Public interest or self-interest? How journalism attracts future journalists

Abstract

Since the 1990s, Western society and its media have veered towards increased market orientation. In this process, values of individualisation and self-interest have emerged as important patterns. Research has shown that media professionals have become slightly more commercially oriented over time, although public interest remains the most important factor when the duties of journalism are fulfilled. What can be said, however, about the journalists of the future? This study aims at analysing why students from different generations are attracted by journalism as profession. It is done by drawing empirical support from two questionnaires completed by first-year students in Sweden in 1994 and 2012. The analysis deals with approximately 160 journalism students and takes as its point of departure the theoretical framework of commercialisation and generational belonging. The main result shows that journalism students have moved slightly towards an increased market orientation but similarly also towards an increased focus on public interest. The article discusses how this change may affect journalism as a media practice in the future.

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