General Views and Perceptions

The majority of the journalists who participated in the survey consider journalism a vocation: specifically, 71.5% of the respondents answered positively to the question whether journalism is a vocation –with 50.5% stating “definitely yes” and 21% responding “probably yes”. On the contrary, 23.5% do not believe that journalism is a vocation (“definitely not” say 12%, “probably not” say 11.5%), while 5% did not answer the question.

To the –multiple-choice– question “why are you a journalist?”, the most predominant responses chosen by the respondent sample are: “I consider it to be a profession that requires responsibility and moral integrity, and I can make a great contribution to it” (52.5%), “I like to inform people” (46.5%), “I am motivated by the fact that I am practicing a profession with an increased social impact” (42%). At the same time, 26% of the survey respondents said that they practice the profession, among other reasons because they like to have access to information earlier than the rest of the world.

A significantly smaller percentage state that they practice journalism because it is their only professional skill and/or by chance, as each of the options “it is the only thing I know how to do” and “I happened to find a job in a media outlet and stayed in the field” was selected by 8.5% of the sample.

Personal benefits are reasons for pursuing the profession for 6% or less of the survey participants: “I benefit from the connections and public relations that the profession offers to me” say 6%, “I like the personal exposure that journalism offers” say 5.5%, “it serves my other interests” respond 2%. The level of journalism salaries is a factor for practicing the profession for only 1% of the participants.