BRITISH STUDY SHOWS DISAPPEARANCE OF WORKING CLASS FROM JOURNALISM

Working Class Studies - A report by the British Cabinet Office offers stark evidence of the disappearance of the working class from the journalism profession, and the study offers some relevant observations for American media as well. The report, Unleashing Aspirations, notes, among other things, that journalists born since 1970 predominantly come from middle class to upper middle class backgrounds. And journalism ranks third in the list of the most socially exclusive professions, just behind doctors and lawyers.

Between the 1958 and the 1970 birth cohorts, the biggest decline in social mobility occurred in the professions of journalism and accountancy. For example, journalists and broadcasters born in 1958 typically grew up in families with an income of around 6% above that of the average family; but this rose to 42% for the generation of journalists and broadcasters born in 1970.

The National Union of Journalists told the panel compiling the report that a 2002 Journalism Training Forum poll showed that fewer than 10 per cent of new journalists came from a working-class background and only three per cent came from homes headed by semi-skilled or unskilled workers.

One of the many troubling findings of the report, and the one most readily applicable to the profession here in the US, is that a prerequisite for entrance into a career in journalism is at least one internship experience, and that many, if not most, are unpaid. . . .