Abstract

The eco-systemic approach to journalism reflects the complexity of the current information system, joining with other terms that are part of the «spatial turn». These conceptions, however, are in tension with the fundamental idea of institution. This essay reviews this conceptual challenge, especially the idea of assemblage, which has been variously used to describe all kinds of combinations without connecting them back to their institutional value. I explore a case study of one assemblage involving open-source reporting, with implications for institutional norms and values as they relate to journalism, and which suits the idea of «hybrid institution»