Ideals and Motivations of Journalism Students

While the role of university journalism education in the professionalization of journalists has been extensively debated, systematic and comparative studies of journalism students are still scarce. This paper reports the findings from a comparative study of journalism students in seven countries: Australia, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States. The data show a number of similarities, but also important differences between pre-professional cultures in journalism around the world. The findings are in line with recent conceptualizations of media systems, although some variations and particularities are observed at the country level. While students in all countries reject a loyal approach and favor a citizen-oriented role, they also do so to different extents. Brazilian and Chilean students believe in the citizen-oriented and watchdog roles, whereas their counterparts in Australia, Switzerland, and the United States favor the consumer-oriented approach to a greater extent. Mexican and Spanish students, on the other hand, while supporting the citizen-oriented role, reject the loyal role comparatively less than the rest of the countries.

"Resumen:
El artículo se centra en investigar las diferencias de percepción de las realidades profesionales y sociales según la pertenencia socio-profesional del ámbito familiar de los futuros periodistas y según la pertenencia de género. La metodología se basa en dos niveles de estudio. El primero responde al análisis de los datos empíricos sobre las características sociales de los estudiantes de periodismo antes de integrar los estudios dispensados por los centros de formación profesionalizada en periodismo de las universidades públicas de Estrasburgo, Burdeos, Tours y Marsella. El segundo nivel de análisis se construye a partir de toda una serie de entrevistas en profundidad que trazan el pasado familiar y permiten conocer los valores y representaciones de la profesión de los estudiantes del Instituto de Periodismo de Burdeos. Los resultados demuestran que los estudiantes de periodismo no son una categoría homogénea. Las diferencias respecto a su origen social resultan notables e influyen sobremanera en el imaginario de la profesión.

Abstract:
This article analyses how differently future journalists perceive the professional and social realities of journalism according to their gender and socio-economic background. The study is based on two methods. The first method is the empirical analysis of the social features of the students of the schools of journalism of the public universities of Strasbourg, Bordeaux, Tours and Marseille, at the start of their studies. The second method is a series of in-depth interviews that investigate the family history, values and perceptions about journalism of the students of the Institute of Journalism of Bordeaux. The results show that journalism students are not a homogeneous group. Their social backgrounds are remarkably different and greatly influence their perception of the profession of journalism."