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Institute
In the light of a new level of reciprocal visibility in the digital age, the journalist–audience relationship has fundamentally changed. Mutual expectations become visible or evolve anew. The question arises as to how these expectations and their (non-)fulfillment influence the journalist–audience relationship. Taking an interpersonal communication perspective by following expectancy violations theory, we focus on the level of interactions and propose a theoretical framework explaining how the interplay of journalists’ and audience’s mutual expectations affects their relationship. Our aim is to contribute to a better understanding of the journalist–audience relationship in digital media environments—and to provide indications for its functioning or failure.
Expectancy research in journalism studies is characterized by a heterogeneous use of terms related to expectations, reflecting the complexity and ambiguity of the expectation construct. To enable a systematization and classification of different expectation concepts, we develop a taxonomy comprising seven criteria: Whereas the (1) dimension specifies the content of expectations and (2) dimensionality indicates the degree of complexity of the concept, the criteria (3) perspective and (4) object specify whose expectations are being addressed and to whom they are directed. The (5) level of expectation distinguishes between first- and second-order expectations. The (6) level of analysis helps locating expectation concepts, either at the micro, meso, or macro level. Finally, the (7) mode allows for classifying expectations as prescriptive, probabilistic, or valuative. An exemplary application of the taxonomy to the expectation concept of journalistic roles reveals the focus points of previous research and research gaps. Besides, the taxonomy can be used in further theory building and in developing measures of expectation concepts.