CHMK, Kurdistan Region of Iraq— Dr. Shwan Adam Aivas, a prominent Kurdish media scholar and founder of the Kurdish Media Watchdog Organisation (CHMK.org), currently serves as an associate professor in communication, culture, and media studies. He has recently published a scholarly article titled “The Institutional Roles of Journalism Cultures in Post-Conflict Societies“ in the International Journal of Scientific Research and Technology (IJSRT).
In the abstract of his study, Dr. Aivas argues that the conventional professional values guiding journalism are becoming increasingly unclear, while traditional normative frameworks have lost much of their regulatory authority. Drawing on Hanitzsch’s (2011) typology of journalism cultures—including the Populist Disseminator, Detached Watchdog, Critical Change Agent, and Opportunist Facilitator—the research analyzes structured survey data collected from 142 media professionals.
Utilizing the Priority Model, the study explores how these journalistic role orientations interact with neo-Gramscian concepts of hegemony, particularly in influencing journalists’ priorities in news production and dissemination. The research specifically investigates the institutional roles of journalism cultures within the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), highlighting how these roles are evolving in response to broader societal responsibilities in the post-conflict Middle East.
Operating within transitional contexts marked by political reform and media transformation, journalism in the KRI navigates ongoing tensions between professional ethics and partisan influence. While traditionally rooted in institutional norms and professional identity—which historically acted as safeguards against external pressures like commercialization—the concept of journalistic professionalism in Iraqi Kurdistan requires critical reassessment. Dr. Aivas’ study contributes to contemporary discourse by conceptualizing professionalism as a fluid, discursively constructed ideal that gains prominence amid institutional uncertainty and waning legitimacy.
To read the full research, which may be of interest, please click the link below:
Aivas, S. A., 2025. The Institutional Roles of Journalism Cultures in Post-Conflict Societies
