The Context-Dependent Demand for Watchdog Journalism: Dynamics in Audience Expectations for Journalists’ Role Performance

Abstract

ABSTRACT The watchdog role is central to the democratic legitimacy of journalism and is also perceived as an essential part of journalists’ role performance by the public. So far, the expectations on journalists’ watchdog role performance have been studied as a static concept resulting in limited knowledge of the underlying dynamics in audience demand and expectations for this type of journalism. We argue that the demand for watchdog journalism is dynamic and varies according to changes in the broader context and across audience characteristics. We take a multi-method approach to examine the demand for watchdog journalism during the COVID-19 pandemic in Denmark. First, we use data from three representative surveys (n≈1.000 in each), including a panel component (n = 336), to demonstrate that the demand for watchdog journalism increased over time, especially among opposition voters, as the political context offered more political conflict and contested policy solutions. Second, a qualitative analysis of answers to an open-ended question in the surveys examines how the audience believes the watchdog role should be performed. We show that the demand for different functions of journalists’ critical reporting varies over time and that the form used by journalists when conducting critical reporting is extremely important to the audience.