Purpose: This qualitative descriptive study focused on how did leaving the field of journalism affected the life narratives of female former Kentucky reporters.
Method: Three former Kentucky female reporters were interviewed to gather data on their experiences, including how leaving journalism affected their personal and professional self-identities, what about journalism was meaningful to them and what is meaningful in the work they do now, and what values and beliefs did they hold as reporters, and do they still hold them.
Discussion: Thematic data analysis revealed three overarching themes: self-identity as journalists persists after leaving newspaper jobs, other life roles took precedence over journalism when making the choice to leave, and journalism work was meaningful because it affected people personally.
","abstract_html":"<p>Purpose: This qualitative descriptive study focused on how did leaving the field of journalism affected the life narratives of female former Kentucky reporters. </p> <p>Method: Three former Kentucky female reporters were interviewed to gather data on their experiences, including how leaving journalism affected their personal and professional self-identities, what about journalism was meaningful to them and what is meaningful in the work they do now, and what values and beliefs did they hold as reporters, and do they still hold them. </p> <p>Discussion: Thematic data analysis revealed three overarching themes: self-identity as journalists persists after leaving newspaper jobs, other life roles took precedence over journalism when making the choice to leave, and journalism work was meaningful because it affected people personally. </p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Heaney, Sarah May"],"institution":"Eastern Kentucky University","degree_name":"Master of Science (MS)","degree_level":"Master's","degree_discipline":"Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2018,"date_issued":"2018-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2018-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:15:47Z","subjects":["journalism","life course","newspaper","occupational identity","occupational science","women","Sociology of Culture","Work, Economy and Organizations"],"languages":[],"rights":["Copyright 2018 Sarah May Heaney"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/570","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Heaney, Sarah May"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Master Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Master's"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science (MS)"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Eastern Kentucky University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["journalism","life course","newspaper","occupational identity","occupational science","women","Sociology of Culture","Work, Economy and Organizations"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 2018 Sarah May Heaney"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/570"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Purpose: This qualitative descriptive study focused on how did leaving the field of journalism affected the life narratives of female former Kentucky reporters.
Method: Three former Kentucky female reporters were interviewed to gather data on their experiences, including how leaving journalism affected their personal and professional self-identities, what about journalism was meaningful to them and what is meaningful in the work they do now, and what values and beliefs did they hold as reporters, and do they still hold them.
Discussion: Thematic data analysis revealed three overarching themes: self-identity as journalists persists after leaving newspaper jobs, other life roles took precedence over journalism when making the choice to leave, and journalism work was meaningful because it affected people personally.
"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/PDF"]},{"key":"dc:source","label":"Dc Source","values":["Encompass Digital Archive: Online Theses and Dissertations"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Leaving journalism: Self-identity during career transition for female former Kentucky reporters"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Heaney, Sarah May"],"dc:description.abstract":["Purpose: This qualitative descriptive study focused on how did leaving the field of journalism affected the life narratives of female former Kentucky reporters.
Method: Three former Kentucky female reporters were interviewed to gather data on their experiences, including how leaving journalism affected their personal and professional self-identities, what about journalism was meaningful to them and what is meaningful in the work they do now, and what values and beliefs did they hold as reporters, and do they still hold them.
Discussion: Thematic data analysis revealed three overarching themes: self-identity as journalists persists after leaving newspaper jobs, other life roles took precedence over journalism when making the choice to leave, and journalism work was meaningful because it affected people personally.
"],"dc:format":["application/PDF"],"dc:identifier":["https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/570"],"dc:publisher":["Encompass Digital Archive, Eastern Kentucky University"],"dc:rights":["Copyright 2018 Sarah May Heaney"],"dc:source":["Encompass Digital Archive: Online Theses and Dissertations"],"dc:subject":["journalism","life course","newspaper","occupational identity","occupational science","women","Sociology of Culture","Work, Economy and Organizations"],"dc:title":["Leaving journalism: Self-identity during career transition for female former Kentucky reporters"],"dc:type":["Master Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy"],"thesis:degree_level":["Master's"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science (MS)"],"thesis:institution_name":["Eastern Kentucky University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:15:47Z"}