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Belgium – (C5) Journalist’s job security

Score in short:

A lot of Flemish journalists worry about job security, even though professional journalists are protected by law. Due to financial pressure, journalists are more and more forced to work as freelancers, lacking protection measures. Older journalists fear being fired because of their higher wages.

Score in detail:

Since 1963, Flanders acknowledges the title “Professional journalist” [Beroepsjournalist]. It is administered to every journalist whose main occupation has been working as a journalist for a minimum period of two years. Licensed professional journalists receive an official press card and additional advantages as well as a statutory supplementary pension. For freelance journalists, protection measures are limited.

The average professional Flemish journalist has worked in journalism for approximately 21 years. Almost half had another occupation before starting to work as a journalist. This is less common among young journalists, as they more often aspire to a journalistic career right after graduation. While it is common for Flemish journalists to work for multiple media brands, still, nearly half remain loyal to one media organisation. The large majority of Flemish journalists have a contract of indefinite duration, and almost 80 per cent work full-time.

A lot of journalists worry about job security. This number has risen from 66 per cent in 2013 to 79 per cent five years onwards (Van Leuven et al., 2019). Older journalists are especially worried they will be fired in the near future. Journalists also declare they are sometimes forced to work as freelancers by media companies – most notably, regional journalists who in Flanders and the Netherlands have filed (and won) court cases against unfair pay on a few occasions.