| Summary: | The purpose of this study was to describe participation in a new context in which niche journalism is combined with online communities. The majority of past research regarding participation in journalism is focused on traditional journalism and the definition of the term needs to be updated. The aim of the study was to describe participation amongst niche pure players. Using both quantitative and qualitative research methods, a survey study and semi-structured interviews were conducted. The two empirical aspects resulted in a perspective of participation amongst five pure players, sharing a similar niche. The results of the study showed that niche pure players create user participation by combining journalistic participation with participation in online communities. Empirical data showed a correlation between user participation in the two different sections of the sites. Users with higher participation in one of the sections also partook more in the other. Furthermore, another correlation found was that users who considered it important to be able to partake in a discussion of the journalistic content, also considered the online community to be of great importance to the site. Additionally, the study showed that there is an exchange of information and knowledge, being regarded by the users as something of high value. By providing a platform for horizontal communication between users in the form of a forum, in which users are able to freely create and share content, a participatory culture is created. This participatory culture further increases the degree of user participation in the journalistic content.
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