How do journalists and activists position themselves with regard to the roles expected of them? And how do feminist-oriented media actors in particular link this in the context of discursive self-empowerment, the visibility of political attitudes and a commitment aimed at social transformation?
 
In their 62-page extended paper in the journal Studies in Communication and Media, the staff of the Journalism Studies Unit conducted qualitative media ethnographic case studies on border crossers between journalism and activism. The findings were guided by the boundary work approach, which was implemented in a comparative design.

The group comparison tends to reveal opposing and unexpected forms of boundary work: While the activists argue for complementary cooperation between clearly separate fields of activity, the journalists justify their hybridization as a necessary development on the way to more justice. This is legitimized by the (new) norm of transparent, evidence-based partisanship. In addition, ideals of community-oriented journalism with a high degree of personal approachability are articulated.
At the level of practical performance, the activists show, contrary to the verbal
activists show adaptations to journalistic practices, while the journalists live out the favored hybridity to varying degrees.

The german language paper is freely accessible.