From clickbait to independent journalism? Media startups as a new entrant in the journalistic field

Abstract

The journalism industry is evolving. The rise of produsage, where individuals are both producers and consumers of media, has changed professional practices in newsrooms and allowed independent media startups to sprout. These digital-born organizations often take advantage of lower market-entry barriers to technology and tools that aid production and distribution to gain market share, but now face the same monetization problem as legacy newsrooms. Media startups also tend to stretch the boundaries of the profession through innovations, but are still guided by values and ideas from legacy journalists. Guided by Bourdieu’s field theory, this study will utilize in-depth interviews to understand Singapore-based media startups. This study focuses on the new rules, routines and emerging habitus of media startups. It also investigates what the startups consider to be capital, and through these, attempts to get a better understanding of what the journalists think of their work and how they deal with upcoming advancements in the field. Through 20 in-depth interviews with individuals working in and with media startups, the study found that the new entrants will adopt certain existing journalistic rules and routines but also differentiate themselves from the incumbent. This study suggests that both differentiation and dedifferentiation will occur concurrently, and the agents will don a ​media startup habitus.​ To become the new incumbents in the field, media startups iterate and adapt, and grow their capital in a more fluid manner compared to traditional organizations.