More than a cliche? Futureproofing meaningful notions of professionalism in journalism teaching

Abstract

Despite the existential challenge posed by a notion of professionalism within journalism both individually and organisationally, for many practitioners, it has become synonymous with good or even ‘ethical’ journalism practice. This has led to the contention that ‘professionalism’ is now an inherent component of a broader understanding of what constitutes ‘quality’ journalism. And although a paradigm of professionalism such as that alluded to in the Leveson Report might be effective within real world journalism practice, a pilot study analysing the use of the term ‘professionalism’ demonstrates that when it comes to journalism teaching, identifying the contexts in which such a notion is understood appears to be problematic.