Disrupting journalism from scratch

This article follows on from previous research by questioning the disruptive character of four French online media: Les Jours (2016), Le Quatre Heures (2013), Médiacités (2017) and Brief.me (2015). In an attempt to identify what has changed and what may have settled to become standards of contemporary pure players today, this research investigates the way in which work is organized and revenue is made and, consequently, what this may mean for the journalistic profession in general. The findings suggest that building these pure players from scratch offers the opportunity for journalists to renew their skills in a framework in which they have control over the values and the means developed to maintain them. In a precarious professional context, it appears that journalists adapt by developing an increasingly entrepreneurial profile.