Abstract
This article attempts to explain the relationships between journalists, politics and the state from the perspective of collective autonomy, that of the professional organization of journalists. The case of Estonian Journalists’ Union demonstrates the complexity and historical contingency of professional autonomy of journalism. The development of the Estonian journalists’ organization occurred as a sequence of transformations from the Estonian Journalists’ Association to the Estonian Journalists’ Union to the Soviet type journalists’ union, and lastly to an independent trade union. This sequence was disrupted by several fatal breakdowns that changed not only the character of the association, but also professional values, the whole occupational ideology and the conditions of the existence of journalism as a profession in Estonia.
Highlights
By the late 19th century, journalism in industrialized countries gradually began to separate from other fields as a regular occupation with a certain common identity, norms and values that united journalists
The case of Estonia’s journalists’ organization clearly indicates how much the process of professionalization of journalism depends on external powers
This article focused primarily on political and historical conditions that determine the frames within which journalists operate, and which allow or not allow them certain extent of autonomy
Summary
By the late 19th century, journalism in industrialized countries gradually began to separate from other fields as a regular occupation with a certain common identity, norms and values that united journalists. By the 1920s, journalists’ associations were actively involved in ‘profession building’ They used various strategies to legitimize the occupation and began to make efforts for influencing the press-related legislation (Dooley, 1997; Juraite, Lauk, & Zelče, 2009). 35) point out that journalistic professional autonomy is always relative, as ‘control over the work process is to a significant extent collegial’ and individual journalists cannot control the media organizations outright They extend the notion of professional autonomy to ‘the corps of journalists taken as a whole’ (Hallin & Mancini, 2004), i.e. to the occupational community of journalists. The factors of political origin (legal framework of their working conditions, degree of press freedom etc.) journalists confront at the institutional/systemic level collectively Their associations endeavour to negotiate with other agents and agencies in society with the aim of providing journalists with working conditions where they are safe and relatively independent. The article is based on the existing research on Estonian journalism and critical analysis of relevant archive documents of journalists’ association and Estonian Communist Party (ECP)
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