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Abstract
Although online journalism is still dominated by breaking news coverage, new genres are emerging that differentiate it more and more from old media journalism. This article explores the emergence of feature journalism in online newspapers. Through comparative qualitative text analysis of feature journalism in the US online newspaper palmbeachpost.com and the Norwegian online newspaper dagbladet.no, two widely different approaches to the production of feature journalism on the Web are uncovered and a critical perspective on the remediation of journalistic genres in online newspapers is elaborated. The analysis shows that both these approaches display a clash between discourses of traditional feature journalism and discourses of online communication. It further reveals that genre development in online journalism is a complex process marked by contradictions and inconsistencies and that online newsrooms are struggling to find solutions on how to differentiate online journalism from old media journalism.
Notes
1. In addition to the ones cited above, I draw upon the following sources: Bech-Karlsen (Citation2000), Hansèn and Thor (Citation1999), Elveson (Citation1979), Eide (Citation1998) and Roksvold (Citation1997).
2. Remediation means that “a newer medium takes the place of an older one, borrowing and reorganizing the characteristics of writing in the older medium and reforming its cultural space” (Bolter, Citation2001, p. 23).
3. “Rhetorical convergence is the coexistence in one text of means of expression that we are used to regarding as belonging to different media” (Fagerjord, 2003, p. 1).
4. Both Dagbladet and dagbladet.no's slogan is “Always in front” (“Alltid foran”). Rob Runett, Director of Electronic Media Communication in the Newspaper Association of America (NAA), gave the following comment on palmbeachpost.com's online edition in a story on NAA's website: “They have a very strong approach if you play around on their site. Credit should be given to them for having the vision to say, ‘We want to be the leader in the market’” (http://www.naa.org/home/presstime/2004/june/presstimecontent/2004-best-practices-awards-new-media.aspx, accessed 4 July 2007).
5. See http://www.dagbladet.no/magasinet/2007/03/26/496131.html, accessed 31 January 2008.
6. This layout was changed as part of a redesign in 2008.
7. I understand the concept of “voices” as Fairclough—based on Bakhtin—does: “Voices are the identities of a particular individual or collective agents” (1995, p. 77).
8. Readers are allowed—and encouraged—to comment on most stories published on dagbladet.no.
9. A Google search reveals that at least one blogger has referred to the story.
10. “Dette er landet som får toppoppslag på nyhetene når kvinnene får lov til å bli med på fotballkamp.”
11. In dagbladet.no, an advanced commenting system allows readers to recommend other readers’ comments. The more recommendations a comment receives, the higher up it is presented. At the time of the reading this particular comment had received 217 recommendations, making it the highest ranked comment.
12. “Jeg trodde jeg hadde sett og h⊘rt det meste fra muslimene, men neida … Gr⊘sser når jeg ser tallene over ‘norske’ muslimer og h⊘rer debattene på TV.”
13. See http://alt.coxnewsweb.com/palmbeachpost/photos/accent/tj/trainjumping.html, accessed 26 June 2007.
14. The analysis is based only on the multimedia package.
15. The analysis is based on the English edition.