Vadi, Maaja, juhendajaNikkolo, Merili2010-12-272010-12-272010http://hdl.handle.net/10062/16275For decades, job satisfaction has been paid attention to. Researches have been trying to establish how it affects job performance, workforce flow, and life satisfaction. A number of theoretical approaches have been developed. The significance of the topic is understandable since the majority of the time when people are awake, they spend at work. In 2007, out of all the countries of the European Union, Estonia was leading in the number of work hours per year. It is possible to say that out of the time a person is awake, an Estonian spends averagely a third at work, which shows that when a person is satisfied with his job, he is satisfied with a large part of his life. During the years of fast economic growth, polls showed increase in the job satisfaction of Estonians. According to researches it was found that the increase is primarily basing on changes in work and the opportunities offered by the employer. The economic crisis however brought on salary cuts, layoffs and the loss of other opportunities offered by the employer. The Estonian newspapers were not left unaffected by the recession and the crisis has not passed yet. That gives all the more reason for employers to know, what kind of options they have in addition to salary and other material benefits, to shape job satisfaction. Researches have shown connection between job satisfaction and work quality. With this Master’s thesis, the factors which shape journalists’ job satisfaction are dealt with. Although a news piece is created in teamwork, a journalist is the one to collect information and the quality of content is based on his actions; hence the quality of the newspaper as well. Researches have also confirmed that job satisfaction helps lift the outcome of the work. Meaning that journalists who are more satisfied, can produce newspapers that have better quality. For a news organisation that is essential since the newspaper circulation depends on it – the better the newspaper, the bigger the circulation. Next to newspaper advertising, selling the newspaper is the main source of income. In the years of recession it is an important aspect to pay attention to, since people have less money for subscribing or buying newspapers, resulting in the rise of competition between newspapers. The circulations of Estonian newspapers have decreased by thousands in the last couple of years. This means that the work quality of journalists has to be brought into attention, in order to hold on to the readers. Increasing job satisfaction is a factor that helps to enhance the quality of a newspaper. As a rule, a very good journalist also has very good sources of information, which provide information that the competing newspapers are not aware of. This means that a journalist with valuable sources can be a critical competitive advantage to a company, comparing to other newspapers. However, the departure of that same journalist can also be a major loss for the newspaper. Researches have shown that one of the main reasons for a journalist to departure is the decrease of job satisfaction. Thus, increasing job satisfaction can reduce workforce flow and problems caused by it. The aim of this Master’s thesis is to use the analysis of factors in order to make propositions to leaders for increasing journalists’ job satisfaction. To reach the aim, the following research tasks have been posed: • Analyzing the theoretical usage of job satisfaction from the aspect of a journalist’s work. • Conducting research in order to specify the shaping factors of journalists’ job satisfaction. • Making propositions to leaders to shape journalists’ job satisfaction. In the Master’s thesis journalists are regarded as reporters, editors and also the leaders of editorial staff or department. The journalists of both paper and online outlets have been involved in the research. Around the world, different researches concerning the shaping factors of job satisfaction have been aiming to clarify what kind of inner (job related) as well as outer (environment related) factors are more crucial in shaping job satisfaction. Basing on this, suggestions have been made to leaders for increasing journalists’ job satisfaction. Regarding the theoretical concept dealing with job satisfaction, satisfaction theories have been used as a basis most of all, most popular of them being Herzberg’s Two factor theory, the validity of which has been affirmed through several researches regarding journalists’ job satisfaction. Basing on them it was determined that the shaping factors of job satisfaction can be divided into factors which either cause satisfaction or dissatisfaction. In the research, journalists from seven Estonian newspapers were questioned: Eesti Päevaleht, Postimees, Õhtuleht, Pärnu Postimees, Sakala, Tartu Postimees and Virumaa Teataja. 71 journalists filled out the questionnaires on Internet. Out of five questions four were open questions, allowing the journalists to name the advantages and disadvantages of their profession as well as incidents and situations that increase or decrease job satisfaction. Categories were compiled basing on the replies. The journalists were asked to evaluate their job satisfaction on a five point scale. The result was that journalists are ’’rather satisfied“ or ’’very satisfied“ with their job; meaning, that 74% of the respondents evaluated their satisfaction with ’’four“ or ’’five“. Comparing to other researches conducted amongst Western European and Northern American journalists, the outcome is similar. In those countries, at least three fourths of journalists are satisfied with their job. The main advantages of the profession are the job itself, personal growth and need of power. The journalists enjoy that the job is interesting, exciting and eventful, allows meeting interesting people, develops the employee and involves everyday learning. It is also important for the journalists that their job enables to change the world, help people and be close to information. The main disadvantages of the job are the work environment, the job itself, salary, negative feedback and the conflict between work and personal life. Out of these, work environment and the job itself rose out most of all. This means, that the journalists find their work intense, stressful and possibly affecting their health. The disadvantage of the content of their work is working on dislikeable stories, conflicting or emotionally difficult topics as well as great responsibility accompanying the job. Out of incidents that increase job satisfaction, appreciation and feedback stood out from others; all other factors were considerably less important in that category. Under appreciation and feedback the journalists meant feedback and appreciation coming from inside the office as well as outside. This category was followed by satisfying the need of accomplishment, the job itself, prestige and relationships. None of the job satisfaction decrease factors had such advantage as the increase factors. The top three categories in order of naming were the actions of the management, work result and negative feedback. These were followed by discontentment with appreciation. Regarding the actions of the management, respondents brought out several different cases and causes why it decreased satisfaction – starting with the persona of the leader and ending with giving out job assignments in secret and unclear chain of command. Negative feedback can also derive from inside and outside the office and in several cases it was noted that satisfaction decreases due to unjust negative feedback. The replies of seven editors in chief revealed that their evaluation of journalists’ job satisfaction on a five point scale ranged from ’’3“ to ’’4+“. In comparison to the journalists’ opinion, the evaluation is similar, meaning that editors in chief are aware of their employees’ job satisfaction. The interviews show that editors in chief have many ways to shape the journalists’ job satisfaction: appreciating employees for good work and give feedback, creating a good work environment for the journalists, developing supporting relationships, supporting and stimulating journalists in their everyday work, standing for their interests and defending them in front of the management and the public. The categories that formed on the basis of the research have common characteristics with the job satisfaction and dissatisfaction factors of Herzberg’s Two factor theory. However, the results show that there are factors which can cause both dissatisfaction and satisfaction. For example the job itself, relationships between people, work environment. Depending on the content (positive-negative) the feedback can either be increasing or decreasing job satisfaction. In earlier researches around the world, feedback has also been classified as job satisfaction increasing factor, but this Master’s thesis showed that in that category, negative aspects should be considered as well. In addition, in earlier journalist researches the job itself has been classified as job satisfaction increasing factor only, though it really causes both job satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Thus, it is possible to conclude that the categories cannot be strictly divided into inner/motivation and outer/hygiene factors. It should be taken into account that some factors are significant in both cases. Regardless, it is possible to say that Herzberg’s main idea that job satisfaction and dissatisfaction are shaped by different factor groups, was confirmed. In consequence, Herzberg’s theory is used as a foundation for making propositions and recommendations. Job satisfaction can be increased by perfecting the factors that have affect on motivation; by decreasing hygiene factors, job dissatisfaction level can be decreased. In conclusion, 13 propositions were made to leaders of newspapers, which enable to increase satisfaction, decrease dissatisfaction or do both. In addition there are notes that indicate which job satisfaction shaping factors the proposition/recommendation influences. The leader of the company has to draw his own conclusions, which propositions to use and which not. The requirement for implementing the propositions is that the leader has to know the needs, abilities and wishes of the employees and shape the employees’ job satisfaction basing on that.etmagistritöödajakirjanikudtöörahuloluelukutsedintervjuudküsitlusuuringudOther