Volume 2 Issue 2, Article
Tome 2 numéro 2, Article

Jennifer Leask, Susan Harada, and Danielle J. Rieger

Roles, Values, and Qualifications in Transition:
An Initial Data Snapshot of Post-secondary Journalism Educators in Canada and Their Perspectives on Where Journalism is Going

Through participation in a 2021 global survey of journalism educators, we sought to understand Canadian educators’ academic and professional qualifications, their notions of how their roles should change, their perspectives on the future roles and values of journalists, and their alignment with instructors in Europe. Canadian study participants indicated that monitorial journalism, emphasizing verifiable reporting and civic functions, should become more important, along with journalism focusing on members of the audience as citizens, rather than consumers.

Keywords: journalism, journalism education, values, roles, Drok, news

Rôles, valeurs, et qualifications en transition :
Un premier aperçu des données sur les enseignants du journalisme au niveau post-secondaire au Canada et leurs perspectives sur l’avenir du journalisme

En participant à une enquête mondiale de 2021 sur les instructeurs de journalisme, nous avons cherché à comprendre les qualifications académiques et professionnelles des éducateurs canadiens, leurs notions sur la façon dont leurs rôles devraient changer, leurs perspectives sur les futurs rôles et valeurs des journalistes, et leur alignement avec les formateurs en Europe. Les participants à l’étude canadienne ont indiqué que le journalisme de veille mettant l’accent sur des reportages vérifiables et des fonctions civiques devrait gagner en importance, de même que le journalisme axé sur les membres du public en tant que citoyens plutôt que consommateurs.

Mots-clés : journalisme, enseignement du journalisme, valeurs, rôles, Drok, nouvelles

Roles, Values, and Qualifications in Transition: An Initial Data Snapshot of Post-secondary Journalism Educators in Canada and Their Perspectives on Where Journalism is Going

Jennifer Leask, Susan Harada, and Danielle J. Rieger

 

There was a time when reporters could work their way to the top of their profession without formal journalism schooling—or without any post-secondary schooling at all—given the longstanding on-the-job approach to industry training (Daniszewski, 2014; Glasser, 2006; Johansen et al., 2001). As years went by, news organizations in Canada and elsewhere more commonly became home to journalists whose paths into the profession included a post-secondary credential (Deuze, 2006; Johansen et al., 2001; Weaver & Willnat, 2012), and increasingly that credential was rooted in journalism. According to the Worlds of Journalism study of Canadian journalists, most survey respondents held a post-secondary diploma or degree and, of that group, a majority had specialized in journalism (Rollwagen et  al.,  2016).  That  these  journalism  degree-credentialed respondents were producing work across the media spectrum for public consumption underscores the view that journalism education is critical (Drok, 2019; Gaunt, 1992; Goodman & Steyn, 2017), a force for “improving the quality of journalism by improving the quality of journalists” (Josephi, 2009, p. 42), with educators wielding an influence on emerging journalists and therefore ultimately “on how journalism gets done” (Deuze, 2006, p. 31).

Surprisingly, given their influence on journalism practice, it seems journalism educators in Canada have not been widely studied. Our survey provides a starting point for future research—a snapshot of Canadian educators’ academic and professional qualifications, their views of their own roles, and their perspectives on the future roles of journalists and journalism. Our survey questions (Appendix 1) were developed by Nico Drok of Windesheim University, Netherlands, initially for his 2018 study of European journalism educators in conjunction with the European Journalism Training Association (Drok, 2019) and, subsequently, for his 2021 global survey, with full results forthcoming (Drok & Duiven, 2023). For clarity in this paper, we refer to Drok’s initial survey as Drok I and his second as Drok II. The survey questions also intersect with several questions put to Canadian journalists by Rollwagen et al. (2016) as part of an ongoing global study of journalists (Worlds of Journalism Study, 2006- 2019), discussed below.

CONTEXT

Decades after the US led the way in launching journalism schools (Barrera & Harnischmacher, 2020; Dickson, 2000; Mensing, 2010; Zelizer, 2004), the first post-secondary journalism program in Canada was established in 1945 at what is now Carleton University, followed closely by programs at the University of Western Ontario and what is now Toronto Metropolitan University (Johansen et al., 2001). From the beginning, the value of journalism programs was challenged on a range of fronts—from their curricula, to their relevance in terms of professional practice, to their place in the academy (e.g., Adam, 2001; Deuze, 2006; Dickson, 2000; Edge, 2004; Zelizer, 2004)—with the debate framed by the perceived tension between scholarly and professional considerations (e.g., Adam, 2001; Edge, 2004; Ehrlich & Saltzman, 2015; Johansen et al., 2001; Reese, 1999). In Europe, where journalism programs “did not significantly develop…until the last third of the twentieth century” (Barrera & Harnischmacher, 2020, p. 368), the ongoing dilemma between theory and practice meant that “academia and media industries generally remained two separate worlds” (Jakubowicz, 2009 as cited in Barrera & Harnischmacher, 2020, p. 380). Over the years, similar tensions existed in Canada (Johansen et al., 2001). Even so, the number of degree-granting programs proliferated. Canada experienced several waves of growth (Johansen et al., 2001) until enrolments began shrinking (Roberts, 2018) in the wake of the industry contraction precipitated by the radical digital transformation of the media ecosystem and the collapse of the longstanding economic model bolstering the “spine of daily journalism” (Drohan, 2016; Lindgren & Corbett, 2022; Public Policy Forum, 2017, p. 14).

The  resulting  upheaval  reverberated  in journalism classrooms as educators grappled with how to recalibrate curricula to prepare students for drastically altered roles in an increasingly digitized society (Dates, 2006; Drok, 2019; Goodman & Steyn, 2017; Lynch, 2015; Mensing, 2010; Webb, 2015). Research involving Canadian post-secondary journalism educators showed a new emphasis on teaching digital skills and the “evolving ethics” related to the developing digital frontier, alongside a corresponding shift—from print to digital reporting and production experience—in teaching qualifications deemed necessary in new faculty hires (Harada et al., 2014). The pedagogical turn to the digital in response to changing journalistic practices corresponded with the experiences of working professionals in Canada; journalists reported a greater demand that they have technical expertise and the ability to utilize search engines and social media (Rollwagen et al., 2016). Journalism educators adapting curricula to equip students with marketable digital skills noted it was “crucial” for the academy “to lead rather than follow the industry” (Harada et al., 2014).

Framed by the enormity of the challenges facing journalism, a global research effort called the Worlds of Journalism Study was launched to chart the shifting roles and functions of journalism. It sought the perspectives of professional journalists around the world: the first phase (2007-2011) focused on journalistic cultures; the second (2012-2016) probed such issues as journalism’s ethics, transformations, and place in society (Worlds of Journalism Study, 2006-2019). Similarly, an international initiative, Journalism Students Across the Globe, sought the views of journalism students about journalism and their reasons for pursuing that line of study and work (Hanusch et al., 2015). Even so, the key link between journalism students and professionals—journalism educators—was largely left unstudied on a large scale until Drok (2019) sought to understand what educators believed were essential journalistic tasks and values for the future. As is the case globally, undertaking similar Canadian data collection is particularly crucial, given the challenges to the very core of journalism’s role: who it represents, at a time when scholars such as Callison and Young (2020) make the case for situating “concerns about technology and economics alongside chronic issues related to power, structure, and epistemology in order to analyze gaps and exclusions” (p. 2); and what it stands for, when “the very value of facts, truth, information and knowledge—the bedrock of journalism and free societies—is under attack” (Goodman, 2017, p. 2).

RESEARCH METHODS

This research aims to explore the following about journalism educators teaching in Canadian post-secondary journalism programs:

RQ1: Who is teaching journalism in Canada?

RQ2: How do journalism instructors view the future journalism labour market and what qualifications do they feel will be needed?

RQ3: How do journalism instructors view the tasks, roles, and values of the work their students will perform when they get to the workplace?

We launched our initial Canadian survey in February 2020, based on the Drok I survey examining European journalism educators (Drok, 2019). Our data collection was subsumed by the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020; research was halted and data collected to that point discounted. In early 2021 we relaunched our Canadian study, this time as part of Drok’s more expansive 2021 global survey (Drok II), involving 37 countries beyond Europe (Drok & Duiven, 2023).

While keeping the core questions of Drok I intact, the Drok II survey added options for gender identification and an updated list of participating countries. Two Canada-specific options were added: one asked participants to identify whether they taught at a college or university; the other asked in which region of Canada their institution was located. Provinces with post- secondary journalism institutions were grouped regionally—Western Canada (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba), Central Canada (Ontario, Quebec), Atlantic Canada (New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia)—to assure anonymity for participants from provinces with few post-secondary journalism programs.

Our  study  was  intended  for  journalism instructors in Canadian English- and French- speaking college and university journalism programs. We identified 41 programs: 33 English and eight French (Appendix 2). Survey invitations to 262 French program educators were managed separately by Marc-François Bernier (Université d’Ottawa) in conjunction with the Théophraste Network, which handled the “French-speaking countries” category for Drok II. We thus contacted only English program heads, requesting names and email addresses of journalism instructors on their 2020-2021 rosters. On January 7, 2021, in tandem with the Drok II global launch, we emailed voluntary survey invitations to 359 educators for a total of 621 potential responses; we followed up with three reminders. The survey closed on March 5, 2021. All data collection/cleaning was managed centrally by Drok, as lead coordinating researcher. Finalized individual country files were sent to research teams for their own specific country analysis.

Our analysis of Canadian data utilized several methodologies: descriptive statistics (to examine such things as demographic data); correlation (to examine any patterns in responses—for example, between demographics and such things as views on teaching qualifications); and Principal Component Analysis or PCA (to examine how the responses of Canadian educators aligned with the analytical framework applied by Drok (2019) in his analysis of European educators). PCA is a machine learning statistical technique to categorize data into dimensions that are interpretable. Drok’s framework used PCA to identify four central journalistic concepts and values—Audience (public service); Power (autonomy); Time (immediacy); Reality (objectivity)—and linked them with the opposing positions within each concept, for a total of eight positions (Audience = consumer v. citizen; Power = neutral v. adversarial attitudes; Time = fast v. slow forms of journalism; Reality = mirror v. interventionist). From those concepts and positions, he identified four major journalistic role orientations for his analytical framework: Disseminator = fast + consumer; Investigator = slow + adversarial; Mobilizer = citizen + interventionist; Observer = neutral + mirror (Drok, 2019, p. 124). We applied PCA to responses from Canadian educators to investigate whether similar dimensions were found.

While recognizing that professional journalistic cultures differ globally (Hanitzsch et al., 2019), we note that global approaches in journalism education could be beneficial (Deuze, 2006), and organizations such as the World Journalism Education Council have been opening the space for dialogue and sharing of best practices between journalism educators in numerous countries (Goodman & Steyn, 2017). We thus utilized Drok’s analytical framework for our data, to allow for a basic comparison of some key responses of Canadian participants with those of European educators in 28 participating countries in Drok I (2019). Future research informed by comparative international work (e.g. Bonin et al., 2017; Hallin et al., 2004; Hanusch et al., 2017) will build on this initial information, but, just as Drok asserted it would not be possible to “explain the deeper causes” (2019, p. 121) for any differences in views between European regions based on his study, it is similarly beyond the scope of this paper to identify deeper causes for any noted differences between Canadian and European educators.

With respect to specific survey questions (Appendix 1), five focusing on journalistic tasks/ roles (Q6, Q8, Q10, Q12, Q14) were open-ended, each asking, “Do you have any comments on the previous question (question number XX)?” Participants could choose “no” or “yes (please specify)” and could add optional comments. Two questions about teacher and student futures (Q15, Q20) included the open-ended “Something else? Please specify briefly” with an optional comment box. Following Drok (2019, p. 42), we organize all resulting comments into 1–2 main categories and present illustrative examples.

When possible, we compare qualifications and perspectives of Canadian journalism educators with Canadian journalists who participated in the Rollwagen et al. (2016) research, which probed some similar areas as part of the larger Worlds of Journalism Study (Rollwagen et al., 2019; Rollwagen et al., 2016).

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

A total of 621 educators identified in Canadian English (n = 359) and French programs (n = 262) in the Western (n = 118), Central (n = 464) and Atlantic (n = 39) regions were invited to participate in the voluntary survey. This number has been adjusted to reflect that when an instructor taught at more than one institution, they were counted as one potential respondent when totalling the number of instructors per region, though they may have received more than one invitation. Further, if an instructor taught in more than one region, as they may have been an adjunct on a visiting basis during the period of the study, they were counted once in the region where they were not considered visiting.

Data for our study is a subset of survey responses collected for Drok II (Drok & Duiven, 2023), wherein respondents indicated the location of their institution was Canada. Data cleaning by Drok removed 19 respondents due to data irregularities for a total of 113 valid survey participants; 109 completed the entire questionnaire, a 17.5% overall completion rate. The totals in each category do not always add up to 100% of participants due to missing responses. We note that research constraints include limited response to our voluntary survey and a lack of data—both demographic and perspectival—related to issues of equity, diversity and inclusion.

RQ1: Who is teaching journalism in Canada?

Respondents self-selected which region they came from as part of the study. A majority of participants (66.4%, n = 75, 16.5% of invited Central region educator population total) are based centrally; 24.8% (n = 28, 23.7% of total invited) teach in the Western region: and 8.9% (n = 10, 25.6% of total invited) in the Atlantic region. Overall, 80.5% (n = 91) of participants took the survey in English and 19.5% (n = 22) in French. A majority of participants teach at a university (69%, n = 78, 15.8% of total university-level invitees), while 29.2% (n = 33, 23.4% of total) teach at a college; 65.5% (n = 74, 24.8% of total FT invitees) work full-time, while 34.5% (n = 39, 11.5% of total) work part-time. It should be noted three of the invitees teach at both the college and university level.

There were more male participants (48.7%, n = 55) than female (38.9%, n = 44). One respondent identified as non-binary; 13 did not identify gender. Given the numbers, analyses will only examine gender comparisons by males and females. Participants tended to be 50 years or older. Specifically, there was 0.9% (n = 1) in the 20-29 age group, 11.5% (n = 13) in the 30-39 group, 18.6% (n = 21) in the 40-49 group, 30.1% (n = 34) in the 50-59 group, 23.9% (n = 27) in the 60-69 group, and 8.8% (n = 10) in the 70-plus group. Due to the smaller size of this sample, age group comparisons going forward will recategorize age groups further; we will examine younger participants aged 20-49 (32.3%), and older participants aged 50 or older (67.7%).

A majority of participants holds a graduate degree: 21.2% (n = 24) have a PhD; 43.4% (n = 49) have a Master’s degree; 20.4% (n = 25) have a Bachelor degree. Due to small numbers of participants reporting less than a Bachelor’s degree, this variable was recoded for later analyses; the new groupings will reflect educational degrees obtained as PhD (21.2%), Master (43.4%), and lower levels including Bachelor, college, secondary, or other (31.1%). Participants were asked about their years of professional journalism experience; overall, responses included individuals with extensive experience. To support statistical analysis with greater numbers per group, the frequency variable was recoded to reflect years of practical experience in groups of 0-15 years (30.1%, n = 34), 16-30 years (36.3%, n = 41) and 30+ years (27.4%, n = 31). A large majority of participants teaches journalism skills or principles (85%, n = 96), while a smaller number teach communication science/media theory (8.0%, n = 8). Additional subjects taught include language; research methods; advertising/PR; creative non-fiction; graphic design; photojournalism; equity, diversity and inclusion; or other.

We examined the demographic breakdown by gender, age, education, experience, language and institution descriptively. French speakers are more likely than English speakers to have attained a graduate education level (90.9% versus 63.1%, respectively) and are more likely to teach at universities than English-speaking participants (95% versus 64.8%, respectively), and those with a Master’s degree or PhD are more likely to teach at universities (85.2% versus 26.6%, respectively). Based on participant responses, a Canadian journalism educator, in general, is more likely to be an older male with a Master’s degree and extensive practical experience as a journalist who is now teaching university-level journalism skills and/or principles on a full-time basis. That more participants are male in the 50-plus category is unsurprising. According to Statistics Canada (2021), the median age of full-time teaching staff at Canadian universities across disciplines is 51 years (males and females), with a significantly higher number of males on staff than females (Statistics Canada, 2021). While direct comparisons cannot be made and the statistics exclude colleges, the overall age and gender demographics at universities generally align with those of this study’s participants.

Also unsurprising is the extensive professional experience of participants. Within the context of ongoing debate about the quality of journalism education—what Lynch (2015) called a “troubling divide” between journalists and teachers (p. 2)—and with the study of journalism described by Zelizer (2004) as sometimes looking like “a territory at war with itself” (p. 3), journalistic experience remains a key criterion when hiring journalism educators. Many of those doing the hiring cited digital reporting/production experience as being “a deal breaker” (Neil, 2014). This aligns with our finding that 85% of survey respondents teach journalism skills/principles. Even so, an advanced degree is now considered a more important hiring consideration (Neil, 2014), in keeping with Adam’s (2001) view that journalism professors “must not only be masters of professional practices, but masters of the knowledge structures through which journalistic pieces are generated” (Adam, 2001, p. 330). The professional experience of our study’s participants suggests they honed their skills in newsrooms before moving into classrooms or continued their work in journalism while teaching, so it was not unexpected to find alignment of some key demographics of journalism educators and professional journalists in Canada. In their study of Canadian journalists, Rollwagen et al. (2016, 2019) found that there were slightly more men than women working in newsrooms and/or as freelancers and, as noted previously, a majority of journalists had completed post-secondary education (Rollwagen et al., 2019; Rollwagen et al., 2016).

We  compared  the  profiles  of  Canadian journalism educators with their European counterparts examined in Drok I (2019). While proportions by gender are similar, there are more Canadian educators 50 years or older, and fewer younger than 50, than is the case with Europeans. Canadians and Europeans have similar proportions of degrees at the Master’s level, although in Canada (where on average it takes five to seven years to complete a PhD versus three years in Europe), Canadian participants hold fewer PhDs and more lower-level degrees. Canadians have more years of professional experience than do Europeans (Table 1: Demographic Comparisons). The straightforward explanation for these differences is that the pursuit of a PhD requires time that might otherwise be spent working professionally. The higher proportion of PhDs among the European sample aligns with Drok’s (2019) finding that those with PhDs are “overrepresented” (p. 33) when it comes to teaching subjects other than journalism skills/principles, and is in keeping with our finding that the proportion of Canadian participants teaching journalism skills/principles was higher overall than was the case with their European counterparts.

Finally, preliminary Drok II (Drok & Duiven, 2023) results show the following global demographic data: overall, there is a greater percentage of female educators (52%) to male (46%) and other (2%); the average age is 48 years, with the greatest percentage (38%) of educators 60 years and older in North America; the majority of respondents hold a PhD (60%) or Master’s degree (28%); and, on average, journalism educators bring 12 years of practical experience to the classroom. With the caution that Drok did not separate out Canadian data from these figures, the preliminary snapshot points to differences in the global participant profile (female, younger, more highly qualified academically, less experienced journalistically) and the Canadian one.

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Table 1. Demographic Characteristics Compared to the European Sample

	Canadian Sample		European Sample
	n	%	%
Sex
Female	44	38.9	46.5
Male	55	48.7	53.5
Age Group
20-29	14	12.4	28.1
40-49	21	18.6	31.1
50-59	34	30.1	28.5
70+	37	32.7	12.4
Education Level
PhD	24	21.2	36.1
Master	49	43.4	44.0
Bachelor or lesser degree	33	31.1	19.9
Years of Experience
0-15	34	32.1	63.1
16-30	41	36.3	25.1
30+	31	27.4	11.4

Note. Percentages may not add up to 100 due to missing responses.

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RQ2 AND RQ3 SURVEY RESPONSES

Participants were asked to provide their views on various topics related to the state of journalism as well as qualifications for teachers and journalists going forward. In some cases, trends were noted and will be reported during discussion of each individual topic. In addition, applying PCA to Canadian responses (Appendix 3: PCA results) resulted in three role orientation groupings (Disseminator, Investigator/Mobilizer, Observer), as opposed to the four identified by Drok (2019). Unlike the European participants, Canadian participants did not respond differently enough to the items associated with the Investigator role (slow forms of journalism, adversarial) and the Mobilizer role (citizen-focused, interventionist forms of journalism) to group the two roles separately. Of interest are Rollwagen et al.’s findings that Canadian journalists did not fit the global mold, professing a “distinctively detached, critical and autonomous approach to their work oriented to the public interest” (2019, p. 472).

RQ2: How do journalism instructors view the future journalism labour market and what qualifications do they feel will be needed?

Future Labour Market

Participants were asked what kinds of jobs their current students will have in the next decade. The views of Canadian educators aligned with European participants (Drok, 2019), indicating their students would most likely be freelance journalists in an established media company in future. The Canadian perception is reflected in the higher percentage of Canadian journalists working as freelancers (17%), although globally, the percentage (9.8%) is lower (Rollwagen et al., 2019). While Canadians and Europeans agreed that the second most likely employment source for their students would be start-ups/new outlets, we question the likelihood of this, in Canada at least. The Canadian journalism start-up field is small and continues to struggle due to competition from other countries, such as the US, and challenges in business profitability, including scale for advertising, restrictions on philanthropic models (Public Policy Forum, 2017), and difficulty in “rebalancing of revenues” from digital giants like Facebook (now Meta) and Google to support the start-up industry (Public Policy Forum, 2022). These constraints have an impact on the numbers the field could employ. Canadian views of the third most likely labour market areas for journalism students as being media production and PR/Communications also aligned with European responses (Drok, 2019)—and, based on a recent study by Bosley and Valence-Jones (2022) that found up to a third of recent Canadian journalism graduates are working in communications within two years of graduation, identifying these areas as future sources of work is supported by current experience.

When invited to add an open-ended response about future jobs, 18.5% (n = 21) of Canadian participants responded with answers that we grouped into two main categories of alternate career paths: “specific” and “general.” Specific examples include “politics,” “retail,” “law,” and “content marketing”; general examples include “activism,” “management,” and “any kind of job available.” One participant asserted that skills taught in journalism school provide a good general foundation: “Most of my students will not wind up working in journalism as journalists but the research, writing, evaluation and ethical skills they obtain here will be invaluable in anything they do wind up doing.”

Overall responses indicate that while both Canadians and Europeans see opportunities in journalism for their students, neither group strongly believes their students will find steady work with traditional news outlets. It is a perception of “a future labour market that is more fluid than it used to be in the ‘golden age’ of journalism, when graduates mostly had little trouble finding a job in journalism itself” (Drok, 2019, p. 29).

Future Qualificatons for Teachers

Participants were asked to rate the future importance of various skills and experience for journalism teachers. For all categories, participants on average believe qualifications should be similar or higher than they are currently, with technical skills for digital media ranked the most important qualification in 10 years’ time. Having more research skills was also strongly endorsed. Only slightly more than half of participants believed having practical experience in journalism, wide general knowledge, and knowledge in a specialized field should become more important. Descriptive comparisons revealed French-speaking participants were more likely than English-speaking participants to believe qualifications for teachers should be higher in 10 years than they are today (M = 3.89, SD = 0.51 and M = 3.59, SD = 0.39, respectively). The former placed higher importance on “having didactical-pedagogical knowledge and skills,” “having knowledge in a specialised field,” and “having research skills” (Figure 1). As Bonin et al. (2017) note, previous studies have suggested “marked differences” (p. 537) in Canadian Francophone and Anglophone journalistic identities, but we caution against reaching conclusions based on our data. No notable differences were found for gender, age group, education, experience, or institution.

There were a few similarities and several key differences between Canada and Europe (Drok, 2019) in how respondents view the future qualifications for educators. While both groups felt that most of the qualifications listed in the survey should be of higher or much higher importance, those who felt that way ranked the qualifications differently. For example, more Europeans felt that teaching knowledge and skills should become the top qualification, whereas Canadians ranked it seventh in terms of importance. There was also a divergence with respect to teachers’ technical digital media skills: Europeans indicated it should be the same or even less important, whereas more Canadians ranked it as the top skill—a reflection, perhaps, of the reality in Canadian newsrooms, where journalists report an increasing demand for technical skills on the job (Rollwagen et al., 2016). Overall, the variety of responses could be related to demographic differences. It would not be unusual for Canadian journalism educators with more years of professional experience to view their teaching mission through a more practical lens.

Finally, when invited to add “something else” to the list of future qualifications for educators, 15% (n = 17) responded with answers that fell into two main categories: “general qualifications” and “skills.” General qualifications include “a commitment to free expression” and “creativity.” Skills examples include “critical thinking, resilience training and media literacy skills,” “analyzing data, using freedom of information laws, doing archival research, reading a balance sheet” and training in “unconscious bias” and “equity, diversity and inclusion.” That two respondents suggested the latter point is perhaps unsurprising, given that the Canadian survey was distributed during a time of intense focus on systemic racism, including within the media and journalism programs (e.g., Canadian Association of Black Journalists & Canadian Journalists of Colour, 2020; Miller, 2020). Meaningful systemic change remains a clear necessity (e.g., Canadian Association of Journalists, [CAJ], 2021). While previous data suggests Canadian journalists “support a role of promoting tolerance and diversity more strongly than do others in the English-dominant country group”, they are “still below the world average” (Rollwagen et al., 2019, p. 469).

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Figure 1. In the next ten years, for journalism teachers the importance of the following qualifications should become:

Note. Mean responses on a scale of 1 = Much Lower, 2 = Lower, 3 = Same as now, 4 = Higher, 5 = Much Higher.

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Future Journalistic Qualifications

Turning to qualifications participants feel students might need, we looked at what participants felt should become the most important qualifications for new journalists in the next decade (Appendix 1, Question 13; Figure 2). Mean responses reveal that, overall, participants believe most of the options they were asked to assess should become more important, particularly the ability to evaluate sources and use in-depth research to uncover newsworthy issues. Only the ability to “work under time pressure”, “recognize market opportunities”, and “organize contributions from the public” were rated to stay the same. The five highest-ranked, in descending order, were to “be able to evaluate sources”, to “discover newsworthy issues on the basis of in-depth research”, to “know current events and their context”, to “be able to find multiple perspectives on an issue,” and to “select information on the basis of reliability.” The qualifications speak to fundamentals of journalism, such as accuracy and verification (e.g., Kovach & Rosenstiel, 2021; Pritchard et al., 2005;), identified as being of importance to Canadian journalists (Rollwagen et al., 2019; Shapiro et al., 2016). It is therefore unsurprising that similar fundamentals are deemed important by educators. Responses from participants (12.26%, n = 13) who chose to include additional open-ended comments fell largely into one main category: “specific change.” Examples of specific change include “more accountable, more engaged, and more transparent reporting” and “informed, well-educated specialists. Talking heads are not journalists. Social warriors are not journalists.”

With a slight variation in the order of rankings, European journalism educators identified the same top five qualifications as did Canadians (Drok, 2019). Preliminary Drok II data shows that international educators beyond Europe also ranked evaluation of sources and in-depth research as most important, and the ability to work under time pressure the least important (Drok & Duiven, 2023). It suggests global alignment in the views of educators in terms of prioritizing the investment of time by journalists to produce higher quality journalism. Drok concludes “many teachers do not believe that speed will be the answer to journalism’s problems” (2019, p. 97); however, studies such as the Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2022 (Newman et al., 2022), which found continuing global decline in news consumption coupled with active news avoidancy, particularly by young people, raise questions about a possible disconnect between an ideal educator view of journalism and a more pragmatic one.

RQ3: How do the journalism instructors view the tasks, roles, and values of the work their students will perform when they get to the workplace?

Professional Tasks and Opinions

Participants were asked to assess the importance of various tasks for journalists in the next decade— specifically, how important the tasks should be, not how important they think they will be. Responses suggest that instructors believe a majority of the tasks listed in the survey should become more important, with an emphasis on those relating to verifiable reporting and the civic function of journalism, such as monitoring business and government, and providing information that enables citizens to make political decisions. Participants thought the importance of reporting the latest news should remain the same as it is today. In contrast, they identified four items they believe should become less important: concentrating on “news that will sell,” making “as many stories as possible” per day, providing “entertainment and relaxation,” and treating citizens as consumers.

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Figure 2. In the next 10 years, the importance of the following qualifications for professional journalists should become:

Note. Mean responses on a scale of 1 = Much Lower, 2 = Lower, 3 = Same as now, 4 = Higher, 5 = Much Higher.

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Younger participants (20-49) were more likely to emphasize the importance of journalists in social movements and entertainment than those 50 and older. Participants with a PhD placed less emphasis on producing a large number of stories per day. Optional comments by participants (17.7%, n = 20) fell into two main categories: “general industry directions” and “specific journalistic tasks.” Examples of industry directions: “to accomplish change in the industry, funding as well as equitable hiring are essential”; and “focus on high-quality in-depth analysis and reporting.” Examples of specific tasks: “it is not our job as journalists to ‘point people’ anywhere”; and “journalists should focus on verifying and providing accurate information about current issues, not crusading for causes or selling their opinions.”

Participants were also asked their views on the position of journalists: what they should do or be with respect to “neutrality” and “reality/truth (objectivity).” Participants strongly agree that journalists should be transparent about their working process. They also agree that journalists should “mirror reality as it is” and report positive societal developments. Interestingly, they were fairly neutral regarding journalistic impartiality, with some slight differences revealed in group comparison analysis. More men believe that journalists should be impartial, detached observers than do women. More of the older participants (50 or over) believe that journalists should be impartial, detached observers. Participants with a Bachelor’s degree or lower educational level place higher emphasis on the role of journalists as neutral disseminators of information.

Optional comments from 29.09% (n = 32) of participants fell into two main categories: statements elaborating on the options listed in the survey question (Appendix 1, Question 7); and statements about the question. Examples of the former include noting the difficulty for “personal beliefs to NOT influence reporting,” and that “there’s no such thing as ‘objectivity’ but there’s certainly fairness and balance.” Comments critical of the question’s wording: “These questions seem to suggest you are trying to measure acceptance of the traditional view of objectivity/neutrality”; and, “Some of the questions fail to adopt a more nuanced interpretation of ideals such as objectivity. They seem to have been plucked from a previous era.”

Overall analysis of responses outlined above showed preferences grouped around three journalistic role orientations: Disseminator, Investigator/Mobilizer, and Observer. Responses showed the strongest relationships with the power-neutral aspects of the Observer role (detachment and impartiality), and with the power-adversarial aspects of the Investigator/Mobilizer role (monitoring and scrutinizing of institutions). This corresponds with previous findings that Canadian journalists believe in “reporting things as they are” (Rollwagen et al., 2016, p. 1) and “telling stories about the world as detached observers,” as well as in monitoring and scrutinizing politics and business (Rollwagen et al., 2019, p. 469). Both Canadian and European educator groups gave their strongest support to the need for transparency in the journalistic working process (M = 4.60 and M = 4.45 respectively).

Journalistic Ethics

Participants were asked to rate whether they agree with the acceptability of various practices when journalists are reporting on an important economic topic (Figure 3). They tended to strongly disagree with practices such as accepting money from sources, altering photos or quotes, and breaking agreements to protect confidentiality, while remaining somewhat neutral about using confidential government documents without authorization, and about revealing the truth, come what may. Optional comments from 28.7% (n = 31) of participants largely reflect the context-dependent nature of the listed survey options; as was the case with Drok I, the one main category is “it all depends” (2019, p. 82). Canadian examples include: “These questions cannot really be properly answered without more detail and context for the scenarios”; and, “It is the context that determines what is right and wrong in the use of borderline practices.”

Overall, Canadian responses tended to hew to accepted Canadian journalistic standards and practices (e.g., CAJ, 2011; Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 2018; The Globe and Mail, 2022) and also largely aligned with European views (Drok, 2019). However, when the ethical practices were correlated with the journalistic role orientations there were slight differences. For example, while respondents who favoured the faster, consumer-driven Disseminator role were slightly more open to practices such as accepting money from sources and substantially altering photographs, only European educators in that role were more accepting about paying people for confidential information (Drok, 2019). That practice was negatively correlated for Canadians favouring the Observer role, meaning they would tend to avoid it altogether.

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Figure 3. The following practice is acceptable in case of an important economic topic

Note. Participant responses on a scale of 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.

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Journalism’s Future

Given ongoing discussions about journalism’s challenges, participants were asked how they felt the profession might evolve (Figure 4). Overall, they mainly agreed that journalism should be “more about getting the whole story and less about trying to be first,” while remaining largely neutral or in disagreement about it being “more about what’s next and less about what happened.” For this question, 14.02% (n = 15) of participants added optional comments falling largely into one main category: “not either/or” (Drok, 2019, p. 89). Examples include: “It is important to know BOTH about long term issues AND about issues of the day. Both consensus and conflict are necessary to report. Context is important. I find this question difficult”; and, “It’s hard to really get to ‘what’s next’ without adequate honest reporting about ‘what happened.’”

Finally, the issue of redefining journalism for the future was correlated with the journalistic role orientations. The greatest number of positive correlations for Canadians were with the Investigator/Mobilizer role, with individuals stronger in this category more likely to agree that journalism should become “more about social responsibility and less about earning money.” Similarly, European educators’ overall results showed the greatest number of positive correlations for individuals favouring the Mobilizer role and its focus on citizens and solutions (Drok, 2019). Also notable was that Canadians stronger in the Disseminator role were less likely to agree that journalism should become “more about long-term issues and less about the events of the day.”

Overall, based on mean scores, Canadian journalism educators favour the Investigator/Mobilizer role (M = 3.74) as being the most important over the next 10 years, followed by the Disseminator (M = 3.64) and the Observer (M = 2.47). While European educators also favour the Investigator role (M = 4.03) as most important, the connection with the Observer role (M = 3.78) is second-strongest, followed by the Mobilizer (M = 3.52) and Disseminator (M = 2.64). The latter results suggest that the Europeans believe that journalism “should be about analysing, researching, scrutinizing and exposing instead of bringing the latest news or concentrating on news that will sell” (Drok, 2019, p.119). Canadian participants favouring a combined Investigator/Mobilizer role also lean toward journalistic tasks in future that involve analyzing and scrutinizing, while indicating interest in focussing on the audience as citizens—standing up for the disadvantaged and pointing people toward possible solutions to societal problems—as well as more “interventionist” journalism with a change-making agenda.

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Figure 4. In my view, it would be good if journalism was:

Note. Participant responses on a scale of 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.

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STUDY LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE DIRECTIONS

In concluding his study of European journalism educators, Drok observed that teachers favoured a fundamental change in journalistic practice, “from fast to slow journalism, from disseminating to investigating”  (Drok, 2019, p. 122). Unanswered was whether educators in other countries would also want to move in this direction, something he acknowledged would only become evident over time. Our study of Canadian teachers suggests that, while there is not complete alignment with Europeans on some aspects of journalism’s future, there is not a sharp divide, either, with Canadians also leaning toward slower journalism that focuses on the profession’s monitorial role.

Differences in key demographics between Canadian and European educators are bound to impact opinions and outlooks. The dates of the two surveys could also be a factor. While the three-year gap between the Drok I European educator survey and the wider Drok II survey in which Canada participated is not considered large for research purposes, the timing of the Drok II survey invitation was not optimal. It launched in early 2021, when many Canadian journalism programs were still holding classes online due to the onset of the second COVID wave. It is not clear how pandemic-related workload issues might have affected the number of participants, their feelings about their students’ futures, or the breadth of responses when they were given the opportunity to add comments. It is also not clear how the response rate of part-time instructors may have been affected by their employment status; a majority of invited participants work part-time (n = 338) but made up only 11.5% of all respondents, leaving full-time instructors over-represented. While the results of this survey provide a unique snapshot of Canadian educators and their perspectives and an important contribution to Drok’s survey (2019), the small sample limits the generalizability of our findings. Because it was aligned with the Drok II global survey, the questions were standardized except for the two Canada-specific demographic questions noted earlier. In our view, the Canadian study would have benefited from questions related to equity, diversity and inclusion issues. Including this in future Canadian surveys could provide data about the diversity of the instructor corps and whether the demographics shift over time. The 2020 murder of George Floyd added new urgency to ongoing discussions about the harms embedded in journalism’s objectivity claims (e.g., Callison & Young, 2020; Cheung, 2021; Chowdury, 2020; Mattar, 2020); it would be valuable to chart any shifts in instructor perspectives in this area. Their influence as educators on journalism writ large, at a time when journalistic standards are being rethought (Stead, 2022), is substantial. Overall, how objectivity was reflected in the specific survey question was noted in both European and Canadian comments, with one Canadian participant writing:

These statements in themselves are loaded with implicit values, i.e. that ‘facts’ are neutral and therefore can speak for themselves, that there is one ‘reality.’ One of the problems we have already is that different groups latch on to different ‘facts.’

Another noted, “For every journalist, there are issues or topics that an individual cannot be impartial about. It’s what makes us human. This might not preclude a journalist from covering the topic or issue and in fact could add to the coverage.” Other limitations to our study include a lack of information about such things as the subject major of participants’ educational qualifications, which would have provided a clearer understanding of the range of instructors’ formal knowledge. Information about whether their professional experience was amassed prior to becoming teachers, or whether their journalistic work was ongoing while teaching, would have provided some insight into the currency of their professional expertise and thus the potential for external influences on their perspectives.

Finally, while the information gleaned from this Canadian study provides a worthwhile initial snapshot of educators and their perspectives on the future role of journalists and the value of journalism, it does not tell us to what extent their views actually play out in their classrooms. There is potential for a “gap between ideals and practice” (Drok, 2019, p. 125) as well as institutional considerations such as budgets and enrolments that may be outside of their control. Even so, the study provides a sound starting point with respect to gathering the basic demographic information of educators and examining their perspectives on how they see journalism evolving. Drok (2019) argues that any meaningful journalistic culture change should reconsider “central values of journalism—public service, autonomy, immediacy, objectivity—and give them new meaning” (p. 123). Future research involving regular tracking of Canadian educators over time, in concert with ongoing global studies of educators, journalists and journalism students, will provide valuable insight into whether the culture is indeed shifting—and, if so, why that is the case and how that might be reflected in the perspectives held by instructors as they guide their student journalists toward the future.

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Note: Susan Harada is a member of the Facts & Frictions editorial board. Her co-authorship was not disclosed to board members, and she did not participate in any part of the selection and review process for this article.

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Jennifer Leask teaches radio and podcasting and Solutions and Data Journalism at Langara College. She also works as a podcast producer and audience development specialist at Pacific Content. jennifer.leask@shaw.ca

Susan Harada is an associate professor with the School of Journalism and Communication at Carleton University. susan.harada@carleton.ca

Danielle J. Rieger is a contract instructor and Ph.D. candidate with the Psychology Department at Carleton University. danielle.rieger@carleton.ca

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Appendix 1 – Questionnaire

(Note – links pictured are for demonstration purposes and are not live)

Journalistic Roles, Values and Qualifications

Thank you for participating in our research on ‘Journalistic Roles, Values and Qualifications in the 21st century; How journalism educators across the globe view the future of a profession in transition’. This is a survey among teachers involved in journalism education across the globe.

It will approximately take 15 minutes to complete the survey. All of your answers are private and confidential.

If you want, you can pause your survey by clicking on the Pause link at the bottom of the survey page:

After clicking the Pause link, you will see the screen below:

You have to save the URL and use it later to go back to where you left.

 

QUESTIONNAIRE

 Journalistic Roles, Values and Qualifications in the 21st Century: How journalism educators across the globe view the future of a profession in transition

 

Where is your institute located?

1. Australia
2. Brasil
3. Canada *
4. China
5. New Zealand
6. Nigeria
7. Russia
8. South Africa
9. Usa
10. Asia Pacific **
11. Europe Nordic Countries **
12. French Speaking Countries **

 

2d.     In what region of the country is your institute located?

• Western Canada (BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba)
• Central and Northern Canada (Ontario, Quebec, Yukon, NWT, Nunavut)
• Atlantic Canada (New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, PEI)

 

2e.     In what type of institution do you teach?

• College
• University

 

**

If 10. ASIA Pacific	Bangladesh	Philippines
	Bhutan	Solomon Islands
	Cambodia	Sri Lanka
	Indonesia	Taiwan
	Malaysia	Thailand
	Myanmar	Vietnam
If 11. EUROPE Nordic Countries	Denmark/Greenland	Norway
	Finland	Sweden
	Iceland
If 12. FRENCH SPEAKING COUNTRIES	Cameroun	Belgique
	Côte d’Ivoire	Bulgarie
	Madagascar	France
	Maroc	Roumanie
	Tunisie	Suède
	Canada	Suisse

 

3. What subject do you teach mainly (choose only one)?

• •  Journalism (skills, principles)
  • Communication science/ Media theory
  • Language (native, foreign)
  • General knowledge (e.g. economics, history, law, philosophy)
  • Research methods
  • Advertising/PR
  • Other (please specify)

 

4. Are you working full-time or part-time?

• • Full-time
  • Part-time
    • 1 –  20%
    • 21 –  40%
    • 41 –  60%
    • 61 –  80%
    • 81 – 100%

 

We now would like to know your view on the future importance of a number of tasks that professional journalists perform. We are interested in what you wish for, in what you think should happen.

 

5. Compared to today, in the next ten years the importance of the following task for professional journalists should become:

 

5 Much Higher    4 Higher    3 Same as now    2 Lower    1 Much Lower            9 Don’t know

a. Get information to the public quickly	5     4     3     2     1 9
b. Stay away from stories that cannot be verified	5     4     3     2     1 9
c. Monitor and scrutinize government	5     4     3     2     1 9
d. Stand up for the disadvantaged	5     4     3     2     1 9
e. Provide entertainment and relaxation	5     4     3     2     1 9
f. Expose social abuses	5     4     3     2     1 9
g.  Make each day as many stories as possible	5     4     3     2     1 9
h. Provide analysis and interpretation of current affairs	5     4     3     2     1 9
i. Monitor and scrutinize business organisations	5     4     3     2     1 9
j. Give ordinary people a chance to express their views	5     4     3     2     1 9
k. Concentrate on news that will sell	5     4     3     2     1 9
l. Provide information that people need to make political decisions	5     4     3     2     1 9
m. Concentrate on bringing the latest news	5     4     3     2     1 9
n. Provide in-depth background information	5     4     3     2     1 9
o. Monitor and scrutinize civil society organisations	5     4     3     2     1 9
p. Motivate people to get socially involved	5     4     3     2     1 9
q. Treat the public as consumers rather than citizens	5     4     3     2     1 9
r. Point people toward possible solutions for societal problems	5     4     3     2     1 9

 

6. Do you have any comments on the previous questions (question number 5)?
   • No
   • Yes (Please specify)

 

The following question is about the position of journalists in society (‘neutrality’) and with regard to reality/truth (‘objectivity’). Answering categories are:

 

5 Strongly Agree   4 Agree    3 Neutral   2 Disagree    1 Strongly Disagree         9 Don’t know

 

7. A journalist should….

 

a. be a detached observer	5     4     3     2     1 9
b. promote social change	5     4     3     2     1 9
c. remain strictly impartial	5     4     3     2     1 9
d. influence public opinion	5     4     3     2     1 9
e. be a neutral disseminator of information	5     4     3     2     1 9
f. set the socio-political agenda	5     4     3     2     1 9
g. mirror reality as it is	5     4     3     2     1 9
h. report about positive developments in society	5     4     3     2     1 9
i. not let personal beliefs and convictions influence reporting	5     4     3     2     1 9
j. be transparent about the working process	5     4     3     2     1 9
k. let facts speak for themselves	5     4     3     2     1 9
l. monitor and scrutinize the reporting of other news media	5     4     3     2     1 9

 

8. Do you have any comments on the previous questions (question number 7)?

• No
• Yes (Please specify)

 

The following question is about professional ethics. Consider an assignment about an important economic topic given to a journalist. We would like to know whether or not you find that certain practices are acceptable.

 

9. The following practice is acceptable in case of an important economic

 

5 Strongly Agree   4 Agree    3 Neutral   2 Disagree    1 Strongly Disagree         9 Don’t know

a. Reveal confidential sources	5     4     3     2     1 9
b. Claim to be somebody else	5     4     3     2     1 9
c. Use hidden microphones and cameras	5     4     3     2     1 9
d. Pay people for confidential information	5     4     3     2     1 9
e. Get employed in an organization to get inside information	5     4     3     2     1 9
f. Use confidential government documents without authorization	5     4     3     2     1 9
g. Use personal documents without permission	5     4     3     2     1 9
h. Exert pressure on unwilling informants to get a story	5     4     3     2     1 9
i. Agree to protect confidentiality but not doing so.	5     4     3     2     1 9
j. Use re-creations or dramatizations of news by actors without mention	5     4     3     2     1 9
k. Publish a story with unverified content	5     4     3     2     1 9
l. Accept money from sources	5     4     3     2     1 9
m. Alter photographs substantially	5     4     3     2     1 9
n.  Alter quotes from sources substantially	5     4     3     2     1 9
o. Use copyrighted material without permission	5     4     3     2     1 9
p. Reveal the truth, no matter the consequences	5     4     3     2     1 9

 

10. Do you have any comments on the previous question (question number 9)?
    • No
    • Yes (Please specify)

 

In several countries there are, or have been, discussions about whether or not professional journalism should be “redefined” in the 21st century. Below you will find 10 statements about the direction in which journalism might evolve. Please indicate to what extent you agree with those statements:

 

5 Strongly Agree   4 Agree    3 Neutral   2 Disagree    1 Strongly Disagree         9 Don’t know

 

11. In my view, it would be good if journalism was…

  

a. more about social responsibility and less about earning money	5     4     3     2     1 9
b.  more about ordinary people and less about the ruling elites	5     4     3     2     1 9
c.  more about long term issues and less about the events of the day	5     4     3     2     1 9
d. more about solutions and less about problems	5     4     3     2     1 9
e. more about consensus and less about conflict	5     4     3     2     1 9
f. more about what’s next and less about what happened	5     4     3     2     1 9
g. more about interacting with audiences and less about one-way sending	5     4     3     2     1 9
h. more about getting the whole story and less about trying to be first	5     4     3     2     1 9
i.  more about successes and less about failures	5     4     3     2     1 9
j. more about renewing journalistic content and less about new technology	5     4     3     2     1 9

  

12. Do you have any comments on the previous question (question number 11)?

• No
• Yes (Please specify)

 

The following question is about qualifications for (beginning) journalists. Within the European Journalism Training Association we have distinguished many qualifications that are important for journalism education. We would like to know your view on the future importance of the following qualifications. We are interested in what you wish for, in what you think should happen.

 

13. In the next ten years, the importance of the following qualifications for professional journalists should become:

 

5 Much Higher    4 Higher    3 Same as now    2 Lower    1 Much Lower          9 Don’t know

a have a commitment to democratic society	5     4     3     2     1 9
b. link the local with the national and the global	5     4     3     2     1 9
c. know current events and their context	5     4     3     2     1 9
d. discover newsworthy issues on the basis of in-depth research	5     4     3     2     1 9
e. work under time pressure	5     4     3     2     1 9
f. organize contributions from the public	5     4     3     2     1 9
g. have a wide general knowledge	5     4     3     2     1 9
h. have a more specialized knowledge in a field	5     4     3     2     1 9
i. be able to find multiple perspectives on an issue	5     4     3     2     1 9
j. be able to evaluate sources	5     4     3     2     1 9
k. interact with the public	5     4     3     2     1 9
l. select information on the basis of reliability	5     4     3     2     1 9
m. select information on the basis of relevance	5     4     3     2     1 9
n. use different types of story-telling techniques	5     4     3     2     1 9
o. make journalistic use of technology	5     4     3     2     1 9
p. present content in effective combinations of words, sounds and visuals	5     4     3     2     1 9
q. take responsibility for the choices you made during the process	5     4     3     2     1 9
r. take responsibility for the impact of your product	5     4     3     2     1 9
s. be able to recognize market opportunities	5     4     3     2     1 9
t. be able to develop new products/formats	5     4     3     2     1 9
u. reflect on the future of journalism	5     4     3     2     1 9
v. provide workable solutions for complex practical issues that face professional journalism	5     4     3     2     1 9

 

14. Do you have any comments on the previous question (question number 13)?
    • No
    • Yes (Please specify)

 

We have one question about your view on the future labour market for your students.

 

15. To what extent do you agree that your current students will be working in following positions within the next 10 years?

 

5 Strongly Agree   4 Agree    3 Neutral   2 Disagree    1 Strongly Disagree         9 Don’t know

a. A contracted job at an established news organization	5     4     3     2     1 9
b. Freelancing for established news organizations	5     4     3     2     1 9
c. Doing journalism at a start-up/new outlet	5     4     3     2     1 9
d. Working at a media production company	5     4     3     2     1 9
e. Doing part-time journalism and part-time something else	5     4     3     2     1 9
f. Working in a PR/communication job	5     4     3     2     1 9
g. Working outside of journalism and communication	5     4     3     2     1 9
h. Something else? Please, specify briefly.	5     4     3     2     1 9

 

Finally, we would like to get more insight in some characteristics of journalism teachers around the globe.

 

16. What is your sex:
    • Male
    • Female
    • Non-binary
    • Prefer not to answer

 

17. What is your age:

• • 20 – 29
  • 30 – 39
  • 40 – 49
  • 50 – 59
  • 60 – 69
  • Older

 

18. What is your highest educational degree?
    • Primary School
    • Secondary school
    • Bachelor degree
    • Master degree
    • PhD degree
    • Other, please specify:

 

19. How many years of practical experience do you have working as a journalist?

• • None
  • 1 – 5
  • 6 – 15
  • 16 – 30
  • More than 30

 

20. In the next ten years, for journalism teachers the importance of the following qualifications should become:

 

5 Much Higher    4 Higher    3 Same as now    2 Lower    1 Much Lower          9 Don’t know

a. Having practical experience in journalism	5     4     3     2     1 9
b. Having a university degree in journalism or a related field	5     4     3     2     1 9
c. Having a university degree in any field	5     4     3     2     1 9
d. Having didactical-pedagogical knowledge and skills	5     4     3     2     1 9
e. Having a wide general knowledge	5     4     3     2     1 9
f. Having knowledge in a specialized field	5     4     3     2     1 9
g. Having research skills	5     4     3     2     1 9
h. Having linguistic skills	5     4     3     2     1 9
i. Having technical skills for digital media	5     4     3     2     1 9
j. Something else? Please, specify briefly	5     4     3     2     1 9

 

 

Thank you very much for your cooperation!

 

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APPENDIX 2 – JOURNALISM SCHOOLS INCLUDED IN THE SURVEY INVITATIONS

 

Algonquin College, Ottawa

British Columbia Institute of Technology, Burnaby

Carleton University, Ottawa

Cégep de Jonquiere, Jonquiere*¹asterisk indicates French-language institutions

Centennial College, Toronto

College of the North Atlantic, Stephenville, NL

Concordia University, Montreal

Conestoga College, Kitchener

Durham College, Oshawa

Fanshawe College, London

Humber Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning, Toronto

Kwantlen University College, Surrey

La Cité, Ottawa

Langara College, Vancouver

Lethbridge Community College, Lethbridge

Mohawk College, Hamilton

Mount Royal University, Calgary

Red River College – Creative Communication Program, Winnipeg

Toronto Metropolitan University, Toronto

St. Clair College, Windsor

St. Thomas University, Fredericton

Seneca College, Toronto Sheridan College, Brampton

Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT), Calgary

Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops

University of British Columbia, Vancouver

University of Guelph/Humber, Toronto

University of King’s College, Halifax

Université Laval, Québec City*

Université de Moncton, Moncton*

Université de Montréal, Montreal*

Université d’Ottawa, Ottawa*

Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal*

University of Regina, Regina

University of Sudbury (Laurentienne), Sudbury*

University of Toronto/Centennial College, Toronto

University of Western Ontario/Fanshawe College, London

University of Winnipeg/Red River College, Winnipeg

Vancouver Island University, Nanaimo

Wilfrid Laurier University-Brantford, Brantford

York University/Seneca College, Toronto

*Indicates French language institutions

 

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Appendix 3 – Principal Components Analysis

Table 3.1 Total Variance Explained

Component	Eigenvalues	Variance (%)
1	2.76	34.47
2	1.86	23.19
3	1.32	16.54
4	0.56	6.98
5	0.49	6.12
6	0.46	5.72
7	0.29	3.68
8	0.27	3.31

Note. Extraction Method: Principal Components Analysis based on variance-covariance matrix.

 

Table 3.2 Rotated Factor Pattern

	Component
	1	2	3
Power Orientation – Neutral	.886
Reality Orientation – Mirror	.871
Reality Orientation – Intervention- ist	-.683	.425
Time Orientation – Slow		.834
Power Orientation – Adversarial		.804
Audience Orientation – Citizens	-.403	.759
Audience Orientation – Consumers			.871
Time Orientation – Fast	.316		.755

Note. Rotation Method: Varimax.

 

Figure 3.1