Journalistic Autonomy

The Genealogy of a Concept

Henrik Örnebring, Michael Karlsson

370 pages

Published: April 2022

ISBN: 9780826222541

Journalism in Perspective

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Price: $40.00

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About This Book: Autonomy is foundational to journalism. But where does the idea of autonomy come from, and what is it that journalism should be autonomous from? This book presents the genealogy of the idea of journalistic autonomy from the seventeenth century to our contemporary digital age, where algorithms and platforms place new potential constraints on journalistic independence. Tracing how journalists have understood autonomy in relation to the state; to political interests; to the market; to sources; in the workplace; to the audience; and to technology, this book presents a comprehensive account of how journalism has come to terms with its many dependencies.
Authors and Editors: Henrik Örnebring is Professor of Media and Communication in the Department of Geography, Media, and Communication at Karlstad University, Sweden. Dr. Örnebring has published widely on journalism, media history, and new media in anthologies and scholarly journals and his most recent book is Newsworkers: Comparing Journalists in Six European Countries. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Journalism Studies.

Michael Karlsson is Professor of Media and Communication in the Department of Geography, Media and Communication at Karlstad University, Sweden. He has primarily published on issues pertaining to the digitalization of journalism. His is co-editor of Rethinking Research Methods in an Age of Digital Journalism. He is a Senior Editor of the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Journalism Studies.
Praise For This Book: “This book represents excellent, path-breaking work.”—Ryan J. Thomas, Missouri School of Journalism, serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Media Ethics, Digital Journalism, and Journalism & Mass Communication Educator

“This thoughtful, provocative book will be well-cited by not only US and European scholars but scholars around the globe.”—Linda Steiner, University of Maryland, coeditor of Front Pages, Front Lines: Media and the Fight for Women’s Suffrage

"Journalists jealously defend their autonomy from owners, advertisers, bosses, politicians, government, and even their audiences and their tools. Ornebring and Karlsson provide an invaluable genealogy of this devotion to autonomy. Their wise and timely account shows that viable autonomy is served not by building unbreachable walls around journalism but by maintaining permeable membranes. Anyone trying to understand the mess that journalism is in today should read this book."—John Nerone, University of Illinois, author of The Media and Public Life: A History

“What is the meaning and purpose of journalistic autonomy? With wit, erudition, and verve, Örnebring and Karlsson revisit this classic question and provide provocative new answers. They generate fresh metaphors appropriate for the challenges facing journalism today (a membrane instead of a wall), reveal how the drive for autonomy has too often been used to mask or justify discrimination, and urge development of a ‘positive’ vision of autonomy more concerned with what it is ‘for’ than with what it wants to be protected ‘against.’ This insightful book deserves a wide hearing.” —Rodney Benson, New York University, author of Shaping Immigration News