1. Ferment in the field: Professionalism under fire Ullamaija Kivikuru NSS Intensive course in Lusaka

2. Professionalism: Starting point Theory Practice Theory: concepts andPractice: real knowledge institutions life with its concerns and needs Thinking Action Idea of profession as solution to combine them

3. First wave: Professional ideals in journalism (Jay Blumler) Traditional: –eyewitness (on-the-spot reporting or an illusion of it) –observer (does not take stand) Blumler: –entertainer –social critic –”member of kibbutz”, participant

4. Transfer of professionalism (Peter Golding) Institutional transfer (leads to ”wholesale” acquisition of modes, practices, standards & imported material) Educational transfer (scholarships, expert teachers, import of training schemes and teaching materials, North/South) Skills orientation takes easily over, and mainstream professionalism is not adjusted according the the quests of society.

5. Our time: Civic/public/citizen media, social media: the concept of professionalism under scrutiny Audience participation in ’new’ journalism The public takes over: participatory platforms (Indymedia Movement, etc.) Community media (based on voluntarims) But: Some forms of professionalism tend to emerge with time (community media, OhmyNews, etc.), both on skills and theory level

6. Sociology of professions: Main traditions Functionalist-idealist view (Durkheim, Weber, Parsons) professions as specialization and development in society strengthening social cohesion, replacing pre-industrial moral order and religion optimistic vision, part of modernity (“Journalists as marketers of modernity”) Critical-realist view (since 1960s) professions as bastions of elitism weakening democracy, making citizens to passive consumers turning into new religion

7. There is always a link to power Authoritarian Commercial Paternal Democratic Postmodernist (Raymond Williams, Hannu Nieminen)

13. Said about professional journalism Citizenship civic journalism and social media shrink the profession Liquid media work disperse the profession Self-regulation codes of ethics and courts of honor support narrow autonomy Professional autonomy helps industry against democracy Self-regulation removes media outside democratic control Journalism education professional training nurtures narrow professionalism Multimedia needs in curricula push liberal arts aside

14. So what? Such dilemmas and paradoxes are real and healthy as intellectual stimulation for the field which suffers from self-sufficiency and technological fascination. Challenge to professionalism is welcome as a cure against the “fortress journalism” syndrome