“In Forms That Are Familiar and Yet-to-Be Invented”

Changes in the technologies of news production do not simply modify journalistic practices; they also introduce what might be considered technologically specific forms of work. These work forms are rooted in the affordances of novel technical capacities while also making claims about the journalistic nature of such work. How do journalists discuss the emergence of these technologically specific forms? When are new work forms seen as contributing to the practices of journalism and when are they seen as threatening it? Drawing on archival research of industry discussions, this article argues that such work is discussed in three distinct ways: (1) as exemplars of continuity; (2) as threats to be subordinated; and (3) as possibilities for journalistic reinvention. Each mode, it is argued, points to different understandings of the relationship between journalistic work and technology and carries different implications about the changing nature of journalistic work in the digital age.