1. Journalism Education
Research in Europe: Mapping
Maria Lukina
Board Member EJTA
Journalism School at Moscow State University,
Russia
2. • For better understanding what kind of research
EJTA members do on journalism education
• To find out our potential to develop joint
projects, share ideas, and build research
alliances
• To establish network for EJTA researchers in
different fields affiliated to journalism
education
Project idea
3. • Online questionnaire consisted of 10 questions
• Sample was shaped by 57 representatives of institutions
– EJTA members
• The project timeline: 3 iterations and 3 waves of responds
(March 2015 - March 2016)
• 33 schools from 20 countries responded: Albania,
Austria, Belgium (2), Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland (5),
France (2), Georgia, Germany, Italy, Macedonia,
Netherlands (2), Romania, Russia (2), Spain, Sweden (2),
Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom (2)
• Schools run from 1 to 20 projects
• In average one school runs 3-4 projects
Method and sample
4. Seven research questions
• Which EJTA members schools/universities are
involved with research directly related to journalism
education?
• How many current or past journalism education
projects schools conduct?
• What are the topics of discovered research projects?
• What methods are used, and what are the samples’
scales?
• What is the impact on the educational process?
• Who are the main contributors and results?
• Where the results are disseminated?
5. Results: topics of JE research
Journalism as a profession 63,89%
Professional competences 63,89%
Educational programmes and curriculum 52,78%
Technical skills 30,56%
Impact of media and professional convergence 30,56%
Teaching methods 30,56%
Comparative research on JE systems 30,56%
Job markets 27,78%
Quality criteria 16,67%
Historical perspective on journalism education 11,11%
Ranking of schools/programmes 8,33%
6. Leaders of interest
• “Journalism as a profession” and
“Professional competences” were mentioned
in nearly 64% of answers
• Educators concern about profession itself,
its statutes, challenges and perspectives
• Professional competences as a mainstream
topic of studies in a vast number of schools
• Tartu declaration as a framework EJTA
document still is on agenda
7. Leaders of interest-2
• The second popular topics are
educational programming and
curriculum design
• The next place was shared by
technical skills and impact of
convergence and newsroom
innovations
8. Extra priorities specified
• Multicultural and global approach are
complementing many projects
• Comparing quality management and
accreditation systems in different countries
• Participation in international project “Worlds
of Journalism”
• Studies on ethical perspectives, on
managerial and design thinking methodology
• Technological novelties in news coverage
and storytelling (i.e. camera drones), etc.
9. Research methods
• Most of institutions perform their research using
surveys as systematic collection of data (86%)
• the second popular method is interviewing (81%)
• and then in descending go content-analysis
(58%), literature study (53%), observation (50%),
focus groups (36%)
• Respondents use other methods: panel
discussions, design approach, action research,
case study, theoretical method, testing
education methods and instruments in classes
10. What is the impact
Answers differ from huge to low impact, but the results
are implemented mostly in teaching process:
• Curriculum renovation or restructure
• Developing current and new courses
• Improving dialogue between all stakeholders
(teachers, students, industry, administration)
• Quality management
• Improvement of teaching technologies
• However some respondents honestly mentioned the
“low” impact
11. Who are contributors
• We made the list of scholars who
perform journalism education research
in EJTA institutions
• In many cases it came out to be
research centers or teams, but
generally studies are carried out by one
to three-four enthusiasts per school
13. Results in public domain
• It was also a matter of interest what actually
have been published in public domain
• The results turned out not to meet all those
topics, amounts, and platforms that originally
were stated by respondents.
• The results also demonstrated that
publication activities on JE research are
irregularly distributed by countries and
institutions
14. Discussion
We could state that JE research is not the main activity
of EJTA institutions
Although majority (94%) showed interest different
countries (research schools) demonstrate various
level of concern. Three groups could be figured out:
1st
group: countries-leaders with total or biggest
amount involvement in JE research and publication
activity – Finland (University of Jyvaskyla, University
of Tampere, Haaga-Helia University of Applied
Sciences, Turku University of Applied Sciences) and
Netherlands (Windesheim University of Applied
Science, Hogeschool Utrecht, Fontys Hogeschool
Journalistiek);
15. Discussion
2nd
Countries demonstrated interest and sporadically
publish results Austria (Danube University Krems),
France (IPJ Institut pratique du journalisme),
Germany (Jade Hochschule Wilhelmshaven),
Macedonia (School of Journalism and Public
Relations), Norway (Oslo and Akershus University
College of Applied Sciences), Russia (Moscow State
University), Sweden (Stockholm University),
Switzerland (Zurich University of Applied Sciences),
United Kingdom (University of Lincoln);
3rd
Countries with institutions demonstrated interest
though showed up lack or zero publications –
Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Georgia, Italy,
Romania, Spain, Turkey.
16. Conclusions
Institutions turn the previous page of research
with two big pan-European projects–
specification and classification of journalists’
professional competences (“Tartu
Declaration”) and constructing exemplary
curriculum for journalism schools (“Model
Curriculum UNESCO”)
Both of them accomplished around a decade
ago
Remove to the next stage of priorities
“Journalism education in a new era”
17. Several new directions of
research
• Future of journalism
• Newer roles for journalists
• Journalists as creative entrepreneurs
• Educational strategies in data journalism
• Professional ideals of journalism students
• Potentials for innovative teaching
Etc.
