AbstractMedia startups tend to stretch the boundaries of journalism, but are still influenced by values and ideas from legacy journalists. Guided by Bourdieu’s field theory, this study will utilize in-depth interviews to understand Singapore-based media startups, examining the disconnect between these new entrants and legacy newsrooms. This study proposes that there is a hysteresis in the field, which sets the stage for media startups to flourish. These new agents don a media startup habitus, a blend of the traditional journalistic habitus and the startup habitus that is developed out of circumstance and as a response to the changing requirements of media and journalistic work.