Journalism as a Profession: Perceptions of Students of Journalism and Students of Communication Science at the University of Zagreb

This paper examines what journalism students at the Faculty of Political Science and communication science students at the Center for Croatian Studies at the University of Zagreb expect and suppose of their future profession. The aim of the research is to determine whether there are differences in the perception of journalism with respect to participants’ level and type of study. Almost all journalism and communication science students in this study believe that journalists should be educated, trained and qualified to work in journalism. Most of the research respondents believe that the Croatian journalist should be a critic of irregularities and that she should be the source that provides information to the citizens about their rights. They also believe that today’s typical Croatian journalist is prone to manipulation, tendentious writing, and tends to emphasize bad news and sensationalism. Guidelines for future research and recommendations for solving theses problems are also offered.