Accomplishing Journalism: Towards a Revived Sociology of a Media Occupation

Abstract

This article sets out a case for a revived sociology of media work. It suggests that a certain sociological approach, neglected for some time, offers the promise of (a) providing a more rounded sociological account of journalistic practice that (b) will help us better understand what journalists do and how and why they do it, (c) will ultimately help us better understand the process of news production and message creation, and (d) may have wider applicability for the study of occupations in the realm of cultural production.The article argues that there is still much to be gained from sociologically informed empirical enquiry into the work of journalists. The examples of journalists’ mistakes and the ways journalists regulate and control each others’ work are used to illustrate the case. This involves an analytical framework built on the concept of journalism as an occupational accomplishment.