Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

As mobility is becoming a distinctive feature of 21st century journalists, this theoretical article proposes a mobility turn in journalism studies. Drawing on sociological perspectives on mobilities, individualization, and turnover, it puts forward a shift from the analysis of news workers as static and fixed to the organizations that employ them to their analysis as mobility agents. By stressing that their capacity to move is transforming their employment and identities, it invites contemporary journalism scholars to recognize how this bottom-up disruption is reshaping the institution, the organizations and the labor of journalism. Since journalism’s corporate and industrial structures have not fully crumbled, this article’s emphasis on labor, physical and virtual mobilities offers an alternative to current theorizations of change in journalism.

Keywords

Journalists mobilities employment identities organizations

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Agur

(2019) Insularized connectedness: mobile chat applications and news production. Media and Communication 7(1): 179–188. http://dx.doi.org/10.17645/mac.v7i1.1802.

Anderson

Bell

Shirky

(2014) Post-Industrial Journalism: Adapting to the Present. New York: Columbia Journalism School.

Banning

(2008) Press clubs champion journalism education. In: Winfield

(ed) Journalism 1908: Birth of a Profession. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 65–81.

Beck

(1992) Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity. London: SAGE Publications.

Beck

(2000) The Brave New World of Work. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Beck

Beck-Gernsheim

(2002) Individualization: Institutionalized Individualism and its Social and Political Consequences. London: SAGE Publications.

Bennett

Gressett

Haltom

(1985) Repairing the news: a case study of the news paradigm. Journal of Communication 35(2): 50–68. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.1985.tb02233.x.

Benson

(1999) Field theory in comparative context: a new paradigm for media studies. Theory and Society 28(3): 463–498. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1006982529917.

Boczek

Koppers

(2020) What’s new about whatsapp for news? A mixed-method study on news outlets’ strategies for using whatsapp. Digital Journalism 8(1): 126–144. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2019.1692685.

10.

Bourdieu

(1986) The forms of capital. In: Richardson

(ed) Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education. Westport: Greenwood, 241–258.

11.

Bui

Moran

(2020) Making the 21st century mobile journalist: examining definitions and conceptualizations of mobility and mobile journalism within journalism education. Digital Journalism 8(1): 145–163. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2019.1664926.

12.

Bundy

(2008) Women journalists, African American. In: Vaughn

(ed) Encyclopedia of American Journalism. New York: Routledge, 594–597.

13.

Cambridge English Dictionary (2020) Journalist. Cambridge English Dictionary. Available at: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/journalist.

14.

Carlson

Usher

(2016) News startups as agents of innovation. Digital Journalism 4(5): 563–581.

15.

Cross

(1988) The Common Writer: Life in Nineteenth-Century Grub Street. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

16.

Davidson

Meyers

(2016) “Should i stay or should i go?” Journalism Studies 17(5): 590–607. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2014.988996.

17.

Deuze

Witschge

(2020) Beyond Journalism. Cambridge: Polity Press.

18.

Dodds

(2019) Reporting with whatsapp: mobile chat applications’ impact on journalistic practices. Digital Journalism 7(6): 725–745. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2019.1592693.

19.

Downie

Jr Schudson

(2009) The reconstruction of American journalism. The voice of journalism. Available at: https://archives.cjr.org/reconstruction/the_reconstruction_of_american.php.

20.

Duffy

Ling

Kim

, et al. (2020) News: mobiles, mobilities and their meeting points. Digital Journalism 8(1): 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2020.1712220.

21.

Evetts

(2006) Short note: the sociology of professional groups. Current Sociology 54(1): 133–143. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011392106057161.

22.

Fahs

(2011) Out on assignment: newspaper women and the making of modern public space. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.

23.

Fast

Örnebring

Karlsson

(2016) Metaphors of free labor: a typology of unpaid work in the media sector. Media, Culture & Society 38(7): 963–978. https://doi.org/10.1177/01634437166358610.

24.

Firmino

(2013) Jornalismo Móvel Digital: Uso das Tecnologias Móveis Digitais e a Reconfiguração das Rotinas de Produção da Reportagem de Campo. Salvador: Universidade Federal da Bahia (PhD thesis).

25.

Goggin

Martin

Dwyer

(2015) Locative news. Journalism Studies 16(1): 41–59. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2014.890329.

26.

Goyanes

Rodríguez-Gómez

(2021) Presentism in the newsroom: how uncertainty redefines journalists’ career expectations. Journalism 22(1): 52–68. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884918767585.

27.

Hall

(1976) Careers in Organizations. Pacific Palisades: Goodyear.

28.

Handy

(1994) The Empty Raincoat: Making Sense of the Future. London: Random House.

29.

Hepp

Loosen

(2021) Pioneer journalism: conceptualizing the role of pioneer journalists and pioneer communities in the organizational re-figuration of journalism. Journalism 22(3): 577–595. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884919829277.

30.

Hoxha

Andresen

(2019) The development of roles in kosovo: from fixers to journalists. Journalism Studies 20(12): 1732–1746. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2019.1639539.

31.

Kaufmann

(2004) Motility: a key notion to analyse the social structure of second modernity? In: Bonß

Kesselring

Vogl

(eds) Mobility and the Cosmopolitan Perspective: A Workshop at the Munich Reflexive Modernization Research Centre. Munich: Munich Reflexive Modernization Research Centre, 75–82.

32.

Kaufmann

Bergman

Joye

(2004) Motility: mobility as capital. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 28(4): 745–756. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0309-1317.2004.00549.x.

33.

Kesselring

(2006) Pioneering mobilities: new patterns of movement and motility in a mobile world. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space 38(2): 269–279. https://doi.org/10.1068/a37279.

34.

Lassila-Merisalo

(2018) 'I changed my life’s course’: the impact of the Helsingin Sanomat foundation fellowship on the career path of a journalist. Journalism 19(6): 860–876. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884917714874.

35.

Linder

(2018) The Relational Politics of Mobility in Post-Earthquake Nepal: An Analysis of Journalistic Media. Chicago: University of Illinois at Chicago. (Master thesis).

36.

Long

Ferrie

(2003) Labor mobility. In: Mokyr

(ed) The Oxford Encyclopedia of Economic History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 248–250.

37.

McChesney

Nichols

(2010) The Death and Life of American Journalism: The Media Revolution That Will Begin the World Again. New York: Nation Books.

38.

McChesney

Pickard

(2011) Will the Last Reporter Please Turn Out the Lights: The Collapse of Journalism and What Can Be Done to Fix It. New York: The New Press.

39.

McClung

(2000) The Daily Newspaper America. New York: Routledge.

40.

Meltzer

Martik

(2017) Journalists as communities of practice. Journal of Communication Inquiry 41(3): 207–226. https://doi.org/10.1177/0196859917706158.

41.

Mincer

Jovanovic

(1979) Labor mobility and wages. University of Chicago Press. Available at: https://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/0357.html.

42.

Nygren

(2011) Passing through journalism? Journalism as a temporary job and professional institutions in decline. In: Franklin

Mensing

(eds) Journalism Education, Training and Employment. New York: Routledge, 207–221.

43.

O’Donnell

(2017) Beyond newsrooms: younger journalists talk about job loss and re-employment in Australian journalism. Australian Journalism Review 39(2): 163–175. https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/ielapa.360242624341501.

44.

O’Donnell

Zion

Sherwood

(2016) Where do journalists go after newsroom job cuts? Journalism Practice 10(1): 35–51. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2015.1017400.

45.

Örnebring

(2009) The Two Professionalisms of Journalism: Journalism and the Changing Context of Work. University of Oxford. Available at: https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2017-11/The%20Two%20Professionalisms%20of%20Journalism_Working%20Paper.pdf.

46.

Örnebring

Möller

(2018) In the margins of journalism. Journalism Practice 12(8): 1051–1060. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2018.1497455.

47.

Ortiz

(2015) Caracterização, processos de produção e tendências do jornalismo em mobilidade: um estudo de caso do The New York Times. São Paulo: Universidade de São Paulo. (Master thesis).

48.

Oxford English Dictionary (2020) Journalist. Oxford English Dictionary. Available at: https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/101740.

49.

Reinardy

(2011) Newspaper journalism in crisis: burnout on the rise, eroding young journalists’ career commitment. Journalism 12(1): 33–50. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884910385188.

50.

Reinardy

(2012) Job security, satisfaction influence work commitment. Newspaper Research Journal 33(1): 54–70. https://doi.org/10.1177/073953291203300105.

51.

Reinardy

(2016) Journalism’s Lost Generation: The Un-doing of U.S. Newspaper Newsrooms. New York: Routledge.

52.

Reinardy

Zion

(2020) Cutting deeper: US newspapers wipeout jobs and alter career identities. Journalism Practice 14(10): 1211–1224. https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2019.1691935.

53.

Reyna

(2019) Individualización y riesgo de desempleo en los periódicos del norte de México. Frontera Norte 31(14): 1–20. Available at: https://doi.org/10.33679/rfn.v1i1.2047.

54.

Reyna

(2021) This is my exit sign: job control deficit, role strain and turnover in Mexican journalism. Journalism Practice 18: 1129–1145. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/17512786.2020.1776141 (accessed 15).

55.

Ricketson

Dodd

Zion

, et al. (2020) “Like being shot in the face” or “I’m glad I’m out”: journalists’ experiences of job loss in the Australian media industry 2012-2014. Journalism Studies 21(1): 54–71. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2019.1627899.

56.

Ryan

(2009) The performative journalist. Journalism 10(5): 647–664. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884909106537.

57.

Sheller

(2015) News now. Journalism Studies 16(1): 12–26. https://doi.org/10.1080/1461670X.2014.890324.

58.

Sheller

Urry

(2006) The new mobilities paradigm. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space 38: 207–226. https://doi.org/10.1068/a37268.

59.

Vos

Moore

(2020) Building the journalistic paradigm: beyond paradigm repair. Journalism 21(1): 17–33. https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884918767586.

60.

Wahl-Jorgensen

(2009) On the newsroom-centricity of journalism ethnography. In: Bird

(ed) The Anthropology of News and Journalism: Global Perspectives. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 21–35.

61.

Walker

(2021) US Newsroom Employment Has Fallen 26% Since 2008. Pew Research Center. Available at: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/07/13/u-s-newsroom-employment-has-fallen-26-since-2008/.

62.

Weber

(1997) Hired Pens: Professional Writers in America’s Golden Age of Print. Athens: Ohio University Press.

63.

Wiik

(2009) Identities under construction: professional journalism in a phase of destabilization. International Review of Sociology 19(2): 351–365. https://doi.org/10.1080/03906700902833676.

64.

Zelizer

(1993) Journalists as interpretive communities. Critical Studies in Mass Communication 10(3): 219–237. https://doi.org/10.1080/15295039309366865.

Journalists as mobility agents: Labor mobilities,individualized identities,and emerging organizational forms

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References