To Örebro University

The aim of this paper is to outline a research agenda for ”Sustainable Journalism,” i.e. to investigate journalism in relation to sustainable development in its economic, social, and ecological sense. Its analytical focus includes traditional journalism as well as emerging forms of journalism in both traditional and digital media, and deals with a sustainable future for society in general and for journalism as a practice and business in particular. In this sense, Sustainable Journalism addresses two intrinsically intertwined challenges of our time that are of great theoretical relevance and in urgent need of empirical research: a) The sustainability crisis of society, e.g. environmental crises, democratic crises, poverty, financial crises, armed conflicts etc., and, b) the sustainability crisis of journalism, which stems from lower advertising, falls in consumption, more unemployment, and the fierce competition from online information brokers. The research agenda for Sustainable Journalism is premised on the theoretical assumption that there is a mutual dependency between these two current challenges; journalism has a pivotal role in the overall sustainable development of society, since it contributes greatly to the understanding, and hence the handling, of challenges such as environmental problems, social inequality, armed conflicts, and financial crises. In turn, addressing the new conditions of journalism – by seriously responding to the sustainability challenges with high‑quality, in‑depth coverage as well as robust business models, technology, education and organizations that take these challenges into account – is a prerequisite for the future sustainability of journalism itself. The proposed research agenda revolves around this double significance inherent in the concept of Sustainable Journalism. Additionally, the paper argues in favor of integral approaches for research on Sustainable Journalism. Previous research has extensively focused on the economic, social, and ecological aspects and implications of journalism respectively, but integral approaches, which interlink these dimensions, are rare. However, we suggest that approaches that interlink the sustainability dimensions are pivotal for the identification of opportunities for as well as barriers to sustainable development. For instance, what implications do economic measures (e.g. staff reduction) in media organizations have for the quantity and quality of environmental news? How might value be generated from new advertising formats that do not jeopardize the integrity and trust of citizens? How might new participatory practices and contents, such as citizen journalism be included in future business models? What might journalistic content that reflects the economic aspects of an increasingly globalizing reality without compromising the other sustainability dimensions look like? To sum up, the contribution of this paper is strongly linked to the current debate about the future of journalism, and forms one way of “rethinking” it, which is a frequent request among journalism scholars today. It fills a void within this multifaceted and somewhat free‑floating debate in that it suggests partly new avenues for journalism research by situating it in the context of sustainability.