Comparing English broadcast journalism and French broadcast journalism

History of journalism has been influenced by technologies and also by cultural history and geographic areas. In order to study this specific point, we will observe in this essay the differences between broadcast journalism in England and broadcast journalism in France, through their own history and culture.

The United Kingdom is composed of twice as many journalists as in France. How two countries within the same economic area can be that different? A journalist in France is seen as someone “with a main occupation, regular and paid for, with the practice of his profession in one or several daily publications or periodicals, or in one or several news agencies and who draws its resources" (Act of March 29, 1931 and Article L. 762-2 of the French Labor Code). However, in the United Kingdom, the journalist function is to collect and spread information about current events and trends, in a neutral tone. Those two ways of working are acknowledged as journalism. In order to get a better understanding of this distinction we will develop contrasts between journalism in France and journalism in the United Kingdom in this essay.
In terms of forms and methods, print journalism is subject to competitive pressure from hyper-media time and expansion of market information (having seen the emergence, then triumph of television). It must evolve and adapt constantly to define its identity, its role, its ability to remain profitable, especially in a period marked by a lasting crisis spread by the daily press.

Enlargement of the media universe also follows a diversified workplace that began in the era of the radio (1930-1960): These days journalists are not only men but also women. The distribution of 1990 gives the following proportions: 74.7 per 100 to print, 9.5 per 100 on television, 7.5 per 100 on radio and 7.8 per 100 in agencies.

Finally, we must emphasize the increasing specialization profiles (sports, economics, science), as determined by the huge universe of journals and magazines since the 60s - a sign visible also on radio and television.

But even if those evolutions are common to those two countries, we can also find differences through expressions, styles and perceptions of journalism itself.