The media determine the effectiveness of many current socio-economic and cultural transformations. However, the digital age has created new requirements for the daily work of journalists and other media actors. Freelancing is one of the actively developing trends. According to surveys, media professionals find many advantages to this lifestyle, and the main ones are flexible hours and freedom from the confines of one specific workplace. However, freelance writers often set their own moral and ethical boundaries. The legal and social statuses of media freelancers also remain unclear. The authors analyzed the Accountable Journalism site, which is one of the world’s largest databases of journalistic ethics codes. The project contains more than 400 codes, of which 38 codes cover freelancing issues, and another three codes contain norms on the activities of bloggers. In addition, the current Russian legislation on the status of a freelance journalist was used, as well as data from sociological surveys conducted by the authors of this article and other researchers. Unfortunately, the legal and social protection of media freelancers is insufficient. Although the point of view about the inclusion of freelancers in the precariat class is debatable, there are quite enough reasons to distinguish freelancers as a separate social group. However, COVID-19 has given an impetus to the development of freelancing, and the younger ‘digital’ generations are very loyal to this lifestyle, so it can be predicted that in the near future, the activities of media freelancers will be regulated at all levels: legal, social, and ethical. Keywords: freelance journalist, code of ethics of a journalist, legal status of a freelancer, media freelance, digital age
In the era of digitalization and pandemic, freelancing is becoming an increasingly common lifestyle and way of earning money. At the same time, journalism is one of the most popular professions for freelance work. In the following, we analyzed the history of the beginning of the career and professional development of 204 freelance journalists in order to compile a sociodemographic portrait of the average freelance journalist in modern Russia. The results obtained in the course of the research can be useful for the subsequent regulation of this sphere at the level of the state and media editorial offices: this process is already beginning and will inevitably continue due to the rapid popularization of remote work and freelancing. However, for successful development of media freelancing, the question should be answered: who is a modern media freelancer?
Freelancing, or “working for yourself” without being tied to any particular place, is becoming an increasingly popular phenomenon of modern reality, including the media sphere. Although the non-staff journalists existed even in Soviet times, the latest practice has given impetus to the transformation of the essence of the activities of this kind of information actors. Today, freelancing is somewhat not just a way of earning money, but also a life philosophy, which acquires additional significance in the media environment due to the increased social responsibility that characterizes the profession of a journalist.
The coronavirus pandemic is the most relevant topic that has engulfed the entire world’s media in the last two years. The next round of this issue’s related narrative is centred around the vaccination against COVID-19. The users of the new media conduct active discussions, exerting a direct influence on the agenda, including the use of manipulative techniques. The authors explore the methods used by both sides of the controversy by means of content analysis and online-survey.
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