Control and Ethics in Professional Activity of Economic Journalists
Abstract
The present paper reviews professional activity of economic journalists in Russia in unfavorable institutional environment. As a special professional group, both in terms of required skills and role in society, economic journalists often face a number of difficulties in the course of their career. This idea could be confirmed by real incidents (dismissal of the editorial staff of the leading Russian media) and international statistics. In 2016, Russia ranked 148th in the World Press Freedom Index. An integral part of the activity of journalists is professional regulation, which was reviewed on three levels — external, internal and individual, identified by A. Abbott. The functioning of such control in the professional activity of journalists is the general purpose of the study. The empirical research basis is 18 semi-structured interviews with "economic journalists" — employees of the "Economics" and "Finance" editorial departments of printed and Internet media from different federal districts of the Russian Federation. From the findings of the research, it can be concluded that the external level of regulation effectiveness is insufficient despite its total interference. Journalists' own values acquire importance in case of the moral choice that the professional community often encounters. As the external control does not always ensure proper regulation and individual norms of journalists are affected by external factors, the organizational culture of particular media companies becomes especially important. Media organizations regulate the work process of their employees by creating internal ethical codes and building an environment where journalists can communicate and exchange experience with each other.
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