Extending the professional borders or maintaining the status quo? Union membership as boundary work

Abstract

Disruption and changes within the profession of journalism instigate boundary disputes. In this article, we analyse boundary work ‘in the making’, with the debate about membership rules within the Norwegian Union of Journalists as a case. The research question asked is: How do positioning and rhetoric in the membership debate evoke boundary struggles in journalism, and how do they reflect the internal professional hierarchy? Theoretically anchored in the sociology of professions, this study is based on qualitative text analysis of debate articles in the specialist magazines Journalisten and Medier24, as well as qualitative interviews. The findings suggest two main positions. On the one hand, a struggle to protect pure professional identity, values, and integrity. On the other, arguments regarding union power and impact and the contention that in today’s digital media landscape journalism in practice involves a wide range of competencies. The two positions suggest a tension between white-collar professionalism and blue-collar unionism. This study contributes to our understanding of the shifting boundaries of journalism, and how changes in external conditions also impact upon internal professional identity.