About 58% of journalists working in selected newsrooms in Nigeria did not study journalism or a media-related course, an ongoing research by Nigerian journalist and academic researcher, Kemi Busari, has found.
Findings from the research were presented at the 2025 edition of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) National Conference in San Francisco.
The findings, presented in two different sessions, looked broadly at the contentious issue of professionalization of journalism and the influence of journalism education on the practice.
Using Nigeria as case-study, Busari examined the key criteria newsrooms and editors employ in recruiting new journalists and the experiences of journalists without formal journalism degrees.
Both of Busari’s manuscripts were adjudged top-referred papers. Top-referred papers in a conference presentation are the highest-scoring submissions based on peer reviewers’ evaluations.
Examining hiring criteria
In the first study, Busari used a mixed method approach to identify the top criteria editors and newsrooms consider when recruiting journalists, the influence of journalism education in this process and how the new recruits are socialised into the newsroom.
This study titled, “Beyond the Degree: Examining Hiring Criteria and the Role of Journalism Education in the Recruitment of Journalists in Nigerian Newsrooms” was presented on Friday, August 8.
Analysis of interviews and reporter job advertisements reveals six “ultimate criteria” considered in the recruitment process to include passion, adherence to ethics, writing ability, among others. These criteria remain regardless of the newsroom culture and personal preferences of the recruiters.
There are other “adaptable criteria” which are subject to changes depending on the peculiarity of the newsroom and the recruiting editor. They include critical thinking, age, experience and others.
The paper also reached a verdict about the importance of journalism degree in the recruitment process as well as the socialization models employed by newsrooms for new journalists.
The paper won the top paper prize in the Scholastic Journalism Division of AEJMC. The award certificate and cash prize was presented in a separate event on Saturday, August, 9.
Journalists without formal journalism education
The second presentation, also a top-referred paper, was titled, “The Paradox of Journalism Degree: Exploring the Motivations and Job Perceptions of Journalists Without Formal Journalism Education.”
Presented on Saturday, August 9, the study used demographic surveys and interviews to uncover the experiences of journalists who didn’t study journalism.
The survey data shows that such journalists constitute 58% of the work force in the four newsrooms selected for the study. The remaining 42% studied journalism or media-related courses.
Interestingly, 13% of the 58% studied pure science courses like physiology, Botany, and biochemistry.
The study finds that journalists who didn’t study journalism end up in the newsroom mostly unintentionally.
“My study first of its kind” – Busari
Busari noted the novelty of his research, adding that the study on journalists without journalism degrees is the first of its kind in the journalism education literature.
“Often in journalism studies, journalists are regarded as an homogenous group, however, as my findings suggests, within this group are several groups with different experiences and motivations,” Busari said. “For instance, journalists without journalism degrees have different experiences and motivations for the job. Their experiences need to be studied separate from the general demography. To the best of my knowledge, no other researcher has ever looked at these demography separately.”
Busari hopes his research would contribute new knowledge as well as inform policy drives within the journalism education sector.
“In Nigeria, for instance, a lawmaker proposed a bill to criminalise the practice of journalism without journalism degrees. In that bill, there was no data on how many of such journalists exist in the country, how they got into journalism or whether the newsrooms or their audiences even care about their degrees. My study fills that gap and offers a lot more.
“Such bills need to come from a place of deep knowledge. Legislation on professional practice and education policies, especially in journalism, need to be driven by objective data,” he said.
Busari noted that more of the findings of his research would be made public as the study progresses.
Findings from the study were presented at the 2025 edition of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) in San Francisco.(Daily trust)
