Introduction: Journalistic Role Performance in Times of Change

Abstract

Over the past decade, research on journalistic role performance—defined as the study of how particular journalistic norms and ideals are collectively negotiated and result in specific practices ( Mellado 2015 , 2021 )—has gained prominence among scholars from the Global North and South. Studies on role performance provide an understanding of the processes behind journalistic practices in relation to normative expectations and offers a strong theoretical and empirical umbrella to account for the fluid, dynamic nature of the profession in different institutional settings (e.g., Abdulmajeed and El-Ibiary 2023 ; Blanchett et al. 2023 ; Hallin et al. 2023 ; Hanitzsch and Vos 2017 ; Humanes and Roses 2018 ; MÁrquez-Ramírez et al. 2020 ; McIntyre et al. 2023 ; Mellado et al. 2024 : Mothes et al. 2024 ; Stępińska et al. 2016 ). This epistemic umbrella acknowledges that journalistic roles are not static but are continuously negotiated and redefined in response to internal and external pressures. This framework, pioneered by research initiatives such as the Journalistic Role Performance Project , can be distinguished from related areas of inquiry, like studies on role perceptions or expectations, in that role performance captures the real-world behavior of journalists, while role perceptions and expectations deal with the beliefs and ideals journalists and other actors hold about journalistic roles.

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