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Abstract
Public service has been seen as a powerful element in the professional self-definition of journalists. In this article I examine the renegotiation of the ideal of public service by analysing Finnish press journalists’ ways of constructing and representing it in interview talk. The data analysed consists of 32 in-depth interviews with press journalists conducted in 2003–4. The interviewees’ talk is understood discursively. Among the interviewees the discourse of the societal newspaper was challenged by that of the market-oriented press. According to the data analysed, the two discourses are simultaneously present and intertwined in the practice of newsrooms. Accordingly, they both appear fundamental in defining the future of the ideal of public service. For these reasons, the discursive negotiation of “good” journalism in the Finnish press can be characterized as a hybrid. What seems to be important is that together the discourses of the market-oriented newspaper and that of the societal newspaper form a continuum of different ideals and tasks; the professional role constructed for a journalist comprises a rich, fluid spectrum of responsibilities—informing, entertaining and empowering.
Notes
1. The interviewees included in this study were: Keskisuomalainen (10), Savon Sanomat (10), Keskipohjanmaa (six), Aamulehti (two), Helsingin Sanomat (two), Kaleva (one) and Turun Sanomat (one). The 19 journalists interviewed were from Keskisuomalainen, Savon Sanomat and Keskipohjanmaa. The 13 editors-in-chief and news editors/producers interviewed were from Keskisuomalainen, Savon Sanomat, Keskipohjanmaa, Aamulehti, Helsingin Sanomat, Kaleva and Turun Sanomat. In Keskipohjanmaa, Keskisuomalainen and Savon Sanomat the study continued later as action research. During it I participated in news-making processes by discussing them with journalists and constructing and helping with them by means of development tasks.