This study explores how journalists describe the transformation of their role and practices during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing on Italy, Spain, and Bulgaria- the first three countries to introduce severe lockdowns and restrictions in Europe. It captures the initial adaptation of various types of newsrooms (TV, radio, print, and online, both public and commercial) to pandemic challenges and their later evolution. Respondents (N = 24) described visible changes in three realms of journalistic work: 1) cognitive narrated role orientation (a shift from traditional watchdog journalism to a service dog approach); 2) performative changes and modifications in newsroom routines (emphasizing remote reporting, use of new digital tools for newsgathering, a focus on audience engagement and prioritizing transparent and accurate information dissemination over speed and access); and 3) practiced role shifts throughout the pandemic (from live and breaking news in the earlier days to more responsive and contextual coverage in the later stages). This research underscores the evolving nature of journalism in crisis, balancing factual reporting with engaging storytelling and community building.
AbramsonJ (2020) Merchants of Truth: The Business of News and the Fight for Facts. New York, USA: Simon & Schuster.
2.
AllanSThorsenE (2009) Citizen Journalism: Global Perspectives. New York: Peter Lang.
3.
BergerAA (2018) Media and Communication Research Methods: An Introduction to Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. 5th edition. Thousand Oaks (Newbury Park), California, USA: Sage Publications.
BoddyCR (2016) Sample size for qualitative research. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal International Journal19(4): 426–432.
6.
BurggraaffCTrillingD (2020) Through a different gate: an automated content analysis of how online news and print news differ. Journalism21(1): 112–129.
7.
CarlsonMRobinsonSLewisSC (2021) Digital press criticism: the symbolic dimensions of Donald Trump’s assault on US journalists as the “enemy of the people”. Digital Journalism9(6): 737–754.
8.
CherubiniFNewmanNNielsenR (2020) Changing Newsrooms 2020: Addressing Diversity and Nurturing Talent at a Time of Unprecedented Change. Oxford, England: Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism.
9.
ChristiansCGGlasserTLMcQuailD, et al. (2009) Normative Theories of the Media: Journalism in Democratic Societies. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press.
10.
CulbertsonHM (1983) Three perspectives on American journalism. Journalism Monographs83: 1–33.
11.
DalyJKellehearAGliksmanM (1997) The Public Health Researcher: A Methodological Approach. Melbourne, Australia: Oxford University Press.
12.
Dobek-OstrowskaB (2015) 25 years after communism: four models of media and politics in Central and Eastern Europe. Democracy and Media in Central and Eastern Europe25: 11–45.
13.
EtikanIAlkassimRAbubakarS (2016) Comparison of snowball sampling and sequential sampling technique. Biometrics & Biostatistics International Journal3(1): 55.
14.
FeredayJMuir-CochraneE (2006) Demonstrating rigor using thematic analysis: a hybrid approach of inductive and deductive coding and theme development. International Journal of Qualitative Methods5(1): 80–92.
15.
García-AvilésJA (2021) Journalism as usual? Managing disruption in virtual newsrooms during the COVID-19 crisis. Digital JournalismVolume 9, Issue 9 (2021): 1–22.
16.
GuestGBunceAJohnsonL (2006) How many interviews are enough? An experiment with data saturation and variability. Field Methods18(1): 59–82.
17.
HallinDCManciniP (2004) Comparing Media Systems: Three Models of Media and Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
18.
HallinDCManciniP (2017) Ten years after comparing media systems: what have we learned?Political Communication34(2): 155–171.
19.
HallinDCMelladoCCohenA, et al. (2023) Journalistic role performance in times of COVID. Journalism Studies24(16): 1977–1998.
20.
HanitzschT (2018) 3. Roles of Journalists. Journalism. Berlin, Germany: De Gruyter Mouton, 43–62.
21.
HanitzschTVosTP (2017) Journalistic roles and the struggle over institutional identity: the discursive constitution of journalism. Communication Theory27(2): 115–135.
22.
HanitzschTHanuschFRamaprasadJ, et al. (eds) (2019) Worlds of Journalism: Journalistic Cultures Around the Globe. New York: Columbia University Press.
JohnstoneJWSlawskiEJBowmanWW (1972) The professional values of American newsmen. Public Opinion Quarterly36(4): 522–540.
25.
KlemmCDasEHartmannT (2019) Changed priorities ahead: journalists’ shifting role perceptions when covering public health crises. Journalism20(9): 1223–1241.
26.
LasswellHD (1948) The structure and function of communication in society. The Communication of Ideas37(1): 136–139.
27.
LeeEJ (2021) Making sense of pandemic-induced changes in journalism and beyond. Digital Journalism Journalism9(9): 1431–1437.
28.
ManiouTATrifonova PriceLClarkM, et al. (2025) Journalistic role performance in Southern European media systems: resilience in times of disruption. International Communication Gazette: 17480485251314613.
29.
MelladoC (2015) Professional roles in news content: six dimensions of journalistic role performance. Journalism Studies16(4): 596–614.
30.
MelladoC (2021) Theorizing journalistic roles. In: Beyond Journalistic Norms: Role Performance and News in Comparative Perspective. New York: Routledge, 22–25.
31.
MelladoCMothesCHallinDC, et al. (2020) Investigating the gap between newspaper journalists’ role conceptions and role performance in nine European, Asian, and Latin American countries. The International Journal of Press/Politics25(4): 552–575.
32.
NeeRCChacónLMC (2021) Live from my living room: perceived organizational support among TV news workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Electronic News, 19312431211035129.
33.
NolanDMcGuinnessKLeeJY, et al. (2024) Journalistic role performance in Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic: events, media systems and journalistic practice. Journalism Practice18(9): 2281–2299.
34.
OlsenRKFursethPI (2023) Service innovation and value creation in local journalism during times of crisis. Journalism Studies24(4): 496–514.
35.
PajnikMHrženjakM (2022) The intertwining of the Covid-19 pandemic with democracy backlash: making sense of journalism in crisis. Journalism Practice18: 1–18.
36.
PapathanassopoulosS (2007) The mediterranean/polarized pluralist media model countries. In: TerzisG (ed) European Media Governance: National and Regional Dimensions. Bristol: Intellect Books, 191–200.
37.
PerreaultMF (2021) Journalism beyond the command post: local journalists as strategic citizen stakeholders in natural disaster recovery. Journalism Studies22(10): 1279–1297.
38.
PeruškoZVozabDČuvaloA (2020) Comparing Post-socialist Media Systems: The Case of Southeast Europe. London: Routledge.
PöyhtäriROjalaM (2018) Watchdogs, advocates and adversaries: journalists' relational role conceptions in asylum reporting. Media and Communication6(2): 168–178.
41.
RaemyPBeckDHellmuellerL (2019) Swiss journalists’ role performance: the relationship between conceptualized, narrated, and practiced roles. Journalism Studies20(6): 765–782.
RiegertKOlssonEK (2007) The importance of ritual in crisis journalism. Journalism Practice Practice1(2): 143–158.
44.
RyfeD (2024) Strengthening the theoretical foundations of role performance theory. Journalism Practice18(9): 2191–2205.
45.
SaldanaJ (2009) The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers. Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
46.
SarelskaDJenkinsJ (2023) Truth on demand: influences on how journalists in Italy, Spain, and Bulgaria responded to Covid-19 misinformation and disinformation. Journalism Practice17(10): 2178–2196.
47.
StandaertOHanitzschTDedonderJ (2021) In their own words: a normative-empirical approach to journalistic roles around the world. Journalism22(4): 919–936.
48.
TandocECJrHellmuellerLVosTP (2013) Mind the gap: between journalistic role conception and role enactment. Journalism Practice7(5): 539–554.
49.
TandocECJrCabañesJVACayabyabYM (2019) Bridging the gap: journalists’ role orientation and role performance on Twitter. Journalism Studies20(6): 857–871.
50.
TracyS (2013) Qualitative Research Methods: Collecting Evidence, Crafting Analysis, Communicating Impact. West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.
51.
Trifonova PriceL (2019) Media corruption and issues of journalistic and institutional integrity in post-communist countries: the case of Bulgaria. Communist and Post-Communist Studies52(1): 71–79.
52.
Trifonova PriceLAntonovaV (2022) Challenges and opportunities for journalism in the Bulgarian COVID-19 communication ecology. Journalism Practice18: 1–18.
53.
WeaverDHWillnatL (2012) The Global Journalist in the 21st Century. New York: Routledge.
54.
WillnatLWeaverDHWilhoitGC (2019) The American journalist in the digital age: how journalists and the public think about journalism in the United States. Journalism Studies20(3): 423–441.
55.
ZhaoXMatthewsJJacksonD, et al. (2023) Patterns of journalistic role performance during public health crises: covering COVID-19 in the UK. Journalism Practice19: 1–19.
