Journalism's next generation : socialization of high school journalists

Field of study: Journalism.Dr. Ryan Thomas, Dissertation Supervisor.Includes vita."July 2017."[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Like their professional counterparts, high school journalists are confronting the societal and technological forces that are reshaping journalism. As members of journalism's next generation, high school journalists are charged with the responsibility of carrying journalism forward long after senior journalists exit the newsroom. This case study incorporated ethnographic observation and interviews to examine how high school journalists are socialized into journalism as an occupational ideology (Deuze, 2005). It focused on how high school journalists make meaning of public service, objectivity, autonomy, immediacy, and ethics through the intersection of their journalistic roles. It also looked at how high school journalists are socialized into journalism in the educational setting. Lastly, it considered the role of agents of socialization, such as individual educators, peers, family, part-time work, and the media. The findings suggest that high school journalists who practice free of threats from prior review and restraint are acclimating to the shared autonomy of the multimedia environment. High school journalists also are adapting to new considerations of immediacy that provide them with flexibility to act as disseminators or interpreters, as the situation warrants. Finally, high school journalists in an autonomous environment exert a strong socialization influence on their peers.Includes bibliographical references (pages 139-147)