Previous research indicates that journalistic roles change in times of crisis, from critically reviewing authorities to disseminating information. Why does this happen? And are these indications true within a Swedish context? The aim of this study is to investigate how journalistic roles in Swedish media has changed over time during the covid-19 pandemic and what factors that lies behind the change.[JB1]  To do this, a quantitative content analysis of Swedish news articles was used in combination with qualitative interviews with journalists. The content analysis found that the presence of critical roles (detached watchdog and critical change agent) decreased during the first months of the pandemic while the presence of informational and regime-friendly roles (populist disseminator and opportunist facilitator) increased. One year into the pandemic, the presence of critical roles resurged towards a normal level while the two informational and regime-friendly roles decreased. The qualitative interviews show that, whilst the perceived journalistic roles did not change during the pandemic, the ability to put those ideals to practice was affected by several external factors. These factors include: the dominance of corona-related news, the challenging nature of critically reviewing an ongoing crisis, a general lack of corona-related knowledge, changes in work practice and working environment, and a lack of previous experience from similar crises. The change in practiced journalistic roles was generally viewed by the respondents as unintended and problematic. This underlines the important difference between perceived and practiced journalistic roles.  [JB1]Reviderat.