La construction rhétorique du métier de journaliste gastronomique
Authors: Naulin Sidonie 
Published: January 2022

FR. Le monde professionnel des journalistes gastronomiques est à la fois divisé, faiblement institutionnalisé et possède des contours flous. En l’absence de mobilisation pour la transformation de leur métier en profession, les journalistes gastronomiques tentent de clôturer symboliquement leur espace professionnel. Comme le journalisme gastronomique est une forme journalistique issue d’une pratique amateure, les journalistes se positionnent à la fois par rapport à l’amateurisme, dont ils cherchent à se détacher, et par rapport au journalisme « en général », auquel ils cherchent à se rattacher. Le détachement de l’amateurisme, s’il est une caractéristique commune à l’ensemble des journalistes professionnels, est d’autant plus problématique pour les journalistes gastronomiques que ces derniers appartiennent à une spécialité considérée comme mineure tant par leurs confrères que par eux-mêmes. En effet, à la fois les caractéristiques de la spécialité (proche des mondes économiques, des loisirs) et son histoire (« mythe » du péché originel collaborationniste), conduisent à sa dépréciation interne et externe. Dans ces circonstances, l’adhésion – rhétorique à tout le moins – à un critère de professionnalité lié à la déontologie du journalisme « en général », offre une source d’identification positive pour les journalistes de la spécialité ainsi qu’un moyen de clôturer symboliquement l’espace des professionnels légitimes. L’imposition de cette rhétorique comme dominante peut être rapportée à l’évolution démographique de la profession (hausse tendancielle de la part des journalistes issus de formations journalistiques au cours du temps), à la morphologie du marché du travail (existence de médias qui jouent le rôle de sas d’entrée dans la profession et de lieu de socialisation professionnelle) et aux modalités d’exercice de l’activité. En défi- nissant le groupe par sa manière de travailler plutôt que par le contenu de son travail, la rhétorique déontologique tend à dissoudre la spécificité du journalisme gastronomique au sein d’un espace professionnel journalistique plus large.

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EN. The professional world of food journalists is divided and weakly institutionalized, and its boundaries are hazy. Instead of mobilizing to transform their occupation into a profession, food journalists try to circle their wagons symbolically around their professional space. Because gastronomic reporting is a journalistic form that metamorphosed out of amateur practice, journalists position themselves both in relation to amateurism, from which they seek to detach themselves, and to journalism at large, with which they seek to be identified. The disengagement from amateurism, if it is a characteristic common to all professional journalists, is all the more problematic for food journalists since they belong to a specialty considered secondary by both their colleagues and themselves. Indeed, both its characteristics (being cozy with economics and leisure) and its history (as perpetrator of the mythic original collaborationist sin), contribute to its internal and external deprecation. In these circumstances, the adherence—rhetorical at the very least—to criteria of professionalism linked to journalism ethics at large, offers a positive source of identification for journalists in the field as well as a means of symbolically securing a space for legitimate professionals. The dominance of this rhetoric can be traced to the demographic evolution of the profession (more journalists with professional training), the morphology of the labour market (the existence of media that serve as a gateway to the profession and a place of professional socialization) and the ways in which the activity is carried out. By defining the group by how it works rather than by the content of its work, ethical rhetoric tends to dissolve the specificity of food journalism within a broader journalistic professional space.

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PT. O mundo profissional dos jornalistas gastronômicos é dividido, pouco institucionalizado e com contornos vagos. Na ausência de mobilização para a transformação de sua métier em profissão, os jornalistas gastronômicos tentam cercar simbolicamente seu espaço profissional. Como o jornalismo gastronômico é uma forma jornalística resultante de uma prática amadora, os jornalistas se posicionam tanto em relação ao amadorismo, que buscam romper, quanto em relação ao jornalismo « em geral », com o qual eles procuram se relacionar. O distanciamento do amadorismo, se é uma característica comum a todos os jornalistas profissionais, é ainda mais problemático para os jornalistas gastronômicos, pois eles pertencem a uma especialidade considerada menor tanto por seus colegas quanto por eles mesmos. De fato, tanto as características da especialidade (próximo dos mundos econômicos, do lazer) e sua história (« mito » do pecado original colaboracionis- ta) levam à sua depreciação interna e externa. Nessas circunstâncias, a filiação – pelo menos a retórica – de um critério de profissionalismo relacionado à deontologia do jornalismo « em geral » oferece uma fonte de identificação positiva para os jornalistas da especialidade, bem como um meio de cercar simbolicamente o espaço de profissionais legítimos. A imposição desta retórica como dominante pode estar relacionada com a evolução demográfica da profissão (tendência ascendente por parte de jornalistas com formação jornalística ao longo do tempo), a morfologia do mercado de trabalho (existência de mídias que desempenham o papel de bloqueio de entrada e do lugar de socialização profissional) e as modalidades de realização da atividade. Ao definir o grupo pelo seu modo de trabalhar e não pelo conteúdo de seu trabalho, a retórica deontológica tende a dissolver a especificidade do jornalismo gastronômico dentro de um espaço profissional jornalístico mais amplo.

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