"The top five roles, in order of importance both by mean scores and by percent who said “extremely” and “very” important, for Indian journalists, were: report things as they are (88.4%), educate the audience (85.5%), provide analysis of current affairs (84.7%), let people express their views
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(83.2%), and support national development (81.7%) (see Table 1). Interestingly, the last role in mean importance was “convey a positive image of the leadership.” “Be an adversary of the government” and “set the political agenda” tied for second last place in terms of means, followed by “support government policy.” These Indian journalists considered it only somewhat important to be directly oppositional to the government as well as to portray leaders positively. As the means decreased, in general, standard deviations increased. Thus journalists’ opinions were quite varied on the roles that were not of primary importance to them." (Journalistic roles, pages 1-2)
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"Respondents believed that their primary role was to monitor and scrutinize political leaders, followed closely by reporting facts as they are. Yet only half found either of these to be ‘extremely’ or ‘very important’. They were also keen that everyday people should be allowed to express the
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ir views through the national media, and that the media should broaden the readers’ horizons. To promote tolerance and cultural diversity was an important journalistic role as well, concomitant with Singapore’s conscious and consistent effort to foster harmony among the diverse races and religions that constitute the population. At the bottom end of the table, respondents did not see that providing advice for daily life, entertainment and relaxation was a significant journalistic role. These are, perhaps, values more associated with lifestyle magazines, and this may reflect a division of labor in the minds of the newsworkers." (Journalistic roles, page 1)
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"Journalists in Serbia seriously believe in their role to inform, interpret, educate and advocate for social change. Nearly all of them, with very little divergence, say the main role of journalism is to report things as they are, followed by providing analysis, promoting tolerance and diversity, ed
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ucating the audience, letting people express their views, advocating for social change, influencing public opinion, supporting national development and telling stories about the world. Around two thirds point to aspects of the watchdog-role as important in their work: monitoring and scrutinizing political leaders and businesses and providing information people need to make political decisions, as well as being a detached observer. Slightly more than half of the interviewed journalists believe it is their job to provide advice for daily life, and there is a relative agreement among them about this. Less popular journalistic roles of setting the political agenda and motivating people to take part in political activity enjoy support of 43.1 and 37.5 percent respectively, with a higher divergence of opinions. Similarly, the disagreement is relatively high over prioritizing entertainment and relaxation, or being an adversary of the government, each upheld by one third of respondents. Supporting government’s policy and conveying a positive image of political leadership are the two least popular journalistic roles (8.9 and 12.6 percent respectively), and journalists tend to agree about this." (Journalistic roles, pages 1-2)
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"With regards to professional role orientations, South Korean journalists found it most important to report things as they are, to provide analysis of current affairs, and to monitor and scrutinize business and political leaders. The relevance of these roles was fairly undisputed among the interview
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ed journalists as the relatively low standard deviations indicate. Likewise, there was a strong consensus among the respondents over the little importance of supporting government policy and conveying a positive image of political leadership. Still, a majority of journalists in South Korea found it important to be a detached observer, to promote tolerance and cultural diversity, to set the political agenda, to provide information people need to make political decisions, to let people express their views, to advocate for social change, and to motivate people to participate in political activity. To provide entertainment and relaxation, as well as politically more assertive roles like supporting government policy and conveying a positive image of political leadership, were supported by only a minority of respondents." (Journalistic roles, pages 1-2)
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"Romanian journalists said that objectivity is the most important attribute of their work. They strongly believe that their job is to report events exactly the way they happened, without any external or internal intervention. The low standard deviations in these cases indicate that there is a high l
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evel of agreement (at least declarative agreement) on the most important roles of the Romanian journalists. In addition, Romanian journalists think they have a duty to serve their public. As shown in Table 1, they believe their role is to educate the audience and provide an analysis of the current problems. However, the standard deviation shows that there is not a high level of agreement on the main roles of the journalists. For the majority of the Romanian journalists it is essential to assume a social role in the community. They consider it important to promote tolerance and cultural diversity, to let people express their views, to support national development and to advocate for social change. The percentage of those who assume the role of watch dogs for the politicians is smaller; only half of the Romanian journalists questioned in this particular study believe it is important to monitor and scrutinize political leaders." (Journalistic roles, page 2)
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"Four “classic” roles: to report things as they are, to be a detached observer, to educate the audience and provide news that attracts the largest audience are fairly unanimously seen as the most important among Estonian journalists, as the relatively low standard deviations suggest. Especially
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‘educating audience’ is historically rooted role in Estonian journalism. Estonian journalists clearly distance themselves from the political power: very few of them would support government policy or are ready to convey a positive image of political leadership. At the same time only a minority of Estonian journalists perceive themselves as adversaries of the government.
Estonian journalists seem not to have any consensus concerning the roles that in one or another way guide people: provide information people need to make political decisions, motivate people to participate in political activity, support national development and set the political agenda. They also have different views on providing entertainment and relaxation and monitoring and scrutinizing political leaders. Generally, Estonian journalists tend to perceive their role as a critical but neutral observer who tries to serve as many people as possible, accepting also the right of people to express their views. Traditionally they see themselves as educators of the public. They have different views on the activist type of roles." (Journalistic roles, page 2)
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"When it comes to professional role orientation, Latvian journalists are almost unanimous that journalists should report things as they are and act as detached observers. Interviewed journalists also found it important to provide analysis of current affairs, to educate the audience, to let people ex
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press theirs views, to tell stories about the world as well as to advocate for social change. All these professional roles, except the necessity to tell stories about the world (s=1.22) and to let people express their views (s=1.08), showed relatively low standard deviations, suggesting that journalists agree on their importance. Similar consensus among the respondents showed over the little importance of supporting official government policies and conveying a positive image of political leaders." (Journalistic roles, page 2)
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"A crowded and rather poor media market, unable to secure the sustainability of media operations, a high level of job insecurity making the journalists vulnerable to political and economic pressures and – more often than not – leading to self-censorship – are some of the conclusions [...] The
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report reveals that across the region, journalists are making less than the national average salary, which indicates an erosion of the social respect for the profession. Paradoxically, the public media – still unreformed and subject to state influence – offer more stable and better paid jobs. This creates an opportunity for these media, as more and more journalists are seeking these jobs. It also reveals the need for a stronger associative effort on the part of journalists, to protect their rights." (http://www.seenpm.org)
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"Malawian journalists are ambivalent in their roles. They perceive themselves as faithful reporters and objective analysts of current affairs, who not only help their audiences make informed decisions, but also give voice to the people (see Table 1). They also perceive themselves as monitors and scr
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utinizers of political leadership and business. This approach would classify Malawians journalists as operating within the Occidental/Western journalism framework. However, the same journalists also see themselves as advocates for social change, supporters of national development, motivators of popular political participation, and educators of their audiences. More than half of the respondents stuck to their traditional roles of providing advice, orientation and direction for daily life as well as providing entertainment and relaxation. While the Malawian journalists portray themselves as professionals with the mission to contribute positively to national governance and promote social change, they avoid being adversaries of their government or promoters of political leadership." (Journalistic roles, page 2)
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