culture in a negative
manner, by addressing the prevalence of tabloids, scandals and infotainment. They
refer to this aspect of journalistic culture as a ‘sick, tabloid state of affairs’, ‘idiotic
sensations, spectacles and fabrications’, ‘yellow journalism’, ‘less quality’, ‘false,
kitsch’, and ‘scandalous’. The students’ disappointment also spreads into their fu-
ture expectations. They see the entertaining role intensifying and turning into an
‘unstoppable trend’, in which the sensationalistic and tabloid media will fl ourish.
Several quotes are illustrative of this: ‘The entertaining role will prevail in the fu-
ture, the audience will be over fl ooded with profi t-oriented tabloids and content easy
to read’ (essay 22); ‘the trend will be supported by lower educated parts of popula-
tion’ (essay 26); and ‘it will be even harder to distinguish between hard and soft
news, public and private life, because the audience will be drawn to participate in
sensations’ (essay 42). Along the lines of Hanitzsch’s (2007) interventionism di-
mension, the informative and gate-keeping role of journalism has also been dis-
cussed. The students describe it as the basic, most important function of journalism,
where news selection and fact checking are seen as cornerstones. The students high-
light a clear distinction between professional and citizen journalists: ‘Anyone can
be a journalist online, but the information is often unchecked and false’ (essay 28).
In the narratives of the future, the informative and gate-keeping role is addressed in
three different ways. Firstly, it is seen to guarantee the future of the profession and
to remain the solid basis for everyday practice. Secondly, it is seen as becoming
even more important, especially in the context of information abundance, where the
need for information selection, editing, interpretation, framing and contextualizing
has been addressed as necessary. Thirdly, a number of students expect automization
of the gate-keeping role, where journalists are expected to become robots and ag-
gregators of online data, rather than providers of information. The watchdog role is
thus perceived as underdeveloped. Although the media have been emphasized as the
‘eyes and ears of the public’ (essay 10), they are blamed for not overseeing the gov-
ernment in Serbia.
The students have also addressed the interpretation of reality, or journalism episte-
mologies, especially empiricism (Hanitzch, 2007). The interpretive role is under-
stood as storytelling and a more in-depth analysis of contemporary economic, soci-
etal and political events and problems. Students expect this role to become more
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The Future of Journalism as a System, Profession and Culture: The Perception…
signifi cant with regard to preservation of the endangered profession: ‘The interpre-
tation will prevent journalism from disappearing’ (essay 44). This understanding
correlates with the students’ overall demand for better quality journalism as the
main counterpoint to its death.
Label of the future of journalism
Six key points that indicate the label of journalism in the future have been identifi ed
in the students’ essays. They see the development of journalism within the informa-
tion society, journalistic values, adaptation to changes, rebirth of the profession, the
role of the audience and uncertainty.
When addressing the future of journalism within the information society, students
tend to look into the niches of rapidly growing technology, where the profession is
expected to naturally change. Words such as convergence, multitasking, multime-
dia, web TV, evolution, collaboration, etc., merge the narrative of the future with
already existing forms of journalistic practices. On the other hand, a number of
students believe that journalistic values will be the core of the future. The language
used to describe the values is more complex. For example, positive attributes have
been identifi ed in phrases such as ‘more valuable and more quality profession’,
‘good stories well told’, ‘courageous media and journalists’, ‘enthusiastic’, and ‘un-
biased journalism’. The positive associations of journalistic values mostly corre-
spond with individual strengths or the idealized collective identity of media work-
ers. It can be argued that emotional appeal and personalization, expressed through
the attributes ‘courageous’, ‘enthusiastic’, and ‘unbiased’, are in line with the al-
ready recognized watchdog, informative and interpretative journalistic roles. How-
ever, the values expressed here correlate more with the ethical, cultural and social
values of democracy: freedom, justice, appreciation, confi dence and integrity. Fol-
lowing the same discursive pattern, the students have negatively evaluated the fu-
ture of journalism in metaphoric phrases such as ‘the diggers of social garbage’,
‘puppets’, ‘Golden age of journalism will never rise’, etc. Pessimistic labelling
metaphors have been mostly used to address journalists, and not the values of the
profession.
Interestingly, although discussed before, the adjustment to changes and the uncer-
tainty of the future of journalism have not been explicitly labelled. The role of the
audience and the ‘rebirth’ of journalism are mostly expressed in the noun phrases
‘the big journalism’, ‘the loss of privacy’, etc., rather than verb phrases that would
explain the further development of journalism as an active process. The rebirth of
journalism is seen as an idealized form of future development of a profession that
has already died in the present. Yet, in order to revive it, only a ‘grand’ or ‘big’ form
98
Medij. istraž. (god. 22, br. 2) 2016. (83-105)
of journalism will have to appear again. Therefore, students do not anticipate the
rebirth of the profession in ordinary forms of appearance, but solely in the form of
the ‘grandiose’ journalism that has existed throughout history. Further, those who
perceive the audience to be the centre of the future of journalism emphasize on in-
teractivity, engagement and citizens’ input via social media.
Discussion
Students can be considered as important societal agents with the power to re-defi ne,
re-invent or steer the course of tomorrows’ journalism. In 26 essays, the students
identifi ed themselves as agents of change, while in 21 essays, there was no reference
to students’ role in the future of journalism. Only six future journalists were scepti-
cal about their ability to change anything, contrary to those who explicitly stated
that they will ‘give a contribution to the professional transformation and prevent
journalism from digging its own grave’ (essay 6). Currently, they seem devoted to
the high modern paradigm of journalism and willing to indulge in the practice, with
an ambition to solve the identifi ed problems within all three understandings of jour-
nalism.
In the students’ essays, journalism as a system has been addressed in line with po-
litical and economic pressures and contextualized within the country’s process of
democratization. This discourse must be observed as context dependent, since pes-
simistic views on reality have been expressed in line with overall disappointment
with the country’s late transition to democracy. Restrained freedoms of the past are
contrasted to ‘the golden age of journalism’, but students do not differentiate be-
tween various periods. It is not clear whether the best and the worst of times are
interpreted within the same time frame or not, because the past is addressed in a
more abstract way. The ‘cognitive distance’ from the past, wherever it has been re-
ferred to, has strongly infl uenced the students’ views of the present state of journal-
ism. This leads to the argument that the future is a continuation of existing restric-
tions rather than a potential place for improvement. Even the fi nal call for the ulti-
mate battle against profi t-oriented, uncompetitive, politically infl uenced journalism
does not provide solutions to the detected problems, but rather, mere descriptions of
what is desired.
Professional dynamics was described as a carousel where poor economic and social
status, lack of professional and ethical standards and inner-newsroom pressures spin
around the foundations of journalism. Reshaping the power of the profession is ex-
pected to be in the hands of educated professionals, even though other social groups
are acknowledged as contributors to the openness of the profession. This perspec-
tive of the students clearly demarcated their need to strongly participate in the rise
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The Future of Journalism as a System, Profession and Culture: The Perception…
of the fallen profession, while at the same time diminished the role of the audience
in reshaping its core. Similar to the previously discussed section, the changes in this
aspect are anticipated more in terms of general observations rather than concrete
suggestions for professional progress.
The analyzed narratives mostly address the institutional roles of journalism from an
outsiders’ perspective, since students are still only observers of or sporadic partici-
pants in the professional culture. Therefore, the dominant discourse is related to the
entertaining role and various aspects of news sensationalism, which correspond to
market orientation as the third dimension of institutional roles, according to Ha-
nitzsch (2007). Pessimistic views about the future are connected with blurred lines
between the informative and entertaining roles of journalism. Negative perceptions
of citizen journalism and other aspects of audience engagement in news production
are rooted in their impressions of the audience as supporters of lower quality, tab-
loid, sensational journalism rather than contributors who are able to improve the
media content. These ‘elitist’ views strongly correlate to students’ perceptions of the
profession, which they believe should be reshaped only by educated journalists.
This exclusion of ‘the others’ in contemplations of the future derives from students’
disappointment of the celebritization of the news, popular reality programs and easy
entertaining content. The ideals recognized in the settings of ‘old’ democracies of
the West are seen as the cornerstone of the future of journalism in Serbia. That is,
journalists are seen as becoming more independent from various kinds of pressures
in a more pragmatic environment, where the gate-keeping, informative and inter-
pretive roles are seen as prerogatives.
Conclusion
Content analysis of the students’ essays, based on the three theoretical understand-
ings of journalism, has shown a high correlation between academic and student
contemplations about journalism. References to journalism as a culture, profession
and societal system were almost equally present in the students’ narratives. Further-
more, qualitative content analysis of the essays has revealed almost all lines of
scholarly thinking presented in the theoretical overview. The students have ad-
dressed journalism as a system in relation to democratic values and discussed the
autonomy of journalism from economic and political sub-systems. Further, the stu-
dents have referred to journalism as a profession and have raised the issue of educa-
tion as a precondition for entering the profession, the low economic and social sta-
tus of journalists, upholding professional and ethical standards, and professional
integrity and autonomy. Three distinctive themes regarding students’ perceptions of
journalism as a culture were identifi ed: the entertaining role; informative, gate-
keeping and watchdog role; and interpretative role.
100
Medij. istraž. (god. 22, br. 2) 2016. (83-105)
These results might correspond with arguments about the globalization of journal-
ism education (Deuze, 2006), journalism ethics (Ward, 2005), consolidation of oc-
cupational ideology (Deuze, 2008), or even news (Leuven & Berglez, 2015), which
are coherent with the outlined trend of consolidating journalism studies. However,
another interpretation is also possible. The fi ndings in this research could be in
alignment with calls for de-westernizing media studies and journalism (Curran &
Park, 2000; Josephi, 2005) and rising awareness about the dominance of the Anglo-
American model of teaching and practicing journalism. This perspective can be
amplifi ed by the well-known discrepancy between the principles of journalism and
professional practice within the context of the Serbian media system. Although the
crisis of journalism can be considered to be global (McChesney, 2003; Russial et al.,
2015), its local shape clearly emerges from the students’ narratives. The students
have outlined almost all the challenges that journalism in Serbia faces, and demon-
strated an excellent understanding of the national media landscape. Starting from
normative predispositions of journalism, they have been highly critical about the
way journalism functions in Serbia. However, their contestations were not coupled
with a proper comprehension of the trajectories of media democratization. Namely,
recent overviews of the transitional process in the CEE have highlighted the short-
comings of moulding rather diversifi ed post-communist settings according to the
same western model (Jakubowicz & Sükösd, 2008). Serbian journalism students
have evaluated the current trends as departing from the same postulates, and have
neglected the complex layers of different historical periods.
This analysis has also shown how students’ perceptions about the future of journal-
ism have been signifi cantly shaped both by the Serbian media landscape and the UB
FPS journalism curricula. On the one hand, they are well aware of the shortcomings
of the current state of journalism in the country and show some commitment to act
as agents of change in the future. On the other hand, their contemplations have been
rather infl uenced by the faculty’s journalism curricula and, moreover, by personal
views of the professors they have quoted throughout the essays. We noticed that
students, even when writing about their own perceptions, sometimes cited the views
of their professors heard during the journalism courses and therefore built the essays
around those thoughts. This infl uence was revealed in the students’ idealized views
on quality journalism, which they insisted should employ only highly educated pro-
fessionals, or through their labelling of the tabloids and tabloid journalists as ‘dig-
gers of social garbage’ that they would not want to become. More broadly, as this
analysis has shown, the students’ views were more descriptive than analytical,
mostly mirroring the current Serbian media landscape and lessons learnt during the
previous years of studies.
Based on these results, it is recommended that journalism educators in Serbia imple-
ment more courses on media and journalism history in Serbia, while more broadly,
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The Future of Journalism as a System, Profession and Culture: The Perception…
scholars could ask themselves whether they foster pure ‘reproduction’ of knowledge
and nurture conformist attitudes, or support the development of ‘independent thinkers’.
Overall, this article stresses that students’ voices should be included more in discus-
sions on the legacy of journalism, its performance and multilayered manifestations.
Although the analysis relied on the perceptions of Belgrade University students, we
have tried to move forward from the national boundaries and to provide an interpre-
tation of the contemporary global developments, malfunctions and challenges that
journalism has been facing. Therefore, the presented results may serve as a solid
basis for further studies in this fi eld and may be enriched by national, regional or
global comparisons.
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Budućnost novinarstva kao sustava,
profesije i kulture kako to vide studenti
novinarstva
Ana Milojević
Aleksandra Krstić
Aleksandra Ugrinić
SAŽETAK
U posljednje vrijeme postoji jaka potreba da se tradicionalno novinarstvo redefi nira.
Namjera ovog rada jest uključiti glasove budućih novinara u tu debatu. Stoga je
studentima novinarstva Sveučilišta u Beogradu zadano pisanje eseja o budućnosti
novinarstva. Radi sistematiziranja njihovih pripovijesti, tri teorijska shvaćanja no-
vinarstva uvode se na temelju pregleda literature: novinarstvo kao društveni sustav,
profesija i kultura. Eseji su ispitani pomoću kvantitativne i kvalitativne analize sa-
držaja i kritičke analize diskursa. U radu se raspravljaju studentska predviđanja pro-
mjena u novinarstvu kao sustavu, zanimanju i kulturi, s posebnom pozornošću pre-
ma korištenom leksiku kako bi se dekonstruirao način na koji studenti procjenjuju
budućnost novinarstva. Nadalje, rad pokazuje također i kako studenti percipiraju
svoju ulogu u redefi niranju novinarstva.
Ključne riječi: studije novinarstva, novinarstvo, studenti, kritička analiza diskursa,
budućnost novinarstva
