'Journalists in our own way': social media and audience engagement editors crafting their professional identity

This thesis examines how social media and audience engagement editors within UK legacy media outlets construct their professional identities in response to the rapidly evolving digital media landscape. Despite their increasing influence in shaping news distribution and developing social media strategies for news brands, these roles remain underexplored in academic literature. Through 23 semi structured interviews with editors, this study provides first-hand insights into how they interpret their roles, responsibilities, balance institutional demands, and understand their changing place in the field of journalism.

The study highlights how professional identity is formed and negotiated through personal motivations, institutional structures, and organisational demands. Raemy’s (2021) framework of professional identity, centred around vocation, work, and institutional ideology, provides a theoretical lens for understanding these processes.

The findings reveal that professional identity is not fixed but shaped by a combination of personal motivations, organisational culture and a wider shift in the media landscape. Editors described juggling traditional journalistic values, such as truth-telling and public accountability, with the pressures of social media platform algorithms, audience metrics, and shifting newsroom hierarchies. While some expressed concerns about diminished recognition or legitimacy, others viewed their roles as an opportunity to reimagine journalism’s reach and relevance.

The study also highlights the emotional and intellectual labour these journalists invest in maintaining professional integrity, navigating perceptions of legitimacy, and balancing personal and professional boundaries on social media platforms. Focusing on a previously overlooked group within the UK context, this research contributes original knowledge to journalism studies and offers a deeper understanding of how professional identity is experienced and expressed in the contemporary newsroom.