Meet the New Players: A Study of Digital Native Journalists and Journalistic Professionalis

Digital native journalists have brought new blood as well as challenges to contemporary journalistic professionalism. This dissertation employs a national survey of both digital native journalists and legacy journalists and focuses on the cognitive, normative, and evaluative dimensions of their journalistic professionalism. Findings suggest that both the "professionalism" concept and the operational measures are suitable for evaluating the traits and characteristics of digital native journalists, and digital native journalists are currently serving as both preservers and transformers of journalistic professionalism. Findings of this study serve as the groundwork for observing and understanding digital native journalists and their organizations as new entrants to journalism. Journalistic professionalism is undergoing a transformation, and identifying how digital native journalists differentiate from legacy journalists on aspects of professionalism has afforded some clues to how journalistic professional values and practices will develop in the future.