A recent Fudan University survey found that 84.5 percent of the public believes that journalists have a difficult job, local media reported Thursday.

The university's Media and Public Opinion Research Center released the survey to mark the 13th annual Journalist Day on Thursday, according to a report on the news website Eastday.com.

"A journalist is an important connection between the public and the rest of society," said Zhou Baohua, a professor at the Fudan Journalism School. "This data can help the public better understand the journalism profession."

The research center randomly polled 301 adults from 17 districts in the city using a computer-assisted telephone Interview system. "A random survey of 301 respondents can basically represent the public's general opinion," Zhou told the Global Times.

The survey found that 56 percent of respondents thought being a journalist is a high-risk job and 41.6 percent said it is an enviable job, according to the news report.

About 58 percent of respondents said that journalists are doing a "good" or "very good" job and 48.2 percent said that journalists behave professionally. Some 43.7 percent thought that journalists have a high degree of credibility.

It was the first time that the research center conducted a survey on the topic, said Zheng Bofei, an assistant at the research center.