Journalists say they are happy with the job: study

Manama : The reporters and editors who bring out the news every day in Bahrain are mostly satisfied with their job conditions in the Kingdom, according to the findings of a recent study. 

The survey titled “Job Satisfaction of Editors of  Daily Bahraini Newspapers-Field Study of Al Ayam and Al Belad Newspapers” collected opinions of journalists from different nationalities working in the Arabic dailies published from Bahrain. 

The survey findings indicate that job satisfaction rate among journalists working in local dailies in Bahrain is at 68.9 per cent, despite being troubled by challenging economic conditions prevailing in the regional and global economy. 

The study tackled factors including professional and personal relations between supervisors and colleagues, moral, psychological and professional satisfaction, wages, incentives and
training.

The findings come from interviews with 120 reporters and editors in addition to interviews conducted with chief editors, writers and journalists from local newspapers.

“The study measures the level of satisfaction of journalists working in the local newspapers by using tools such as survey, analysis and scientific methodology,” according to a University of Bahrain (UoB) Student Mohammed Al Khaldi, who did a similar study detailing “job satisfaction rates in the field of print journalism in Bahrain” in his master thesis. 

“Since journalism is linked to creative production, the existence of effective satisfaction is one of the necessities to boost the moral spirit and to increase the performance rates of the journalists,” he pointed out. 

The field study received further attention when it was highlighted by the Head of Public Relations and Media at the Capital Governorate in a discussion conducted earlier this month.  

In line with the study, Al Khaldi, in his thesis to the UoB, suggested six recommendations to improve the job satisfaction level of journalists in the Kingdom, which includes improving career progression, increasing incentives, considering the ideas and suggestions of employees as well as supporting training and education.

Mass Communications and Media Professors at UoB, Dr Shuaib Al Ghabashi, who’s also the supervisor of the thesis, Dr Ashraf Abdulmugheeth and Dr Ashraf Abdo from Ain Shams University, Egypt supported Al Khaldi in completing the study.