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The Worlds of Journalism Study (WJS) is an academically driven project that was founded to regularly assess the state of journalism throughout the world. The Study’s primary objective is to help journalism researchers and policy makers better understand worldviews and changes that are taking place in the professional orientations of journalists, the conditions and limitations under which they operate, as well as the social functions of journalism in a changing world.
Networking international journalism scholarship
A joint effort of researchers from more than 70 countries, the project aspires to highest standards of scientific collaboration, democratic participation and collective publishing. In so doing, we hope that the WJS will become a vehicle for the comparative study of journalism, and an institutional home for those who engage in it. The basic principles of cooperation are formulated in the Study's Statute.
Pilot study: exploring journalism cultures, influences and trust
Originally planned as a pilot project and fielded in 2007-2009, the Study's initiators carried out interviews with 2100 journalists from more than 400 news organizations in 21 countries. This first project had focused on differences in journalism cultures (the role perceptions, epistemological orientations and ethical views of journalists), as well as on perceived influences on the news and journalists' trust in public institutions.
The study's findings and conceptual background are published in various academic journals, including Communication Theory, International Communication Gazette, International Journal of Press/Politics, Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, and Journalism Studies. On the basis of our findings we were, for instance, able to identify four global professional milieus of journalists that exist almost everywhere in the world: the populist disseminator, detached watchdog, critical change agent, and the opportunist facilitator (see Figure). (read more)
A number of tables with country scores on selected key variables are available for download from the Downloads section.
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Hanitzsch, T. (2011). Populist disseminators, detached watchdogs, critical change agents and opportunist facilitators: Professional milieus, the journalistic field and autonomy in 18 countries. International Communication Gazette 73(6): 477-494.
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Hanitzsch, T. et al. (2011). Mapping Journalism Cultures across Nations: A Comparative Study of 18 Countries. Journalism Studies 12(3): 273-293.
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Hanitzsch, T. & Mellado, C. (2011). What Shapes the News around the World? How journalists in 18 countries perceive influences on their work. International Journal of Press/Politics 16(3): 404-426.
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