ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that for increased scholarly attention to the impact that audiences and new journalistic actors have on the ways in which journalists are (re)conceptualizing their roles in society in the digital environment. It focuses on role theory and its relevance for studying role conceptions, in order to provide a theoretical framework for such studies. The chapter highlights some fruitful avenues for research that may enable us to arrive at a more comprehensive understanding of journalism cultures in the digital age. Where research has been slightly less responsive to digital transformations is the area of journalistic role conceptions, despite its centrality for much of the work that goes on in journalism research more broadly. Role theory, with its origins in the dramaturgical or theatrical perspective, where people are understood to play interactive parts according to scripts, has only recently started featuring in studies exploring journalistic roles.
