Assessing the Role of Proximity, Authenticity, and Professionalism in Struggles Over Journalistic Authority in Fan Communities

Global declines in news consumption underscore the tension between journalists' ideals of detachment and audience demands for engagement. In hybrid digital environments, non-traditional journalistic actors can assert authority in specific communities by deviating from traditional values. As these actors challenge traditional business models, their emergence has destabilized the journalistic field. Yet, scholarly understanding of how community membership shapes claims of journalistic authority is limited. To address this gap, we examine how diverse journalistic actors in two niche communities base their claims on (1) proximity to sources; (2) authenticity; and (3) professionalism. Drawing on interviews from two fandom community events, the Eurovision Song Contest and re:publica, this study disentangles how diverse actors can claim authority while meeting community needs, which is crucial to journalism's prevalence amid the ongoing economic transformation in the journalistic landscape.