In their own words: A normative-empirical approach to journalistic roles around the world

Abstract

Based on qualitative responses from journalists working in 67 countries, this article presents evidence from a comparative assessment of normative journalistic roles. Different from other types of journalistic roles, normative roles refer to professional aspirations as to how journalism and journalists are supposed to contribute to society. While these roles are typically studied through standardized sets of statements, this study builds on journalists’ own assessments of what should be the most important roles of journalism in their societies. The material for this analysis was obtained from the 2012–2016 wave of the Worlds of Journalism Study. Responses of 20,638 journalists from around the world yielded 45,046 references to journalistic roles. Results show that journalists still see their normative roles primarily in the political arena – a finding that is consistent across the countries investigated. In non-Western countries, journalists articulated a normative demand for intervention in social processes and a more constructive attitude toward ruling powers. Overall, our analysis demonstrates that the normative core of journalism around the world is still invariably built on the news media’s contribution to political processes and conversations, while other areas, such as the management of self and everyday life, remain marginalized.

Resisting Perceived Interference in Journalistic Autonomy: The Study of Public Service Media in Slovakia

“…Slovakia is currently ranked 42nd out of 167 countries in the 2019 Democracy Index (The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2020), and 33rd out of 180 countries in the 2020 World Press Freedom Index (Reporters Without Borders, 2020). Second, this study contributes to our knowledge of journalism culture in Central and Eastern Europe, a region which has, compared to Western societies, been studied considerably less (e.g., Standaert et al, 2019). As journalistic autonomy certainly did not belong to the core ideal-typical values of journalism during the communist times, the question arises whether and to what extent the journalists working for the public service broadcaster in Slovakia adopted autonomy as an essential value that was worth defending.…”

News Stories as Narrations and as Myths

“…12-13) Undeterred by such doubts, the US-born idea that journalists' most eminent role is to provide the fact-based, objective information on which democracies thrive has spread beyond the Western context all over the world. In a recent study, Standaert, Hanitzsch, and Dedonder (2019) analysed the responses journalists gave to the question how they would describe, in their own words, the three most important roles they thought their profession fulfils in their own country (2019, p. 6). The answers, collected for the second wave of the Worlds of Journalism Study (2012)(2013)(2014)(2015)(2016), came from more than 20,000 journalists of 67 democratic and non-democratic countries across all five continents.…”

Participación ciudadana, servicio público y convergencia digital. La percepción de los profesionales de Radio Nacional de España

“…A diferencia del recurso habitual a las encuestas (ej. Standaert, Hanitzsch y Dedonder, 2019), optamos aquí por la entrevista estructurada para indagar en las culturas profesionales que prevalecen en un medio público estatal y en cómo estas pueden determinar las propias prácticas profesionales. En la estela de estudios cualitativos en en torno a los public service media (ejs.…”