Between the expected and the experienced: assessing the public’s perception of journalism ethics and objectivity in Latvia

IntroductionOur study refers to the calls of various scholars to add the media users’ view and the audience’s agency role to the evaluation of media and journalism. The objective of this study is to explore the audience’s perception of media and journalistic ethics in times of various global and geo...

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Main Authors: Anda Rožukalne, Ieva Strode
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-07-01
Series:Frontiers in Communication
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2025.1521816/full
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author Anda Rožukalne
Ieva Strode
author_facet Anda Rožukalne
Ieva Strode
author_sort Anda Rožukalne
collection DOAJ
description IntroductionOur study refers to the calls of various scholars to add the media users’ view and the audience’s agency role to the evaluation of media and journalism. The objective of this study is to explore the audience’s perception of media and journalistic ethics in times of various global and geopolitical crises.MethodsWe use a quantitative survey (N = 1,019, 2022) and two focus group studies (14 groups, N = 80, 2022, 2023) to describe the Latvian audiences’ assessment of professional journalism ethics principles and their implementation.ResultsThe Latvian public is critical of the ethical practice of journalists, with almost half of the respondents observing various violations of professional ethics and recognizing different journalistic cultures according to their degree of responsibility.DiscussionEvaluating data according to the journalistic ethical orientation model, it is found that representatives of the Latvian media audience support absolutist and exceptionist approaches, as they place high demands on journalists, putting the principle of objectivity and the duty of journalists to ensure the diversity of opinions in the foreground.
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spelling doaj-art-ceb21a75b040440384792578b49ee3162025-08-20T03:14:02ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Communication2297-900X2025-07-011010.3389/fcomm.2025.15218161521816Between the expected and the experienced: assessing the public’s perception of journalism ethics and objectivity in LatviaAnda Rožukalne0Ieva Strode1Social Sciences Research Centre, Faculty of Social Sciences, Riga Stradiņš University, Riga, LatviaFaculty of Economics and Social Sciences, University of Latvia, Riga, LatviaIntroductionOur study refers to the calls of various scholars to add the media users’ view and the audience’s agency role to the evaluation of media and journalism. The objective of this study is to explore the audience’s perception of media and journalistic ethics in times of various global and geopolitical crises.MethodsWe use a quantitative survey (N = 1,019, 2022) and two focus group studies (14 groups, N = 80, 2022, 2023) to describe the Latvian audiences’ assessment of professional journalism ethics principles and their implementation.ResultsThe Latvian public is critical of the ethical practice of journalists, with almost half of the respondents observing various violations of professional ethics and recognizing different journalistic cultures according to their degree of responsibility.DiscussionEvaluating data according to the journalistic ethical orientation model, it is found that representatives of the Latvian media audience support absolutist and exceptionist approaches, as they place high demands on journalists, putting the principle of objectivity and the duty of journalists to ensure the diversity of opinions in the foreground.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2025.1521816/fulljournalism ethicsethical orientationmedia audienceaudience involvementobjectivitydiversity of opinions
spellingShingle Anda Rožukalne
Ieva Strode
Between the expected and the experienced: assessing the public’s perception of journalism ethics and objectivity in Latvia
Frontiers in Communication
journalism ethics
ethical orientation
media audience
audience involvement
objectivity
diversity of opinions
title Between the expected and the experienced: assessing the public’s perception of journalism ethics and objectivity in Latvia
title_full Between the expected and the experienced: assessing the public’s perception of journalism ethics and objectivity in Latvia
title_fullStr Between the expected and the experienced: assessing the public’s perception of journalism ethics and objectivity in Latvia
title_full_unstemmed Between the expected and the experienced: assessing the public’s perception of journalism ethics and objectivity in Latvia
title_short Between the expected and the experienced: assessing the public’s perception of journalism ethics and objectivity in Latvia
title_sort between the expected and the experienced assessing the public s perception of journalism ethics and objectivity in latvia
topic journalism ethics
ethical orientation
media audience
audience involvement
objectivity
diversity of opinions
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomm.2025.1521816/full
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