Audience Expectations of Journalists: Demands, Beliefs and Assessments

Scholarship on journalism in the digital age has often pointed to a gap between audiences’ expectations of journalism and what journalists actually do in their work as one reason for the global decline in news trust and consumption. Much of this work has, however, evolved from studies of journalistic role perceptions to measure audiences’ expectations of these same roles. In line with the so-called audience turn in (digital) journalism studies, this study takes an audience-centric approach to better understand what it is that audiences want, in the hope of better informing journalistic work. Through an analysis of 35 observations and in-depth interviews with audience members in Austria, we examine audiences’ demands, beliefs, and assessments of journalists, and the relations among these expectation modes. Our findings demonstrate the complex nature of audiences’ expectations and reveal seven dimensions. Four of these aligned partially with normative journalistic roles: expectations of (1) information; (2) interpretation; (3) accountability; and (4) activism. The remaining three extend beyond them, including expectations of (5) emotional connection; (6) interaction; and (7) societal relevance. These insights highlight what audiences value in journalism, offering a foundation for news content that caters to their needs.