Journalism in Transition

Role Performance in a Changing Media Landscape

Claudia Mellado, Daniel C. Hallin

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2026
• Print ISBN:
  9781041377153
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781042503742
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Journalism
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

This volume brings together cutting-edge research on how journalism is practiced and transformed in a rapidly changing media environment. Drawing on diverse case studies from around the world, the book explores how journalists navigate tensions between professional ideals and real-world constraints, including political pressures, technological change, audience demands, and evolving relationships with sources. It reveals not only how journalism is changing, but also why these transformations matter for democracy and public life.

Through a rich collection of empirical and theoretical contributions, the chapters examine how key journalistic roles are performed across different media systems and cultural contexts offering unparalleled comparative insights into journalistic role performance. From social media branding and news satire to investigative journalism, fact-checking, and coverage of artificial intelligence, the volume offers a comprehensive and accessible overview of contemporary journalism in practice.

Written in an engaging style, it provides valuable insights for students, scholars, and anyone interested in understanding how journalism shapes—and is shaped by—the societies it serves.

This book was originally published as a special issue of Journalism Practice.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Citation Information
• Notes on Contributors
• 1 Introduction: Journalistic Role Performance in Times of Change
• 2 Journalists’ Ideological Branding: Bridging Professional and Personal Branding on Twitter
• 3 Strengthening the Theoretical Foundations of Role Performance Theory
• 4 How the Social Complements, Extends or Replaces the Professional: Autonomy and Adaptation in Journalist–Source Relationships
• 5 Navigating Ideals and Realities: On Using Reconstruction Interviews to Study Journalistic Roles
• 6 A Watchdog That No Longer Barks: Role Performance of Investigative Journalism in China in the Digital Age
• 7 Catch, Engage, Retain: Audience-Oriented Journalistic Role Performance in Canada
• 8 Journalistic Role Performance in Australia During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Events, Media Systems and Journalistic Practice
• 9 Feeding off Each Other: Journalistic Role Negotiations Between Local and Foreign Reporters in Nairobi
• 10 Between Headlines and Punchlines: Journalistic Role Performance in Western News Satire
• 11 Interpreting or Reporting? An Analysis of Journalistic Interventionism Across Western European Countries
• 12 “Whether That’s Truly Objective Journalism, Probably Not”. Professional Retreatism and Professional Dilemmas When Reporting on Muslims
• 13 Time-Based Variability in the Presence of Infotainment, Service, and Civic Roles in Czech Quality Press
• 14 Scrutinizing Algorithms: Assessing Journalistic Role Performance in Chinese News Media’s Coverage of Artificial Intelligence
• 15 And That’s a Fact: A Rhetorical Perspective on the Role of Fact-Checkers
• 16 Changes in Journalism in Politicized Media Systems: A Study on Newspapers in Poland and Hungary
• 17 The Context-Dependent Demand for Watchdog Journalism: Dynamics in Audience Expectations for Journalists’ Role Performance
• Index