Exploring the changing roles of lifestyle journalists brought about by platform and content convergence at Sarie, Rooi Rose and Finesse Voelgoed

Abstract

Media convergence has fundamentally reshaped the media landscape, changing how journalistic content is produced, distributed, and consumed. While previous research has examined the implications of convergence for journalists who report hard news, far less attention has been paid to its impact on lifestyle journalists, particularly in the South African context. The problem is that there seems to be a limited understanding of how lifestyle journalists in South Africa navigate the changes in the media landscape that media convergence has created, including changes to their professional roles and skills. This study thus explores how lifestyle journalists working at three South African women's magazines, Sarie, Rooi Rose and Finesse Voelgoed, perceive and navigate their professional roles within a converged media environment. By viewing this study through the lens of a process model of journalistic roles, particularly the distinction between role orientations and role performances, this study positions media convergence as an embedded part of a journalist's everyday practice. A qualitative research design was used, combining semi-structured interviews and online interviews with nine participants across the three aforementioned publications. The data were analysed using a thematic analysis approach, guided by four theoretical statements developed from a review of the literature on media convergence, journalistic roles and their navigation, and lifestyle journalism as a genre. The findings indicated that media convergence does not undermine or suppress lifestyle journalists' professional roles and identities but rather reshapes and transforms them into something more dynamic. Participants experienced convergence as a normalised, integrated feature of the newsroom, requiring them to perform hybrid, multifaceted roles that extend beyond their traditional writing skills. These roles include cross-platform production, multimedia storytelling, audience engagement, and being aware of metrics and marketing pressures. Importantly, skills were not perceived as separate from the journalists' roles but as a key factor in their role performance within a converged media environment. Despite the journalists' increased workloads, accelerated workflow, and heightened performance pressures, they consistently demonstrated a strong commitment to their foundational journalistic roles, including credibility, accuracy, ethical judgment, and loyalty and trust from their audience. This study further shows that lifestyle journalists perceive their changing roles as both challenging and meaningful. While convergence intensified the complexity of their roles and the negotiation or balancing thereof, it also reinforced the social relevance of lifestyle journalism as a genre that provides guidance, news-you-can-use, and inspiration in audiences' everyday lives. The importance of this study lies in its contribution to addressing a gap in the literature on journalism, particularly regarding journalists working at South African women's lifestyle magazines. This study zooms in on how journalists at Sarie, Rooi Rose, and Finesse Voelgoed navigate their changing roles and the skills required in a media environment that is constantly evolving because of media convergence.