The Shaping of an Online Feature Journalist

Abstract

This paper explores the professional role and normative demands of online feature journalists. Through a longitudinal ethnographic case study of the work practice of feature journalists in the Norwegian online newspaper dagbladet.no, the paper uncovers how normative demands of a new professional role are negotiated within the online newsroom of a newspaper. It further reveals how the role of journalists is shaped by two axes: A historical axis of factors that have shaped the role of journalist throughout history, and a contemporary axis of the particulars of labour in modern society at large. The findings suggest that online feature journalists practice a more audience-driven and source-detached kind of journalism than their print counterparts. They further suggest that the remediation of feature journalism online yields increased status to the role of online journalists at large.