Socializing Journalist Trainees in the Newsroom: On How to Capture the Intangible Parts of the Process1

Abstract

In the present article, we investigate socialization practices in the newsroom. The analyses demonstrate how journalist trainees are socialized into this particular professional culture and community of practice. Theoretically, we combine traditional news ethnography with linguistic anthropology, conversation analysis, and theories of profession in order to investigate and interpret social and cultural (re)production in the routinized practice in the newsroom. The units of analysis are interactions between journalist trainees and their editors concerning ideas for news stories. These interactions play a key role in the socialization process as important loci for learning about the craft because of the constant reinforcement of competent practice which takes place here. Thus, these interactions are important sites for cultural production and reproduction that support the building of professional vision.

Keywords

• newsroom ethnography
• socialization
• journalism practice
• journalist trainees
• linguistic anthropology
• ideation format