Sylwia Męcfal: How to become and be a journalist in contemporary society

In the paper I present the results of the research I conducted. It consisted of 15 narrative interviews with local journalists in Lodz. I wanted to find out how they became journalists (which were dominant in their lives) and what their job is like now (what the procedures, professional norms and the practical routines are). Using the concept of processual structures of the life course by Fritz Schütze and his specific method of analysis I distinguished two main types of career paths that the journalists seemed to follow: (1) The journalists 'by choice' who performed a variety of activities in order to become a journalist: chose an adequate faculty of studies, worked in the media as students. In other words, biographical action schemes dominated their life course at that time; (2) The journalists 'by accident' who did not plan to become journalists, but began the work as a result of coincidence (it was a positive change). To be precise, they underwent a metamorphosis.