The legal status of journalists is determined by a number of standards, not only of a legal nature. These include con­stitutional standards, press law standards, but also profes­sional ethics standards. They shape the profession of jour­nalism as a specific profession of public trust. At the same time, they create a specific context in which the basis for the employment of journalists must function. This study is an attempt to compare these two contexts and answer the question about the significance of various forms of em­ployment and their adequacy for the professional group of journalists.

Legal guarantees for journalists to be able to perform their activities strongly support their mission to serve the society and the state. One of them — the conscience clause for journalists — has been widely discussed by the media specialists in Poland. Their recommendations as to this matter have been introduced to legal system in 2017. The authors tend to explain hereby the meaning of the conscience clause regulation, both as of media sciences and legal perspectives.