• Events

Karin Wahl-Jorgensen (Cardiff University, UK): Boutique Media and the Challenges of News Production in an Age of Algorithmic Platform Governance

• Date: 4. November 2026
• Time: 18:30
• Street: Domshof 26, 28195 Bremen (Universität Bremen)
• Location: Forum im Domshof
• Room: Kassenhalle

Abstract

In this presentation, I introduce and develop the concept of boutique media to describe small-scale, personality-driven and affectively charged forms of journalism emerging in the wake of the decline of industrial news production. The presentation examines how journalists and other news creators respond to the reconfiguration of trust and authority in an era of “post-industrial” news production, in which social media platforms governed by algorithms have become the primary intermediaries for news. Drawing on examples including news influencers, podcast creators, Substack newsletter writers, and local news entrepreneurs, I argue that boutique media combine epistemic authority; rooted in professional knowledge and fact-gathering, with affective authority; based on authenticity, intimacy, and emotional connection. While epistemic authority is central to the legitimacy claims of traditional journalism, affective authority has become ever-more salient in the context of algorithmic curation of content. The presentation discusses some of the normative and practical implications of the rise of boutique media in relation to the privileging of particular forms of content.

Bio

Karin Wahl-Jorgensen is a Professor in the School of Journalism, Media and Culture at Cardiff University, and President-Elect of the International Communication Association. Her research focuses on journalism and citizenship, and she has authored or edited twelve books, more than 80 journal articles and 50 book chapters. For the past five years, she has served a University Dean of Research Environment and Culture at Cardiff University. She is a Fellow of the British Academy, the International Communication Association and the Learned Society of Wales, where she is an elected member of Council. She holds a PhD from Stanford University, USA, and an honorary doctorate from Roskilde University, Denmark.