UK public service broadcasting has always displayed strong characteristics of professionalism, defined in terms of collective identity and organization, journalistic autonomy, distinct professional norms, and professional training. The BBC fostered a strong ethos of journalistic autonomy and established a high public service quality standard which was emulated by ITV during the duopoly era, and later by the other commercial public service broadcasters Channels 4 and 5, and – as noted – also the non-public service Sky News. When discussing journalistic professionalism, the example set by the BBC in promoting quality journalism that serves the public interest cannot be over-emphasized. The managing editor of the award-winning Guardian quality newspaper has pointed to the standard setting role of the BBC: ‘We have to be aggressive and cover more things in creative ways because we aren’t just competing with other newspapers, we are competing with the BBC that is serious about journalism’ (Chris Elliott, cited in McChesney & Nichols 2010: 162). The UK broadcasting industry at large displays strong signs of professional identity, organization and norms, promoted by institutions like the Royal Television Society,28 the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA)29 and the annual MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival. The sector also is also strongly unionized in the shape of the Broadcasting, Entertainment, Cinematograph and Theatre Union (BECTU), which represents those working in broadcasting, film, theatre, entertainment, leisure, interactive media and allied areas.30
In the press sector, professionalism has weaker roots. For a long time, there was an element of truth in the old adage that newspaper journalism was a ‘trade’ not a profession. The route into Fleet Street was through ‘learning on the job’ in a provincial newspaper and/or having privileged contacts. However, a profound change has occurred. Nowadays, overwhelmingly entrants to newspaper journalism are openly competitively recruited and university educated, often with postgraduate qualifications in journalism. Training is ubiquitous and multimedia skills are de rigeur (see C8 below). However, this stride towards professionalization has been countered by a marked increase in workload pressures (C5), a decline in job security, and a relative decline in the unions’ ability to stand up to management. Since the 1980s, in broadcasting too (even the BBC), there has occurred a rise in the numbers of workers on freelance and short-term contracts. This ‘casualization’ trend, it is reasonably argued, has diminished journalistic autonomy and militated against professionalism.
