ABSTRACT

This chapter looks at what happens to those people who become journalists, how structures limit their agency as individuals, and what alternatives are available to them. It considers how changes in practices and structures are impacting the autonomy of journalism. People have a wealth of material to draw upon which shows them what journalists do: memoirs, films, fiction and empirical research. News organizations increasingly see amateurs, as a source of free labour, allowing them to lower staff costs. The freedom of journalism from state interference is widely agreed upon as a principle in most democratic countries and news organizations jealously guard their independence. In a study of journalists across the world by the International Federation of Journalists, concern about the impact of advertisers on editorial independence was mentioned in Pakistan, Serbia and Australia. In the UK, their effectiveness has been undermined by casualization, economic insecurity and the lack of statutory rights for people who wish to join trade unions.