Journalism Students' Survey 2015

The Journalism Students' Survey 2015 was part of an international comparative study entitled Journalism Students Across the Globe (JSG), which was conducted simultaneously in more than 30 countries. In Finland, six educational institutions that provide studies in journalism were selected to participate. International comparisons enable, among others, to examine how organizational and cultural influences affect the future journalists' views of their occupation. The Finnish study was funded by the Helsingin Sanomat Foundation. The respondents were first asked what their preferred field (e.g. journalism, advertising, research) was after studies, where they wanted to work (e.g. newspaper, television, radio, freelancer), and how interested they were in specialising in different areas (e.g. politics, sports, science). Work experience (including internship) in journalism was surveyed. The respondents were also asked what had motivated them to study their degree and how important they considered various functions of the media in their future work. Opinions on the overall performance of different types of media was charted as well as major problems facing quality journalism in Finland. Regarding ethical standards, the respondents were asked whether they thought certain ethically problematic courses of action could be justified or not when covering a news story. Concerning journalism and communication education in Finland, the respondents were requested to assess the quality of academic training and asked whether they thought it necessary for a good journalist to have studied journalism at university level. Finally, the respondents' media use was investigated. Background variables included, among others, the respondent's gender, age, university/polytechnic, year of study, and interest in politics as well as the economic conditions of R's childhood family, and whether R wanted to pursue a career as a journalist.