Living in two worlds: Role taking of participatory journalists

This study examines ‘participatory journalism’ from the perspective of participants. Through case studies in two different contexts set up by Dutch professional news organizations, the conceptualization and expectations that participants have of their own and journalists’ roles in participatory journalism are investigated. This study builds on a previous study in which the authors concluded that participatory journalists experienced a clear breach between their expectations and evaluations of their participation in journalism: a need and a wish for ‘reciprocity’, but also a lack of it. The present study adds to this an analysis of how participatory journalism brings together different worlds: participants blend a communication model, based on rules and expectations of interaction from daily life, with the traditional model of the journalistic process. Although the analyses point to several general principles underlying participants’ experiences of taking part in journalism, they also demonstrate that each participatory environment creates its own form.