Wearing many hats: How rural U.S. newspaper journalists negotiate professional identity amid digital and economic disruption

Sayyed Fawad Ali Shah, Teddi A. Joyce, Breann E. Murphy, Ben Cunningham, Gregory P. Perreault, School of Communication , Auburn University, Department of Communication, Jacksonville State University, College of Communication and Information Sciences, University of Alabama

Journalism: Theory, Practice & Criticism

Published online on June 24, 2026

Abstract

Journalism, Ahead of Print.
Our study seeks to interrogate how local journalists conceptualize professionalism and negotiate their professional role-identities amid economic and technological disruption. Based on 17 in-depth interviews, we found that journalists idealized ...