Journalism and Prekarization

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Thomas Hanitzsch
• Subject Area: Communication Sciences
• Term: from 2019 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 423389347

The Project examines the effects of precarious employment on journalists (RQ1) and on their work (RQ2). Furthermore, the study aims at exploring the adaptive response of journalists, including but not limited to aspects of journalistic entrepreneurship (RQ3). The aim is to establish how media professionals perceive the influence of the labor market conditions on their personal wellbeing, their professional conduct and their reporting, and which competences (in the sense of knowledge and skills) are required for adaptation – e.g., a professional (re-)orientation in the field of entrepreneurial journalism. From a theoretical and conceptual point of view, the project breaks new ground by combining journalism research with sociological precarization research. With the help of this approach, the study closes a research gap by investigating the effects of precarious employment conditions on journalists in various employment situations and, in particular, by examining the subjective perception of precariousness and its consequences for everyday journalistic work and the journalistic product. In addition, the project aims to investigate which solutions freelance journalists are pursuing, since this occupational group in particular finds itself in precarious working conditions. On the basis of a (1) standardized survey of 600 journalists, the study aims to shed light on how the precarization of the profession affects their lives and work. To deepen the findings, (2) qualitative interviews will be conducted with a total of 50 selected journalists. Finally, in a (3) project-related workshop, the research results will be discussed with representatives from academia and practice and thus fed back into the journalism education and practice.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants