The Synchronising Function of New Participants in Digital News Production

This study examines the function of emerging professionals in digital news pro duction who are neither typical journalists nor typical technologists, but operate across the increasingly permeable boundaries of IT, marketing, PR, management, and the newsroom. These hybrid actors contribute to the creation, implementati on, and distribution of news in the digital environment, with the primary function of synchronising cross-departmental activities in pursuit of sales-oriented goals. Based on semi-structured qualitative interviews with ten such professionals from France, Lithuania, Sweden, and the USA, the study confirms that the permeability of boundaries, the dissolution of traditional divisions, and the hybridity of professi onal positions have become increasingly radical, leading to a multi-level blurring of boundaries. These professionals engage in fluid collaboration that aligns the operations of diverse actors under the guiding principle of profitability. They are significantly involved in journalism-related boundary work, and undertake a range of tasks that enable them to influence epistemic journalistic practices. In doing so, they undermine the traditional divide between editorial and commercial domains, further blurring the lines that define journalism and its acceptable practices.