Files and links (1)
Wandels_Nils_20242.78 MB
PDF Embargoed Access, Embargo ends: 31 Oct 2026
Dissertation
Transformations in the field of journalism
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Drexel University
Sep 2024
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/00010714
Abstract
Ideas about the societal function of the press have been evolving ever since the emergence of modern journalism. Throughout history, journalists have legitimized their privileged position as a status group in terms of "common sense" modes of thought that run through society ("doxa"). This, in turn, has affected their interpretation of the journalistic professional identity (the journalistic "nomos"), which is centered around values such as public service, autonomy, and objectivity. In this doctoral thesis, we have examined how the neoliberal doxic shift in the West that took place in the 1980s and 1990s has affected journalists' interpretations of their professional identity. By pursuing a qualitative socio-historical approach, we attempt to illuminate the dialectic relationship between macro-societal transformations on the one hand, and the collective construction of a journalistic professional consciousness on the other. This analysis is based on a data-set of 36 semi-structured interviews with Flemish and American high-agency individuals that have worked in the field of journalism between 1980 and today (primarily (former) chief editors and senior journalists). Via diachronic analysis of interviewee testimonies, we have produced a genealogy of the emergence of neoliberal doxa in the field of journalism, and have mapped its eventual impact on journalistic professionalism. This examination provides additional insight into the processes that transform the journalistic field, challenging both normative discourse upheld by journalists and dominant interpretive frameworks within the field of journalism studies. Moreover, in light of recent macro-societal and geopolitical paradigmatic shifts, we argue that our research can provide theoretical grounds for the critical interpretation of present-day media behaviors.
Metrics
73 File views/ downloads
22 Record Views
Details
- Title
- Transformations in the field of journalism
- Creators
- Nils Wandels
- Contributors
- Jelle Mast (Advisor)Hilde Van den Bulck (Advisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Drexel University
- Degree Awarded
- Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
- Publisher
- Drexel University; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Number of pages
- 250 pages
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- College of Arts and Sciences; Communication, Culture, and Media; Communication; Drexel University
- Other Identifier
- 991021906712304721