Errand boy or entrepreneur? Journalists’ expectations of their future roles in Finland

Th is paper looks at the future of journalism by studying journalists’ expectations of their profession and future roles. Expectations have been linked with industry legitimacy and reputation, making them a timely topic for journalism practice. Based on a qualitative study that has investigated diff erent journalists’ expectations in Finland, ranging from fi xed contract to freelancers, the results point towards increasing pessimism about the future of the media. Th e paper fi rst introduces the role of journalistic expectations. Secondly, it aims at connecting theory on journalistic roles with changes brought about by media convergence. It also aims at defi ning future roles of journalists based on recent trends and changes in journalistic work. All the results are presented from theory-driven qualitative interviews carried out with journalists in Finland, yielding 15 potential roles for future journalism development, ranging from errand boy to entrepreneur.