Journalistic Discourse on Disruptive News Ventures Launched by Media Insiders

Disruptive journalistic innovation tends to challenge established news organizations and practices from the outside in and from the bottom up, especially when that innovation is driven by those considered on the periphery of accepted professional journalism. Journalists are skeptical about both those whom they perceive as "outsiders" and about potential threats caused by disruptive innovation. This study explores the journalistic discourse around four media innovations led by figures who defy clear classification into insider or outsider categories: CNN, USA Today, The Huffington Post and Semafor. Content analysis of coverage of the launch of these disruptors suggests greater acceptance of radically new media approaches when their purposes align with fundamental journalistic ideals. This U.S.-focused case study also contributes to the existing body of international research by examining how journalistic acceptance or rejection of entrepreneurial figures' ventures relate to perceptions of those individuals' belonging in the realm of journalism.