Tensions between the professional and academic worlds of journalism: Paradoxes of the Brazilian reality

Abstract

For 40 years, Brazil was one of the few places in the world in which the regulation of journalistic activity was based on the requirement of a university degree, which associated being a journalist with having an academic qualification and not necessarily a professional one, unlike other countries that established or not licensing/accreditation systems. In the light of historical sociology, this article aims to scrutinize this intricacy of relationships between the professional and academic worlds of journalism, based on the case of the largest media market and scholarship in Latin America. It is shown how, between 1969 and 2013, there was tension and resistance on the part of international press associations, national news media companies and renowned journalists in relation to the mandatory diploma defended by the unions; as well as there were disputes and demands, within the community of professors and researchers, for the emancipation of journalism education in relation to communication studies.