Profession? Craft? Calling?

Is journalism a profession? We call ourselves professional journalists when we join the Society of Professional Journalists. But, professionals are licensed and one of the most important things the Founding Fathers did was to reject the British notion of licensing the press. Well, they rejected a lot of British notions, but that was a biggie. We are not licensed. We cannot be licensed and do our jobs, so we are not professionals. I prefer to think of journalism as a craft. It is learned far more on the job than in a classroom. When I started, in the early Woodward and Bernstein days, most of us didn't even have degrees in journalism. My editor was a French teacher by training. I'm certified in English/Secondary Education. I never once considered that a handicap or felt I knew less than someone with a J degree. They didn't learn about covering planning boards or taking photos of bodies dead an undetermined length of time any more than I did. So, it's a craft. But, it's also a calling. Sort of like the Holy Church without the Holy Orders. You don't do it for the money (like that's a surprise). You do it because you think you can make a difference. So, don't call us professionals.