Real freelancers, contingent workers, and journopreneurs. Mapping atypical journalistic work in Western Europe

While there has been growing scholarly interest in freelance and other atypically employed journalistic workers in the past 20 years, most of it has been addressed through single-case studies. This study examines atypical journalism from a Bourdieusian perspective through Multiple Correspondence Analysis, including the resources that atypical journalists have amassed to participate in the journalistic field and how these shape their journalistic culture. Drawing on 430 survey respondents from Austria, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, and the UK, results indicate that despite being well-educated, atypical journalistic workers experience economic precarity, have little contact with the professional community, and occupy marginalized positions within the journalistic field. Most noteworthy differences occur at the country level, indicating that the historical genesis of the national field shapes atypical journalistic culture more profoundly than employment status.