The New Normal for Health Journalist in Mainstream Media

This study examines the current professional situation of health journalists working in main-stream media, who emerged as key editorial figures during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim is toassess whether the pandemic led to lasting changes in the news prioritization of health topics andwhether the role of health reporting within newsrooms has shifted. Using a qualitative methodology,the study analyzes the perspectives of 16 Spanish health journalists employed across newspapers,radio, and television outlets. The journalists report that their media organizations now cover healthcare system issues more frequently, while topics related to the social determinants of health receivecomparatively less attention. However, the gatekeeping transformations observed during the pan-demic have not persisted. The findings suggest that, for health journalists in mainstream media, the‘new normal’ closely resembles the pre-pandemic professional environment.