The way journalists are educated in a given country is determined by several factors: the role and function a society ascribes to its journalists, the structures in the field of journalism, and the special features of the media system. These factors provide considerable variance in the systems of Journalism education, even in the so-called Western democracies. However, there may be some general trends leading to an assimilation of journalism training in the different countries, at least in Western Europe, where the close economic and political cooperation of the member states of the European Union might also cause and forster a further concurrance of the ideas about the role of journalists in society and how they should be educated. This book takes stock of the different ways that lead into journalism in Europe and in North America at a moment when much change is taking place in the media systems and in journalism education and thus lays the ground for further analyses and comparisons of the way journalists are trained and how this is intertwined with the expectations that are brought forward to journalism and the role of journalists in society.

Product Description: The book examines the system used to produce professional communicators in the United States, compares the system to that of other countries, and examines the impact of the system on the field of mass communications. In addition, it explores the personnel practices of media organizations and shows the interface between those practices and the educational programs that produce the journalism and mass communication students...read more