The roles and functions of opinion journalists

What is it about?

Opinion is a prominent, yet understudied, aspect of American journalism. The lack of empirical research on opinion journalists is problematic because it means little is known about the roles of these journalists. This study builds on recent journalistic role research to identify which roles and functions of journalism are most applicable to opinion journalists. A nation-wide survey revealed that opinion journalists identify the monitorial and participatory roles as most important to their work.

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Why is it important?

Based on a survey of opinion journalists, the findings provide an overview of the roles and functions opinion journalists identified with and explore differences that may exist in role perception based on media platform. This study also proposes a model that delineates the relationship between journalistic role conceptions and functions of the press that could serve as a foundation for future studies into opinion journalism.