Normative Role Conceptions of Journalists in an Autocratic Regime
Normative Role Conceptions of Journalists in an Autocratic Regime

Summary/Abstract: The purpose of this study is to explore and provide a better understanding of how journal- ists who work in a non-free media environment that is characterized by high level of state involvement conceptualize normative journalistic roles. This study used in-depth qualita- tive interviewing to explore opinions of journalists who live and work in Belarus. Normative theories of the media, concepts of news media and democracy as well as the literature on the roles of news media in authoritarian regimes guide the paper theoretically. The find- ings of the study demonstrated that Belarusian journalists have similar understandings of normative roles as their colleagues in democratic nations. Exclusive for the orientations of journalists from state-run news organizations were mouthpiece and ideological/propagan- distic roles. Certain roles were described as encompassing different goals by the representa- tives of state-run and independent news media. The study revealed that roles of journalism that help support the social ideal as understood by journalists in this autocratic country could be described as having two mostly competing directions: one that reflects the ideal of the nation’s development toward free society and representative democracy and another direction that represents the ideal of protecting the status quo, sustaining conformity in the society, and preserving national security.

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