Australian regional journalists’ role perceptions at a time of upheaval

Abstract

Almost 200 journalism outlets closed, decreased their service, ended print editions, or merged with other newsrooms between January 2019 and Februrary 2021, accelerated by the COVID-19 crisis. Regional news outlets were among the hardest hit, intensifying calls for effective government policy and industry interventions to bolster the sector. Although there is a well-established tradition of local and regional journalistic role performance scholarship, few studies in an Australian context have taken a multiplatform approach, investigating the perceptions of TV, radio, online news, and print journalists. To help address this gap, this paper draws on survey data of 307 regional Australian journalists and 31 in-depth interviews. Our analysis reveals differences in the way regional reporters understand and narrate their roles, highlighting important distinctions between media platforms that need to be considered in contemporary debates about the sustainability of Australian regional journalism.

Journalistic role conceptions and performance in the global south: A comparison between Egypt and the UAE during COVID-19

“…The above results supported Fisher et al (2022) findings about varied role perceptions among reporters due to the medium type. Besides, it highlights the impact of the media-organizational level on the journalistic perceived role performance .…”

Untapped Potential? Exploring the ‘Latent’ Local Newspaper Reader in Digital Spaces

“…These findings resonate with our existing research and broader international literature around the important relationship between local news and social connection, especially the role newspapers can play in helping to connect people with one another (Hess, 2015; Fisher et al, 2022). They can advocate and generate a sense of community (Bowd, 2021; Matthews, 2021) and promote public, participatory and engaged journalism practices (Wenzel & Nelson, 2020).…”

Percepciones sobre un periodismo valioso para las comunidades de zonas despobladas: oportunidades para una reforma mediática

“…El contenido de relevancia local permite la concienciación y el debate sobre eventos y problemas de entorno, reforzando el papel de los medios para dinamizar la vida de las comunidades y su capacidad para intervenir en procesos de toma de decisión (Fisher et al, 2022;Kaplún, 2019). Esta perspectiva sugiere que, al contrario, en un contexto de ausencia de medios donde se han generado desiertos informativos (Abernathy, 2020), los modos de deliberación y participación democrática se ven afectados significativamente.…”