The perception of the journalist’s profession in the context of fake news dissemination by official and social media

Abstract

The majority (57%) of Polish press, radio and TV journalists participating in a survey conducted in 2019 considered the dissemination of fake news to be a common phenomenon. The mass scale of this process was also noted by the majority (88%) of communication experts participating in an international research project also carried out in 2019. The threat of misinformation has become one of the elements that shapes the perception of the profession’s prestige by journalists, and also influences the selfesteem of professionalism. A comparison with surveys conducted in 2015 and 2016 showed that the percentage of journalists perceiving high (from 13% to 38%) rather than low (from 7% to 17%) social recognition for their profession increased significantly. However, their belief in a high level of professionalism decreased (from 60% to 49%), and the number of respondents reporting a noticeable lack of competence and substantive preparation among journalists (from 16% to 35%) increased.