Illusio and disillusionment: expectations met or disappointed among young journalists

Abstract

Recent developments in journalism seemingly curtail a satisfying work environment and contribute to journalists experiencing discrepancies between initial job expectations and actual day-to-day practices. This can lead to disillusionment, challenging journalists’ dedication to their job. Research indicates that young journalists are particularly affected by the symptoms of the journalistic crisis and thus exhibit low job commitment. This study examines the extent to which their initial job motivations and expectations are met or disappointed in practice. We apply Bourdieu’s concept of illusio to advance our understanding of expectations and experiences in the journalistic field and as an explanation for why journalists tend to remain in the profession. Based on in-depth interviews with 40 Austrian journalists we found that autonomy constitutes a key facet of the field’s illusio, both as an ideal of journalistic work, as well as the superior reason to become a journalist despite the awareness of financial drawbacks. While respondents are disillusioned by the lack of autonomous decision-making in everyday work, they still adhere to the ideal of acting as autonomous providers of information and thus remain in the profession. Crucially, they believe that accepting periods of precarity, as well as less autonomous work empowers them to better contribute to journalism’s societal mission.

“If only these conversations had happened in induction.” Influencing employee aspiration with action learning-led inductions in the Big Four

“…Rebecca identifies how she has disengaged from firm promotional activities and has instead re-focused her actions on self-benefiting activities. As employees may perform actions that are in harmony with the practical logic concerned with the probability of successful outcomes (Pirrodi, 2021), a re-evaluation of the value of the game and whether to invest time and effort into forms of participation (illusio) may have a negative impact on the field (Threadgold, 2018; Nölleke et al. , 2022).…”

“…Rebecca identifies how she has disengaged from firm promotional activities and has instead re-focused her actions on self-benefiting activities. As employees may perform actions that are in harmony Induction in the Big Four with the practical logic concerned with the probability of successful outcomes (Pirrodi, 2021), a re-evaluation of the value of the game and whether to invest time and effort into forms of participation (illusio) may have a negative impact on the field (Threadgold, 2018;N€ olleke et al, 2022). As pre-existing dispositions help to establish an interest in entering a field and can inform expectations and aspirations from it (Bourdieu, 1986), so too can the resulting knowledge of the field and game.…”

Jornalistas em Tempo de Pandemia: Novas Rotinas Profissionais, Novos Desafios Éticos

“…All this takes place in a context where journalists are particularly fragile, many of them with reduced worktime and pay (via lay-off), many others having been dismissed, and all of them, to a certain extent, fearful about their future (Camponez & Oliveira, 2021;Garcia et al, 2021). Precarious working conditions are a highly sensitive factor for the development of a kind of journalism that respects the highest professional standards and ethical principles, based on independence and autonomy (Waisbord, 2019), therefore, times like these added further difficulties to an area already weakened and marked by feelings of increasing professional disenchantment (Nölleke et al, 2020). This element becomes even more relevant when it is suggested that the more precarious and younger fringes of the profession are the most exposed ones to burnouts and overwork, which accentuates a sense of dissatisfaction, disappointment or cynicism concerning the activity (Christians et al, 2020;Reinardy, 2011).…”

Book Review: Happiness in Journalism, by Valérie Bélair-Gagnon, Avery E. Holton, Mark Deuze, and Claudia Mellado

“…The edited volume addresses journalists' happiness also as a collective endeavor and considers structural barriers. However, future research and guidelines could more explicitly examine the meaning of place (Usher, 2019) as well as structural barriers to access the profession for journalists' happiness (Nölleke et al, 2022). We must not forget that most journalism is practiced in a capitalist system and risks of safety, financial, and subjective well-being are increasingly put on the individual journalist (Cohen et al, 2019).…”