Journalists’ Debates on Education – The Case of the Volontariat in Germany, 1913-1933

• In Event: ICA Interactive Paper/Poster Session II
  In Interactive Poster Session: Communication History Interactive Poster Session

Abstract

Despite attempts to establish an academic education, the Volontariat became the most important form of education for journalists in Germany. Nevertheless, research on the hands-on education is scarce. Drawing on the theory of professionalization, this analysis examines journalists’ attitude toward the traineeship in the early 20th century. Therefore, debates in the publications of the two major journalistic organizations were investigated: Deutsche Presse (DP) of the bourgeois Reichsverband der deutschen Presse and the social democratic Mitteilungen des Vereins Arbeiterpresse (MdVA). All in all, 46 articles were analyzed over the period of 1913 to 1933 by means of a qualitative content analysis. The study reveals that bourgeois journalists discussed the Volontariat mainly with respect to social issues and vocational prestige. More practice-oriented, social democratic journalists reflected the practicability of traineeships for their partisan newspapers. Regarding professionalization, the Volontariat was in-between the view of journalism as a natural gift and academic studies.

Authors

• Mike Meißner, Université de Fribourg

• Niklas Venema, FU Berlin