Pioneer Journalism: The re-figuration of journalism’s organizational foundations

• Applicants: Professor Dr. Andreas Hepp; Professorin Dr. Wiebke Loosen
• Subject Area: Communication Sciences
• Term: since 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 413631406

Project A investigates ‘pioneer journalism’ as a principal force in the re-figuration of journalism and its organizational foundations. We understand pioneer journalism to encompass new forms of journalism that are dedicated to re-defining the field. This includes journalism from established media organizations and startups alike, journalism supported by accelerators, or journalism pursued by individual pioneers. Pioneer journalism aims to establish new figurations for the production and distribution of journalism. Media and digital technologies play a crucial role in this re-figuration. As our preliminary research demonstrates, there exists a loose network across all of the above, a network that has the potential to form the basis of a journalistic pioneer community.With this in mind, Project A’s main research question is: what role does pioneer journalism play in the re-figuration of journalism’s organizational foundations? From this starting point, we plan to investigate German pioneer journalism across five analytical layers: first, through the use of a content analysis of self-descriptions, we will deliver a map of individual actors, startups, accelerators, and established organizations that play an important role in the pioneer journalism space and provide an overview of their perceptions of the field. Second, we will conduct a media ethnography at established news organizations to investigate the ways in which they are currently establishing new journalistic figurations. Third, we will investigate, again through a media ethnography, the establishment of new organizational figurations initiated by startups, accelerators and individual pioneers. Fourth, by way of a qualitative network and Twitter analysis, we will investigate the network of pioneer journalists, a network that has the potential to create a pioneer community across established media organizations, startups, accelerators, and individual journalists. Finally, we will integrate each of these analytical layers into an overall analysis of the re-figuration of journalism’s organizational foundations with the aim of typifying the patterns of its current transformation.With reference to the overall package’s objectives – that is to investigate the re-figuration of public communication in times of deep mediatization – Project A addresses the question What are the consequences of deep mediatization for the re-figuration of journalism’s organizational foundations? Project A contributes to Project B (on journalism-audience relationships) and to Project C (on individuals’ public connection) through its mapping of the principal pioneering forms of journalism, through the delivery of information on the organizational foundations of established media organizations and start-ups, and by providing information on users’ involvement in new journalistic, organizational figurations.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants