Entering Journalism in Times of Democratic Backsliding: Hong Kong Young Journalists’ Career Decision and Persistence

Abstract

This study examines why young people enter and stay in the field of journalism in a context where democratic backsliding has undermined the condition for meaningful and professional journalistic work. Adopting a life course perspective and through in-depth interviews with twenty six young journalists in Hong Kong, which recently experienced a process of rapid backsliding, the study attempts to understand how young people develop their interest in journalism and conceptions of what journalism should be through examining their initial imagination of journalism, experiences with major political events, journalism education, and role models. We categorized the interviewees as aspiring idealists, socialized idealists, and pragmatists. These journalists had different responses to the reality of journalistic work after joining the field—ranging from adaptive resilience to baseline maintenance. The analysis sheds light on the myriad ways young journalists react to a changing political environment and the sources of the resilience of liberal professional journalism.