ABSTRACT

This study investigates the construction of the journalist’s authority in a heterogeneous and evolving networked media environment. We analyse the specific ways in which the Romanian online newspaper Adevărul, which is relevant for encompassing a model of media convergence, integrates Facebook content into news articles in the context of the 2017 #rezist protests. Based on the dispositive analysis, we prioritize three discursive practices supporting the configuration of the journalist's authority: media representations, the media construction of responsibilities, and the critical and deliberative role of the journalist. We argue that the use of social media in online articles favours a more evaluative media discourse, yet not explicitly appropriated by the journalist, and also ways of engaging the audience within a field of power relations. These findings could bring valuable evidence of new forms of media power and, in particular, of the deliberative role of the journalist in a convergence and participative culture of high competitiveness.

Keywords: Journalists’ authority, Facebook, media discourse, field of power relations, hybrid journalism.

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