Conceptualizing journalism researchers’ role orientation in navigating newsroom ethnography: Introducing the MNO model

Scholarship is embracing role orientation theory to grasp the changing roles and tasks of journalists and other newsroom workers. A recurring method to investigate this is ethnography. However, journalism studies as a field has only rarely acknowledged and critically reflected on the role orientation of researchers themselves. To fill this gap, this conceptual paper proposes a framework to make sense of some of the key roles academics can hold when they seek to carry out fieldwork. Foregrounding the concept of multi-positionality and introducing the MNO model, it positions researchers as merchants, negotiators and ombudspersons. Informed by literature and influenced by the author’s personal experiences, this article contributes a new foundation to advance the scholarly discussion on journalistic ethnography and how researchers can orient and position themselves in and around fast-evolving newsroom settings.