This thesis examines how democratic backsliding affects journalistic role orientations and their perceived enactment, with a particular focus on the tensions arising between cognitive ideals and everyday practice.
Drawing on 52 qualitative interviews with journalists and peripheral media actors across several European countries, the study explores how shrinking press freedom, political polarization, and eroding public trust reshape the narration of role performance in complex ways.
Building on the role typology developed by Hanitzsch and Vos (2018, 2025), the analysis reveals that critical-monitorial roles, although normatively central, are increasingly difficult to perform under conditions of hostility, discrediting of facts, and political pressure. In response, collaborative-facilitative roles such as the mouthpiece stand out more prominently, even when these roles are not cognitively prioritized by most respondents. This indicates a growing misalignment between role orientation and role enactment. At the same time, the study highlights adaptive strategies developed by media actors at organizational and individual levels, including transparency practices, fact-checking, open communication about hostility, and coping mechanisms to mitigate professional stress on a personal layer. The analysis further shows that while peripheral actors often benefit from better access to certain sources and issues, legacy journalists remain structurally and institutionally better protected, which adds another layer to the complex relationship between both groups under conditions of democratic backsliding.
The findings demonstrate that democratic backsliding not only constrains journalistic autonomy but also creates incentives to further renegotiate professional identities within the field. So far, this overlap of the three aspects has received little attention in academic research. By conceptualizing role tensions as both structural and personal challenges, this thesis contributes to scholarship on journalism in crisis contexts and underscores the resilience and creativity of media actors navigating illiberal pressures.