“Prioritizing Journalistic Norms or Humanitarian Values? A Multistage Computational Analysis of Journalistic Role Performance in Humanitarian News” (2026), by Zhe Xu et al. Social Sciences research paper. Original abstract below, unchanged. A free PDF is available.

Prioritizing Journalistic Norms or Humanitarian Values? A Multistage Computational Analysis of Journalistic Role Performance in Humanitarian News

Zhe Xu, Martin Scott, Dani Madrid‐Morales et al. · November 1, 2026 · Social Sciences

Abstract

This study examines how journalistic roles are performed in humanitarian news. Using a multistage computational approach applied to news data from 46 international news organizations across 21 countries, we find that role performance varies systematically across topics, political systems, and organizational types. Our findings complicate the predominant tendency in humanitarian journalism scholarship to frame roles in terms of professional norms or humanitarian values. Instead, we show that role performance is multidimensional and contextually contingent. Improving humanitarian coverage therefore requires attention not only to professional practices but also to the institutional conditions that enable diverse forms of journalism.

Free PDF DOI: 10.1177/10776990261496827