“Because it’s My Role”: The Discursive Negotiation of Emotion in Journalism

Emotion is treated paradoxically in journalism: omnipresent in practice yet rejected by professional norms prioritizing objectivity. While it is essential for engaging audiences and ensuring the survival of journalism, emotion is criticized for “contaminating” objectivity, which is seen as a cornerstone of the profession. This study explores how journalists navigate these tensions, positioned at the intersection of emotional turn theories [Wahl-Jorgensen, K. 2020. “An Emotional Turn in Journalism Studies?” Digital Journalism 8 (2): 175–194] and Role studies [Hanitzsch, T., and T. P. Vos. 2018. “Journalism beyond Democracy: A New Look into Journalistic Roles in Political and Everyday Life.” Journalism 19 (2): 146–164; Mellado, C. 2015. “Professional Roles in News Content: Six Dimensions of Journalistic Role Performance.” Journalism Studies 16 (4): 596–614] through qualitative interviews with journalists from private local radio stations in French-speaking Switzerland. These stations balance commercial and public service mandates, creating tensions between audience engagement and professional detachment that make them particularly revealing cases for examining emotional work. Using a qualitative approach based on interviews, the study shows that emotion is negotiated through political roles and fidelity to reality (macro), context of production (meso), and personal values (micro). The findings also reveal constant emotional regulation, with journalists carefully integrating emotion, fearing that their work might otherwise be seen solely as a tool for capturing the audience’s attention.