Peer-Reviewed Article: Diversity and (Anti-)Discrimination in the Context of News Start-ups: A Research Agenda

Abstract

Although editorial diversity is regularly cited as one of the core challenges for journalism, journalistic organizations still struggle to create equal access and development opportunities for women, people of color, or journalists facing discrimination on various other levels. Instead, research on gender and diversity in news production shows that newsrooms continue to reflect and (re)produce social power imbalances within their organizational structures, practices, and culture. However, in the wake of “entrepreneurial journalism,” new organizations are emerging worldwide. These news start-ups are characterized, among other things, by smaller, more open and more flexible organizational structures. However, their novel organizational character has not yet been studied in depth with regard to its potential and possible risks for diversity and (anti-)discrimination. Thus, this article aims to position news start-ups as a novel subject on the agenda of discrimination-related news production studies. Moreover, selected studies on “entrepreneurial journalism” are reviewed with regard to diversity and (anti-)discrimination in order to identify existing desiderata. Finally, a programmatic research agenda will be developed in order to initiate empirical follow-up research on the topic.