Page 283 - Comparing Political Communication Theories, Cases, and Challenge
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P1: JZL/KDD/KAB  P2: JZZ
                          0521828317c11.xml  CY425/Esser  0521828317  June 8, 2004  22:9






                                                Political News Journalists

                                  % Very/Quite Important
                              100
                               90
                               80      71  74
                               70
                               60                                            48  54
                               50                   45                  40           43
                                               36
                               40                                   30
                               30                       21
                               20
                               10
                               0
                                     "Championing Values and Ideas"    "Influence Politics"
                                              GERMANY    ITALY  SWEDEN   UK  USA
                              Figure 11.1 Job Motivation of Journalists. Note: Question: “How important is
                              each of the following aspects for your work as a journalist?” (very, quite,
                              slightly, not at all)


                              commentator. We asked our respondents how much time they spend
                              with several professional activities, some of which described the roles
                              of the reporter (“preparing reports based on personal observation and
                              investigation”), the editor (“making content decisions about news other
                              journalists produce”), and the commentator (“writing editorial com-
                              mentary”). For reasons of cross-national comparison we avoided the
                              labeling of these roles with terms that might have a different meaning in
                              the five countries. A simple cross tabulation of the three roles showed to
                              what extent in each of the countries the same person exercises different
                              professional roles. United States journalists showed the highest degree
                              of role segregation. Only one in four indicated exerting at the same
                              time reporter and editor functions, only one in ten indicated combin-
                              ing reporter and editor roles, and almost nobody combines editing and
                              commentary. In all of these cases the German journalists scored highest.
                              Three in four indicate that they spend a lot of time on covering events
                              and at least some time on writing commentaries, often on the very same
                              event.
                                In all countries journalists were motivated primarily by the task of
                              gathering and disseminating information about current public develop-
                              ments.Buttheydifferedinthedegreetowhichtheyclaimedaninterestin
                              influencing politics. United States journalists ranked near the top on this
                              indicator, which contradicted what we had otherwise found. However,
                              another survey item puts the finding into perspective (see Figure 11.1).


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