1st Edition
Journalistic Professionalism in Higher Education Teaching and Defining Journalism in the UK
By Ato Erzan-Essien
Copyright 2026
140 Pages
by
Routledge
140 Pages
by
Routledge
Also available as eBook on:
This book provides a rich exploration of how concepts of contemporary journalistic professionalism are understood, articulated, and taught by journalism educators in higher education settings in the UK.
Drawing on in-depth interviews with HE journalism instructors, the author identifies the key themes and drivers behind definitions of journalistic professionalism and considers how these... Read more
Part One: Context and Rationale
Chapter One
- The contemporary media environment: Its impact on trust and engagement
- Covid-19 to AI
- Notions of journalistic professionalism in current pedagogy
- Research hypothesis
- Methodology
- Data collection
- Using evaluation in analysis
- Ethical considerations
- Research design
- Research participants
- List of references
Chapter Two
- Social responsibility, ethics and professionalism
- Defining journalistic professionalism holistically
- Determinate and indeterminate professions
- The routine/non-routine dichotomy
- Social responsibility and journalistic gatekeeping
- The professional milieus
- What is ‘good’ journalism?
- List of references
Chapter Three
- Journalistic professionalism: Key themes
- Academization and professionalism
- Academization and notions of journalistic professionalism
- Organizational professionalism
- The existential journalist
- The Ethical theme in normative practice
- Professionalism and the ‘practice versus theory’ dichotomy in journalism education
- A practice-centred approach
- Leveson and ethics in journalism education
- List of references
Part Two: Interview Findings and Analysis
Chapter Four
- Research participants and interview questions
- Perspectives on academization
- Defining journalistic professionalism
- List of references
Chapter Five
- The Cognitive-Organizational theme
- Professionalism and ethics
- Alternative terminology
- Field experience and academic rigour
- List of references
Chapter Six
- The Evaluative-Existential theme
- Social responsibility and professionalism
- What is a journalist?
- Personal experience
- External perspectives
- List of references
Chapter Seven
- The Normative-Ethical theme
- Standards of practice and ethics
- Ethics in journalism education
- List of references
Chapter Eight
- Conclusion
- Research aim
- The ongoing existential challenges to journalistic professionalism
- Themes in journalistic professionalism
- Normative practice and Social Responsibility Theory
- Autonomy as a notion of professionalism
- ‘Doing as you are told’
- Social responsibility as a feature of journalistic professionalism
- Experience informing journalism learning and teaching
- Adapting journalism learning and teaching to address diminishing levels of trust in the field
- Towards a new definition of journalistic professionalism
- Societal service and the commercial imperative
- The journalist as ‘insider-outsider’
- List of references
Biography
Ato Erzan-Essien is a Senior Lecturer in Journalism and Course Leader for International Journalism at the University of Lancashire, UK.
