The Structure and Components of a Journalist’s Professional Identity
Authors:   Ural Federal University, Oleshko V. F. , Oleshko E. V. ,   Ural Federal University
Published: November 2020

The second part of the monograph “Mass Media as a Mediator of Com­municative-Cultural Memory” considers a complex integrative psychological phenomenon of journalist’s professional identity based on system analysis. It is shown that on the one hand, personal identity accompanies a person’s notions of group/professional affiliation, and in this sense is a necessary element of social identity, and on the other hand, based on the survey results of 261 respondents the authors noted the fact that an individual, even in a democratic state, often has problems in reality caused by the desire to preserve the right to creative individuality and personal freedom. In accordance with the methodology of the study, the whole set of commu­nicative practices, which in the digital age were most widespread in the mass media, was analyzed. It is argued that the trends of development in the XXI century journalism as a convergent and multimedia characterized a gradual transition not only to the use of emerging technological opportunities but also to work within a fundamentally new philosophy of organizing creative activity. The process of identification as some consecutive stages is considered in the context of formation and development based on actual media practice of a pro­fessional culture of journalists. The authors prove that this integrative concept reflects the essence and basic personal characteristics of its bearers: praxeological (professional skills and abilities), mental (ethical and moral and philosophical), as well as deontological intentions as a process of human awareness of not only the abilities or talent but also the adoption of internal corporate standards and values, as well as a constant desire to learn and actively improve mass media skills and abilities. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version) The creative and reflective attitude to work, as well as the ability to make decisions and evaluate them simultaneously from two positions — concrete technological and sociocultural — find practical expression in various forms of a professional culture that contribute to the development of the spiritual potential of society and innovative changes in it. Since the novelty of the research carried out by the authors is also due to the public need to study the of identification resources of modern mass media in the organization of intergenerational communication in the digital environment, this part of the monograph separately highlights the aspect of educational and media educational practices. It is noted that the skills and competences of the specialists of the new formation should reflect the work in the conditions of the actively coming Internet as a channel not only for transmission, but also for “packaging” different forms of information, and the convenience of perception of texts in any conditions and on any media, technologically perfect multimedia, multiplied by interactivity — should be the main value of convergent journalism in the new realities of the time. The quickness of content transmission, mobility, universal skills — work in real-time, reconstruction of events and preparation of texts in almost all genres, use of data-journalism and many others — should become as integral characteristics of a creative person as in the Gutenberg era were the skills of effective communication with characters on the phone or the ability to print their texts on a typewriter.