The Institutional Roles of Journalism Cultures in Post-Conflict Societies

This study contends that the traditional occupational values underpinning journalism are becoming increasingly ambiguous, while established normative frameworks have diminished in their prescriptive influence. Employing Hanitzsch’s (2011) typology of journalism cultures—namely, the Populist Disseminator, Detached Watchdog, Critical Change Agent, and Opportunist Facilitator—the research analyzes responses from a structured survey of 142 media professionals. Through the application of the Priority Model, the study examines how these professional role orientations intersect with neo-Gramscian perspectives on hegemony, particularly in shaping journalists’ priorities during news production and dissemination. This study examines the institutional roles of journalism cultures within the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), with particular emphasis on their shifting involvement in wider societal responsibilities in the aftermath of regional conflict in the Middle East. Within these transitional societies, where political and media landscapes are in the process of democratization, journalism operates amid ongoing tensions between professional norms and partisan interests. Although traditionally defined by institutionalized practices, normative values, and a distinct occupational identity—serving as a buffer against forces such as commercialization—the conception and enactment of journalistic 'professionalism' among Iraqi Kurdish journalists necessitate critical reevaluation. Building on contemporary scholarship, the study redefines professionalism as a dynamic and discursively constructed notion, frequently mobilized in moments of institutional fragmentation and declining legitimacy.