ABSTRACT
Professionalism as a mechanism of control is omnipresent in organizations that exhibit a hierarchical structure, work standardization, and external regulation, 'organizational professionalism'; it is in their recruitment campaigns and mission statements, in their training manuals, and in their managerial literature. Journalism began its professionalization project in the early part of the 20th century, gradually adding traits such as objectivity to the definition of journalistic professionalism. Moving away from the traits approach allows for an assessment of where power is asserted by affirming professionalism in journalism. It is evident from the responses that Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) journalists employed a traits approach to defining a professional journalist. The chapter describes heterogeneity in the views of the BRICS journalists about the dimensions that comprise the construct of professionalism, but they also indicate some similarities. For journalists in all five BRICS countries, information dissemination, interpretation, and public service were the main functions of journalism.
