ABSTRACT
The relationship between journalists and audiences is in constant flux. In light of technological transformations and the growing availability of digital communication tools and social media platforms, audiences are able to discursively express their expectations of journalists in unprecedented ways. At the same time, journalists are confronted with greater economic incentives to meet their audiences’ expectations; a demand that arguably prompts journalists to discursively renegotiate their roles. These changes in the journalist-audience relationship raise the question, to what extent have audiences become a force within the journalistic field, capable of provoking change to journalism’s institutional identity? Drawing on discussions from role theory, field theory, and discursive institutionalism, this chapter asks, how do audiences as discursive communities become a part of journalism’s discursive field or even act as discursive institutions themselves?
