A Theory of Professional Identity in Journalism: Connecting Discursive Institutionalism, Socialization, and Psychological Resilience Theory

Abstract

Studies about journalists’ professional identity have so far been scarce. However, understanding the constitution and formation processes of professional identity helps to explore journalists’ and journalism’s identity, performance, and adaption to challenges. The study enhances theories about journalistic roles, professional identity, and adaptation processes in journalism, based on a synthesis of literature from different fields as well as qualitative interviews with 20 journalists from print and online Swiss newspapers. This research proposes a model that explains: (a) the constitution of professional identity in journalism as an additive, relational, and hierarchical concept; and (b) the process of formation at three distinct level of analysis. The idea is that different theories address adaptation processes on distinctive analytical fields: discursive institutionalism captures the relationship between journalists’ and journalism’s identity (macro); socialization theory focuses on the adaption process into a social community (meso); and resilience theory explains individuals’ adaptation in face of challenges (micro).