EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF ESTONIAN JOURNALISM AS A PROFESSION (FROM LATE 19TH CENTURY TO 1940)

Taking the concept of professionalisation as a theoretical framework, this article demonstrates how journalism in Estonia historically developed into an independent occupation with well-defined role perceptions, occupational standards and values, and how this development was interrupted by the Soviet authorities in 1940. The article is largely based on a research project lasting nearly two decades that was done for compiling the biographical database of Estonian journalists in the Institute of Journalism and Communication of the University of Tartu.