Media Capture and Journalistic Role Conceptualizations Under Transitional Contexts: The Case of Zimbabwe

Combining textual analysis and interviews, this study extends journalistic role conceptualization research not only to Zimbabwe but also to nonjournalistic actors by examining Zimbabwean press freedom debates generated between 1993 and 2023. Results show how the country’s public press uses a nationalistic ideology to redefine and legitimize loyal facilitation as a Fourth Estate role, while the private press uses a liberal ideology to extend advocacy journalism as a key Fourth Estate function. Guided by the metajournalistic discourse theory, and the concept of media capture, negotiation of these divergent role conceptualizations is considered as both a manifestation and attempt at capturing journalists as a first step in shaping the public mind.