In the wake of the news industry’s digitization, novel organizations that differ considerably from traditional media firms in terms of their functional roles and organizational practices of media work are emerging. One new type is the field repair organization, which is characterized by supporting high-quality media work to compensate for the deficits (such as those which come from cost savings and layoffs) which have become apparent in legacy media today. From a practice-theoretical research perspective and based on semi-structured interviews, virtual field observations, and document analysis, we have conducted a single case study on Science Media Center Germany (SMC), a unique non-profit news start-up launched in 2016 in Cologne, Germany. Our findings show that, in addition to field repair activities, SMC aims to facilitate progress and innovation in the field, which we refer to as field advancement. This helps to uncover emerging needs and anticipates problems before they intensify or even occur, proactively providing products and tools for future journalism. This article contributes to our understanding of novel media organizations with distinct functions in the news industry, allowing for advancements in theory on media work and the organization of journalism in times of digital upheaval.

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媒体工作作为领域的进步：德国科学媒体中心的案例

随着新闻业的数字化，在职能角色和媒体工作的组织实践方面与传统媒体公司有很大不同的新型组织正在兴起。一种新的类型是现场维修组织，其特点是支持高质量的媒体工作，以弥补当今传统媒体中明显的缺陷（例如来自成本节约和裁员的缺陷）。从实践-理论研究的角度，基于半结构化访谈、虚拟实地观察和文件分析，我们对德国科学媒体中心 (SMC) 进行了单一案例研究，这是一家在2016年在德国科隆。我们的研究结果表明，除了现场维修活动，SMC 旨在促进该领域的进步和创新，我们将其称为领域进步。这有助于在问题加剧甚至发生之前发现新出现的需求并预测问题，从而为未来的新闻业主动提供产品和工具。本文有助于我们了解在新闻行业中具有不同功能的新型媒体组织，从而在数字剧变时期促进媒体工作和新闻组织的理论进步。