ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the internal mechanisms of journalists struggling to maintain their common professional identity, as the journalistic field as a whole is becoming increasingly insecure and fragmented. It focuses on a few attributes that are closely tied to those structural changes of the field, and around which new subgroups of journalists may align: namely, age and employment status. It investigates journalistic boundaries with reference to structural changes of external as well as internal character. As has been indicated in the chapter, there is an increasing discrepancy between what journalists say and how they go about performing their work. Professional autonomy is a privilege that increasingly seems to be reserved for a few, high-profile journalists with very specialized skills. These journalists bring us great journalism, but they also bear the risk of becoming culprits in the dismantling of the journalistic profession as the gap within the group widens.
