Journalistic professionalism as indirect control and fetishistic disavowal

Bibliographic Data

ID7478649
AuthorsJesse Owen Hearns-Branaman (0000-0003-1758-2855, National Institute of Development Administration, corresponding author)
Year2013
Volume15
Issue1
Pages21-36
Publication date2013-02-17
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournalism (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1464-8849 • E-ISSN: 1741-3001
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1464884912474202
OpenAlexW2107187544
LanguageEN
Citations received13
References cited20

In this essay I argue that a better understanding of the basis of journalistic professionalism lies in the combination of two ideological formations. First, we have the process of professional socialization of journalists, leading to a delimited range of voices and self-censorship. This formation alone is insufficient, however, as occasional self-criticism and scepticism of journalistic professional norms is needed. I argue that Žižek’s concept of ideology as fetishistic disavowal (that is, being able to actively admit the limitations of one’s ideology as long as one still follows it) is a necessary complement to the idea of ideology as indirect control. This is done with an examination of the discourses used by 20 US and UK-based political journalists to answer seven different interview questions

Aesthetics · Censorship · Complement (music · Control (management · Criticism · Epistemology · Ideology · Management · Political science · Politics · Skepticism · Social science · Socialization · Sociology · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Media Studies and Communication · Social Media and Politics · Law · Philosophy

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