Autonomy, objectivity, and transparency: The meaning and negotiation of journalistic values across different journalistic beats

As an institution, journalism relies on several key normative values to claim authority and legitimacy—autonomy, objectivity, and transparency. Although these concepts have been widely studied, most research employs quantitative approaches or focuses on specific beats, often political journalism. Drawing on fifty-five in-depth interviews with Austrian journalists, we examine the meaning of these journalistic values and their relevance in political, lifestyle, sports, and economic journalism. We find that autonomy is universally valued, though commercial influences and pressures are more frequently noted in lifestyle and sports journalism. Objectivity is emphasized in political and economic journalism but less prioritized in “softer” news beats, where subjective perspectives are more widely accepted. Transparency is important across all fields, yet differences emerge between “hard” and “soft” news regarding the necessity to disclose sources or funding agencies. Thus, universality across beats cannot be assumed, and the heterogeneity of the journalistic field, in terms of its application of different normative values, needs to be considered in future studies.