Levels of professionalism and professional efficacy among journalists in Ireland

Abstract. Ireland’s social, cultural, religious and political ethos has restricted the country’s press freedom. This ethos, combined with a long history of colonialism, could mean that Irish journalists would have low levels of professionalism and of professional efficacy. This research attempted to determine how Irish journalists rated on professionalism and efficacy. Primary and secondary sources were used. A cross-sectional survey of a representative sample of Irish journalists found that they rate high on both levels of professionalism and nonprofessionalism. They also rate high on levels of professional efficacy. However, a halo effect may be manifest as the measures are not flawless. In 1982, Paul Ashdown, a professor at the University of Tennessee, predicted that Irish journalists would change &dquo;as the press builds an investigative tra-dition and establishes professional training opportunities&dquo; (Ashdown, 1982, p. 509). At that time, there was little investigative journalism in Ireland and few professional training opportunities. But despite the fact that the situation has changed somewhat since then,