Not Quite Professional

Abstract

It has been suggested that professionalization was being attempted in the nineteenth century by newspaper clubs and associations. For instance, the Missouri Press Association has been shown to have had a strong interest in the professionalization of journalism. However, the extent of this interest throughout the breadth of newspaper groups in the nineteenth century has not been previously investigated. There is evidence of a strong bohemian influence in nineteenth century Chicago newspaper clubs. However, the presence of non-bohemian newspaper clubs in other cities suggests Chicago newspaper clubs in the nineteenth century deserve closer examination. This research examined sources from the nineteenth century to better understand the essence of nineteenth century Chicago newspaper clubs and whether all Chicago newspaper clubs were bohemian as suggested by previous research or followed the lead of other newspaper organizations with an interest in professionalization.

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Stephen A. Banning

STEPHEN A. BANNING is an associate professor and associate dean of the Graduate School at Bradley University. He researches journalists’ aspirations to become professionals, as well as journalistic codes of ethics, clubs, and university education. His research has been published in nineteen peer-reviewed journals including American Journalism, Journalism History, and Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly.