Analysing Journalism Skills: A Field Study on Turkish Case

Abstract

With the rapid spread of information technologies, especially the internet, traditional journalistic practices have begun to be transformed. This study aims to discuss this transformation witnessed in traditional journalism practices through the skills specific to journalism. Despite such a discussion that poses many questions, the fundamental question underlying the efforts made within the scope of this study is, “In an era where everyone has begun to engage in journalism using similar technological tools and ‘skills specific to the human species’, how do journalists describe their own professional skills?” Although the study acknowledges the presence of a change in the skills that are considered to be specific to this profession, it also assumes that rather than being triggered by social needs, this change is a result of conscious interventions in the components of human-specific productive power, which were and are still undertaken by those that experience capital accumulation problem. The quantitative data of the research were obtained from a field study, in which 86 reporters working in the print media participated. A total of 4,300 items of data acquired through a survey were analyzed using quantitative and qualitative techniques. The results provide an insight into the distortion of journalists’ professional skills by the new division of labor division/work relations activated by the institutional structuring of the media and the increasing use of technology, as well as assisting in understanding the changes initiated by this distortion. Keywords

Keywords

• Journalism,professional skills,new media,information and information technologies,technoeconomic paradigms

Gazetecilik Becerileri Üzerine Bir Alan Araştırması: Türkiye Örneği

Abstract

Bilişim teknolojilerinin, özellikle de internetin hızla yaygınlaşmasıyla birlikte geleneksel gazetecilik pratikleri dönüşüm geçirmeye başlamıştır. Bu çalışma geleneksel gazetecilik pratiklerinde tanık olduğumuz bu dönüşümü gazetecilik mesleğine özgü beceriler üzerinden tartışmaya açmayı hedeflemektedir. Söz konusu tartışma çok sayıda soruyu içermekle birlikte bu makale kapsamındaki çabayı ayakta tutacak temel soru şudur: Herkes gazeteciliği benzer teknolojik araçlarla ve ‘türün geneline özgü insani’ becerilerle yapmaya başladığında meslekten gazeteciler alana özgü becerilerini nasıl tanımlayacaklardır? Çalışma, gazetecilik mesleğine özgülendiği kabul edilen becerilerde bir değişim olduğunu kabul etmekle birlikte bu değişimin toplumsal ihtiyaçlardaki değişimden çok birikim sorunu yaşayanların insana özgü üretici gücün bileşenlerine kendi sınıfsal ihtiyaçları yönünde yapmış ve halen yapmakta oldukları bilinçli müdahalelerinin sonucunda gerçekleştiğini varsaymaktadır. Çalışmanın nicel verisi yazılı basında çalışan toplam 86 muhabir gazetecinin katıldığı bir alan araştırmasından elde edilmiştir. Anket yoluyla elde edilen 4,300 veri, nicel ve nitel teknikler kullanılarak analiz edilmiştir. Elde edilen sonuçlar, medyanın kurumsal yapılanması içinde devreye sokulan yeni iş bölümü/çalışma ilişkilerinin ve artan ölçüde teknoloji kullanımının gazetecilerin mesleki becerilerinde yol açtığı tahrifatı ve neden olduğu mesleki dönüşümü anlamamıza yardım etmektedir.

Keywords

• Gazetecilik,mesleki beceriler,yeni medya,enformasyon ve bilişim teknolojileri,tekno-ekonomik paradigmalar

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