Spurring or blurring professional standards?: The role of digital technology in implementing journalistic role ideals in contemporary newsrooms

Cornelia Mothes; Claudia Mellado; Sandrine Boudana; Marju Himma-Kadakas; David Nolan; Karen Mcintyre; Claudia Kozman; Daniel C. Hallin; Pauline Amiel; Colette Brin; Yi-Ning Katherine Chen; Sergey Davydov; Mariana  De Maio; Filip Dingerkus; Rasha El-Ibiary; Maximiliano Frías Vázquez; Antje Glück; Miguel Garcés-Prettel; María Luisa  Humanes; Sophie Lecheler; Lee Misook; Christi I-Hsuan Lin; Mireya  Márquez Ramírez; Jorge Maza-Córdova; Marco Mazzoni; Mick Jacques; Ana Milojevic; Christina Navarro; Dasniel Olivera Pérez; Marcela Pizarro; Fergal Quinn; Gonzalo Sarasqueta; Terje Skjerdal; Agnieszka Stępińska; Gabriella  Szabó; Sarah Van Leuven

doi:10.1177/10776990241246692

Spurring or blurring professional standards? The role of digital technology in implementing journalistic role ideals in contemporary newsrooms

Cornelia Mothes (Corresponding author), Claudia Mellado, Sandrine Boudana, Marju Himma-Kadakas, David Nolan, Karen Mcintyre, Claudia Kozman, Daniel C. Hallin, Pauline Amiel, Colette Brin, Yi-Ning Katherine Chen, Sergey Davydov, Mariana De Maio, Filip Dingerkus, Rasha El-Ibiary, Maximiliano Frías Vázquez, Antje Glück, Miguel Garcés-Prettel, María Luisa Humanes, Sophie LechelerLee Misook, Christi I-Hsuan Lin, Mireya Márquez Ramírez, Jorge Maza-Córdova, Marco Mazzoni, Mick Jacques, Ana Milojevic, Christina Navarro, Dasniel Olivera Pérez, Marcela Pizarro, Fergal Quinn, Gonzalo Sarasqueta, Terje Skjerdal, Agnieszka Stępińska, Gabriella Szabó, Sarah Van Leuven

Department of Communication

Publications: Contribution to journal › Article › Peer Reviewed

Abstract

This study examines the perceived relevance and implementation of competing normative ideals in journalism in times of increasing use of digital technology in newsrooms. Based on survey and content analysis data from 37 countries, we found a small positive relationship between the use of digital research tools and “watchdog” performance. However, a stronger and negative relationship emerged between the use of digital audience analytics and the performance of “watchdog” and “civic” roles, leading to an overall increase in conception–performance gaps on both roles. Moreover, journalists’ use of digital community tools was more strongly and positively associated with “infotainment” and “interventionism.”.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	88-119
Number of pages	32
Journal	Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly
Volume	102
Issue number	1
Early online date	22 Jun 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/10776990241246692
Publication status	Published - Mar 2025

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

508007 Communication science

Keywords

role conception
role performance
news quality
audience metrics
social media

Access to Document

10.1177/10776990241246692

Cite this

Mothes, C., Mellado, C., Boudana, S., Himma-Kadakas, M., Nolan, D., Mcintyre, K., Kozman, C., Hallin, D. C., Amiel, P., Brin, C., Chen, Y.-N. K., Davydov, S., De Maio, M., Dingerkus, F., El-Ibiary, R., Frías Vázquez, M., Glück, A., Garcés-Prettel, M., Humanes, M. L., ... Van Leuven, S. (2025). Spurring or blurring professional standards? The role of digital technology in implementing journalistic role ideals in contemporary newsrooms. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 102(1), 88-119. https://doi.org/10.1177/10776990241246692

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title = "Spurring or blurring professional standards?: The role of digital technology in implementing journalistic role ideals in contemporary newsrooms",

abstract = "This study examines the perceived relevance and implementation of competing normative ideals in journalism in times of increasing use of digital technology in newsrooms. Based on survey and content analysis data from 37 countries, we found a small positive relationship between the use of digital research tools and “watchdog” performance. However, a stronger and negative relationship emerged between the use of digital audience analytics and the performance of “watchdog” and “civic” roles, leading to an overall increase in conception–performance gaps on both roles. Moreover, journalists{\textquoteright} use of digital community tools was more strongly and positively associated with “infotainment” and “interventionism.”.",

keywords = "role conception, role performance, news quality, audience metrics, social media",

author = "Cornelia Mothes and Claudia Mellado and Sandrine Boudana and Marju Himma-Kadakas and David Nolan and Karen Mcintyre and Claudia Kozman and Hallin, {Daniel C.} and Pauline Amiel and Colette Brin and Chen, {Yi-Ning Katherine} and Sergey Davydov and {De Maio}, Mariana and Filip Dingerkus and Rasha El-Ibiary and {Fr{\'i}as V{\'a}zquez}, Maximiliano and Antje Gl{\"u}ck and Miguel Garc{\'e}s-Prettel and Humanes, {Mar{\'i}a Luisa} and Sophie Lecheler and Lee Misook and {I-Hsuan Lin}, Christi and {M{\'a}rquez Ram{\'i}rez}, Mireya and Jorge Maza-C{\'o}rdova and Marco Mazzoni and Mick Jacques and Ana Milojevic and Christina Navarro and P{\'e}rez, {Dasniel Olivera} and Marcela Pizarro and Fergal Quinn and Gonzalo Sarasqueta and Terje Skjerdal and Agnieszka St{\c e}pi{\'n}ska and Gabriella Szab{\'o} and {Van Leuven}, Sarah",

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Mothes, C, Mellado, C, Boudana, S, Himma-Kadakas, M, Nolan, D, Mcintyre, K, Kozman, C, Hallin, DC, Amiel, P, Brin, C, Chen, Y-NK, Davydov, S, De Maio, M, Dingerkus, F, El-Ibiary, R, Frías Vázquez, M, Glück, A, Garcés-Prettel, M, Humanes, ML, Lecheler, S, Misook, L, I-Hsuan Lin, C, Márquez Ramírez, M, Maza-Córdova, J, Mazzoni, M, Jacques, M, Milojevic, A, Navarro, C, Pérez, DO, Pizarro, M, Quinn, F, Sarasqueta, G, Skjerdal, T, Stępińska, A, Szabó, G & Van Leuven, S 2025, 'Spurring or blurring professional standards? The role of digital technology in implementing journalistic role ideals in contemporary newsrooms', Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, vol. 102, no. 1, pp. 88-119. https://doi.org/10.1177/10776990241246692

Spurring or blurring professional standards? The role of digital technology in implementing journalistic role ideals in contemporary newsrooms. / Mothes, Cornelia (Corresponding author); Mellado, Claudia; Boudana, Sandrine et al.
In: Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, Vol. 102, No. 1, 03.2025, p. 88-119.

Publications: Contribution to journal › Article › Peer Reviewed

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T2 - The role of digital technology in implementing journalistic role ideals in contemporary newsrooms

AU - Mothes, Cornelia

AU - Mellado, Claudia

AU - Boudana, Sandrine

AU - Himma-Kadakas, Marju

AU - Nolan, David

AU - Mcintyre, Karen

AU - Kozman, Claudia

AU - Hallin, Daniel C.

AU - Amiel, Pauline

AU - Brin, Colette

AU - Chen, Yi-Ning Katherine

AU - Davydov, Sergey

AU - De Maio, Mariana

AU - Dingerkus, Filip

AU - El-Ibiary, Rasha

AU - Frías Vázquez, Maximiliano

AU - Glück, Antje

AU - Garcés-Prettel, Miguel

AU - Humanes, María Luisa

AU - Lecheler, Sophie

AU - Misook, Lee

AU - I-Hsuan Lin, Christi

AU - Márquez Ramírez, Mireya

AU - Maza-Córdova, Jorge

AU - Mazzoni, Marco

AU - Jacques, Mick

AU - Milojevic, Ana

AU - Navarro, Christina

AU - Pérez, Dasniel Olivera

AU - Pizarro, Marcela

AU - Quinn, Fergal

AU - Sarasqueta, Gonzalo

AU - Skjerdal, Terje

AU - Stępińska, Agnieszka

AU - Szabó, Gabriella

AU - Van Leuven, Sarah

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