Grävhörnor, Vita Fläckar och Tomma Sidor : En kvalitativ studie över journalistiska roller i Uppsala

This thesis examines how local journalists in Uppsala would like to work with news reporting, based on their journalistic roles. To answer this main research question, the paper follows three more particular sub-questions: How do local journalists in Uppsala view their current journalistic role? What journalistic role would the journalists like to fulfill? What do the journalists think about the future of local journalism? The chosen method of this exploration is qualitative interviews, with six journalists working at two different editorial offices in Uppsala. By drawing from the theoretic framework by Thomas Hanitzsch and his suggestions on journalistic roles, the paper found that the populist disseminator role is the most apparent among Uppsala’s journalists, in terms of the normative dimension. However, for practical reasons they often have to prioritize the entertainment factor, which is more in line with the accommodative role. In terms of their own preferences, most of the journalists express a deep wish for more investigative journalism in their work. In other words, their cognitive role is more in line with the detached watchdog. Despite current problems, all interviewed journalists are hopeful about the future of local journalism, believing people today need it more than ever before. They also suggest that the Covid-19 pandemic strengthened local journalism, reminding people of its necessity. Overall, this thesis gives an insight into the current situation for local journalists and provides both solutions to the challenges as well as reasons for its highly important place in society.