Journalists for the 21st Century

Slavko Splichal, Colin Sparks

This book reports the results of a comparative survey of journalism students in university-level institutions in 22 countries of the major world regions. The survey and analysis are guided by a critical discussion of concepts of journalistic professionalism and the role played by education and training in developing such ideas. The book explores the origins and motivations of students, and the ambitions they have as future journalists. The students had three different concepts of the role of the press: the enlightenment model in which the prime functions is to educate and inform; the power model, ensuring the views of socially powerful groups are publicized; and the entertainment model, which provides the audience with distractions. With a strong desire for professional status, they believe that the form of media ownership dominant in their own society is a major threat to press freedom.