Att vara eller att inte vara journalist : En kvalitativ studie om svenska journaliststudenters uppfattning av professionell identitet i det journalistiska fältet

This thesis examines how Stockholm-based journalism students perceive journalistic professional identity during their education. The purpose of this thesis is thus to expand the knowledge of how Swedish journalism students give meaning to their future work in an increasingly changeable labor market. To this end, 15 journalism students from the bachelor program in journalism studies at Stockholm University and Södertörn University were interviewed at the beginning of 2023. Using Mark Deuze's theoretical framework of journalism as a professional ideology and Pierre Bourdieu's field theory, specifically about the journalistic field, the thesis reveals that Stockholm-based journalism students support traditional journalistic norms and ideals, such as public service, ethics, objectivity, and immediacy. The students also value traditional forms of capital, such as cultural, social, and symbolic capital, at the beginning of their journalistic careers. However, due to technological innovations, the journalistic field has changed, and the journalism students, therefore, perceive the journalist's role as expanded and more digital than it previously has been. To make it as a journalist today, digital capital is therefore a necessity. Furthermore, the journalism students struggle to make sense of the journalistic field and the expectations directed at them as new journalists since there is a tension between these expectations and how the journalistic field is structured. The thesis also reveals that there are inconsistencies in how Stockholm-based journalism students relate to their future work; these inconsistencies demonstrate the conflict that journalists face between the market and professional freedom. The thesis concludes with a discussion about the future of journalism, and how journalism education plays a crucial part in shaping this future.