From the Concept of Transversality to Interdisciplinary Media Practice: PR Carnet and PR Carnet World in the Context of Transversal Media

AUTHOR: Science and Culture Journalist, Graphic Designer and Editor, Founder of PR Carnet, PR Carnet World and Arts Carnet Magazine | Gokhan Colak

Abstract:
This article reinterprets Félix Guattari’s concept of transversality within the context of media studies and proposes the concept of Transversal Media. Developments in digitalization, globalization, and interdisciplinary knowledge production have transformed media production processes not only technologically but also in terms of editorial relations, intercultural circulation of knowledge, and collaborative intellectual production. Nevertheless, the existing literature on media, journalism, communication, and publishing appears to remain limited in explaining this multilayered structure in a holistic manner. Drawing on this theoretical gap, the study aims to reconceptualize media production around interdisciplinary editorial relations.

The research adopts a qualitative research approach and employs conceptual analysis as its method. The theoretical framework of the study is constructed by evaluating Guattari’s approach to transversality together with Manuel Castells’ Theory of the Network Society, Lev Manovich’s New Media Theory, Nick Couldry’s approach to media practice, Julie Thompson Klein’s theory of interdisciplinarity, and the relevant literature on journalism, communication, and publishing. Based on this theoretical foundation, the concepts of Transversal Media, Transversal Journalism, Transversal Communication, and Transversal Publishing are developed.

In the article, Transversal Media is defined as an overarching conceptual framework that explains nonlinear flows of knowledge among knowledge producers from different disciplines, editorial collaborations, and intercultural interaction. Within this framework, Transversal Journalism is conceptualized as an editorial method of interdisciplinary knowledge production through the interview; Transversal Communication is conceptualized as a model of editorial relations based on research, trust, and sustainable academic collaborations; and Transversal Publishing is conceptualized as an editorial publishing model that enables knowledge to be recirculated across different linguistic and cultural contexts. The proposed model is exemplified through international interviews, editorial processes, and bilingual publishing practices conducted within PR Carnet and PR Carnet World.

In conclusion, the study proposes a holistic theoretical model that moves beyond traditional approaches which regard journalism, communication, and publishing as independent activities, instead conceptualizing these fields as complementary components of interdisciplinary knowledge production. In this respect, the Transversal Media approach is expected to contribute to the re-evaluation of interdisciplinary editorial processes, intercultural circulation of knowledge, and digital publishing practices in media and communication studies, while also establishing a new conceptual ground for future theoretical and empirical research.

Keywords: Transversal Media, Transversal Journalism, Transversal Communication, Transversal Publishing, Interdisciplinary Media, Interview Journalism

1. Introduction

In the twenty-first century, digitalization, globalization, and developments in communication technologies have significantly transformed media production processes. Media has ceased to be merely a field that produces news or transmits information to the public; it has evolved into a multilayered field of production in which academics, journalists, artists, researchers, cultural professionals, and knowledge producers from different disciplines interact and collaborate. This transformation necessitates a reconsideration of the traditional conceptual frameworks employed in media studies. In particular, the development of interdisciplinary knowledge production, intercultural interaction, and digital editorial networks makes it necessary to move beyond approaches that explain media solely through communication processes.

In the media and communication literature, approaches such as the Network Society (Castells, 2010), New Media (Manovich, 2001), media practice (Couldry, 2012), and participatory culture (Jenkins, 2006) explain different dimensions of digital transformation. Nevertheless, conceptual models that holistically address editorial relations established across different disciplines, international circulation of knowledge, and long-term academic collaborations remain limited. In particular, treating journalism, communication, and publishing processes as independent activities is insufficient for explaining the multilayered structure of contemporary media production.

This article draws on the aforementioned conceptual gap to reinterpret Félix Guattari’s (2015) concept of transversality within the field of media studies. Guattari’s approach to transversality, developed to explain multidirectional communication and relationality across different levels within institutional structures, is reconsidered in this study in the context of interdisciplinary media production. However, the aim of this research is not to directly transfer Guattari’s theory to the field of media. Rather, the study seeks to develop a new conceptual framework for media studies based on Guattari’s conceptual approach.

Accordingly, the article proposes the concept of Transversal Media. Transversal Media is defined as an interdisciplinary media approach that enables the nonlinear circulation of knowledge among different disciplines, cultures, and knowledge communities, while shaping editorial relations through multidirectional communication networks. Within this conceptual framework, the concepts of Transversal Journalism, Transversal Communication, and Transversal Publishing are also developed and exemplified through the editorial practices carried out within PR Carnet and PR Carnet World.

The research adopts a qualitative research approach and employs conceptual analysis as its method. The theoretical framework of the study is developed on the basis of Guattari’s approach to transversality, together with Castells’ (2010) Theory of the Network Society, Couldry’s (2012) approach to media practice, Manovich’s (2001) New Media Theory, Julie Thompson Klein’s (1990) approach to interdisciplinarity, and the theories of journalism developed by Zelizer (2004) and Kovach and Rosenstiel (2021). Within this theoretical framework, the proposed concepts are discussed through interdisciplinary editorial practices carried out within PR Carnet and PR Carnet World.

This article does not aim to introduce or promote a particular publishing model. Rather, it proposes an original conceptual model that enables the relationships among journalism, communication, and publishing processes in media studies to be reconsidered. In this respect, the principal contribution of the research is to introduce the concept of Transversal Media into the literature and to establish a new theoretical field of discussion through which contemporary media practices can be examined from an interdisciplinary perspective.

2. The Theoretical Background of the Concept of Transversality

Félix Guattari initially developed the concept of transversality within the context of institutional psychotherapy; however, the primary purpose of the concept was not to explain a particular therapeutic method, but rather to reconsider forms of communication, power relations, and group dynamics within institutions. Guattari argues that communication within hierarchical organizations tends to operate unidirectionally, whereas horizontal relations often serve to passively reproduce the existing order (Guattari, 2015). Transversality, therefore, is defined neither solely in terms of vertical relations of authority nor through an understanding of purely horizontal equality. Rather, the concept proposes a dynamic model of relationality that enables reciprocal interaction among different levels, groups, and fields of meaning.

In explaining the concept of transversality, Guattari (2015) first draws attention to two distinct forms of organization. The first, verticality, refers to a pyramidal organizational model in which authority operates from the top downward. Within this structure, communication is controlled by specific centers, while decision-making processes are conducted through hierarchical levels. The second form of organization is defined as horizontality. According to Guattari, although horizontality may initially appear to represent an egalitarian structure, it can contribute to the maintenance of a passive order when individuals uncritically adapt to existing conditions and the potential for change remains limited (Guattari, 2015, p. 112).

At this point, Guattari’s approach to transversality seeks to move beyond the limitations of both vertical and horizontal forms of organization. According to Guattari, transversality constitutes a dynamic form of relationality in which communication among different levels reaches its highest degree and different layers of meaning can mutually influence one another. For Guattari, the fundamental objective of an autonomous group is precisely to attain this multidirectional level of communication (Guattari, 2015, p. 116). This approach conceptualizes communication not merely as the transmission of information, but as a process that enables the co-production of meaning among different actors.

Although Guattari’s approach to transversality was developed within the context of institutional psychotherapy, the principles of multidirectional communication, relationality, and collaborative production at the core of the concept are not confined to a particular discipline. The concept possesses broader theoretical potential for explaining interactions established among different fields of expertise, institutions, and communities. In this respect, transversality can be understood not merely as a concept for interpreting organizational structures, but also as an interdisciplinary approach that explains how new relationships can be established across different fields of knowledge.

However, an examination of Guattari’s works reveals that the concept of transversality has not been systematically addressed within the context of media and communication studies. The concept has been discussed primarily in relation to institutional analysis, group dynamics, and psychotherapy, but has not been extensively reinterpreted in terms of media production, editorial relations, and interdisciplinary journalism practices. This situation points to a significant theoretical gap for reconsidering the concept of transversality within the contemporary media environment.

This gap constitutes the central research problem of the present article. Drawing on Guattari’s concept of transversality, the study develops a new conceptual framework capable of explaining editorial relations established across different disciplines, the international circulation of knowledge, and processes of collaborative intellectual production within the contemporary media environment. Accordingly, the concept of Transversal Media proposed in the following section is approached not as a direct reproduction of Guattari’s theoretical framework, but as an original conceptual proposition that reinterprets his understanding of relationality within the context of media studies.

3. Transversal Media: A New Conceptual Framework for Interdisciplinary Media Practice

Guattari’s (2015) concept of transversality offers an important theoretical approach for explaining multidirectional communication and non-hierarchical relationality across different levels. However, the context in which the concept was developed is primarily limited to institutional psychotherapy and group dynamics. In the contemporary media environment, by contrast, knowledge production does not take place solely within particular institutions; rather, it is shaped through multilayered communication networks established among academics, journalists, artists, researchers, and cultural professionals from different disciplines. This situation necessitates reconsidering the concept of transversality from the perspective of media studies.

Digital transformation has not only altered media production processes technologically but has also transformed the organizational structure of knowledge production. Manuel Castells (2010) argues that, within the network society, knowledge production takes place not primarily through centralized structures but within networks characterized by reciprocal connections. Similarly, Manovich (2001) notes that the modular and reproducible structure of digital media enables different forms of content to continuously circulate within new contexts. Couldry (2012), meanwhile, conceptualizes media production not merely as content production but as a media practice that shapes social relations and the production of shared meaning. Considered together, these approaches demonstrate that the contemporary media environment is not merely a technical communication system but also a dynamic relational network that enables interdisciplinary knowledge production.

Drawing on these theoretical approaches, this study proposes the concept of Transversal Media. Transversal Media is defined as an interdisciplinary media approach that enables the nonlinear circulation of knowledge across different disciplines, institutions, and cultural contexts, while organizing editorial processes through multidirectional communication networks. Within this approach, media is not merely a technical instrument for producing content or circulating information. Rather, media is understood as an editorial ecosystem that brings different fields of expertise together on a shared intellectual ground, establishes new relations of knowledge, and sustains interdisciplinary interaction.

In this respect, Transversal Media differs from existing approaches to media in three fundamental ways. First, it conceptualizes knowledge production not as an activity belonging to a particular professional group, but as a collective process that develops through the contributions of different disciplines. Second, it does not limit communication to the production and distribution of content; rather, it defines communication as a continuous process sustained through editorial relations, academic collaborations, and intercultural interactions. Third, it regards publishing not as the final stage at which completed content is released, but as a dynamic field of editorial production in which knowledge is recirculated across different linguistic and cultural contexts.

The Transversal Media approach proposed in this study does not consider journalism, communication, and publishing as independent fields. Rather, these three areas are conceptualized as complementary components of an integrated media ecosystem that enables interdisciplinary knowledge production. Accordingly, Transversal Media aims not merely to provide a new definition of media, but to develop a conceptual model for explaining how contemporary media production is organized.

In this regard, the Transversal Media approach is built upon five fundamental principles: interdisciplinary knowledge production, multidirectional communication, an editorial network structure, intercultural circulation of knowledge, and sustained collaborative intellectual production. These principles constitute the theoretical framework of the proposed conceptual model and are examined in detail in the following sections of the article.

3.1. Fundamental Principles of Transversal Media

For a concept to be recognized in the academic literature as an explanatory model, it must be not only defined but also clearly grounded in the theoretical principles upon which it is constructed. For this reason, Transversal Media is proposed not merely as a general approach to media production, but as a systematic conceptual framework for explaining interdisciplinary knowledge production within the contemporary media environment. Developed on the basis of Guattari’s (2015) understanding of transversality, this model reconsiders media production processes through interdisciplinary circulation of knowledge, editorial relations, and intercultural interactions. Accordingly, Transversal Media is constructed around five fundamental principles.

3.1.1. Interdisciplinary Knowledge Production

The first principle of Transversal Media is based on the premise that knowledge is not produced within a single discipline but develops through the collective contributions of different fields of expertise. Julie Thompson Klein (1990) defines interdisciplinarity not merely as the coexistence of different disciplines, but as a productive process through which new forms of knowledge emerge from interactions among different fields of knowledge. This approach demonstrates that contemporary media production cannot be explained solely through journalistic activities; rather, it should be examined through the interactions among academic research, artistic production, cultural studies, and technological developments.

Accordingly, Transversal Media conceptualizes media production as an interdisciplinary process that develops through the shared intellectual contributions of different fields of expertise. Knowledge produced by academics, journalists, artists, researchers, and cultural professionals is not treated as a collection of independent forms of content, but as interconnected fields of knowledge that mutually inform one another within a shared editorial process. In this way, media moves beyond being merely a platform through which knowledge is published and becomes a shared intellectual space in which interdisciplinary knowledge production takes place.

3.1.2. Multidirectional Communication

One of the fundamental characteristics of Guattari’s (2015) approach to transversality is the view that communication cannot be explained solely through hierarchical relations. According to Guattari, transversality refers to a condition in which communication among different levels and layers of meaning reaches its highest degree (Guattari, 2015, p. 116). This approach requires communication to be understood not as one-way information transmission, but through reciprocal interaction and the co-production of meaning.

Drawing on this understanding, Transversal Media does not define communication merely as the production or distribution of content. The reciprocal interactions established among editors, journalists, academics, artists, researchers, and readers are regarded as integral components of media production. Accordingly, communication is conceptualized not as a technical process that facilitates the circulation of a particular piece of content, but as a multidirectional network of relations that enables interdisciplinary knowledge production.

3.1.3. Editorial Network Structure

The third principle of Transversal Media is the organization of editorial processes according to a network logic. According to Castells (2010), the network society represents a new form of social organization in which knowledge production takes place not primarily through centralized structures, but through networks characterized by continuous interaction among interconnected actors. In this context, knowledge ceases to be a static resource distributed from specific centers and becomes a dynamic process of production that continuously circulates among different actors.

In line with this approach, Transversal Media conceptualizes editorial activities within network structures that support collective knowledge production rather than individual decision-making processes. Interview preparation, academic correspondence, editorial evaluations, translation processes, and new collaborations that emerge after publication are not regarded as independent stages; rather, they constitute complementary components of an editorial network that enables collaborative knowledge production. In this respect, the editorial process encompasses not only the preparation of content but also the continuous circulation of knowledge established across different disciplines.

3.1.4. Intercultural Circulation of Knowledge

The fourth principle of Transversal Media is based on the circulation of knowledge across different cultural contexts. Couldry (2012) conceptualizes media not merely as a technical instrument for transmitting information, but as a media practice that constitutes social relations and enables the production of shared meaning. This approach demonstrates that media production is not confined to national boundaries but develops through continuous interactions established across different cultures.

In this study, intercultural circulation of knowledge does not refer merely to the translation of content into different languages. Rather, it refers to the transformation of editorial relations established among academics, journalists, artists, and researchers from different countries into processes of collaborative knowledge production. Accordingly, Transversal Media defines intercultural circulation not as the transfer of knowledge, but as a sustained editorial process that facilitates encounters among different intellectual traditions.

3.1.5. Continuity and Collaborative Intellectual Production

The final principle of Transversal Media is based on the premise that media production cannot be reduced to one-time content creation. In the digital media environment, editorial relationships do not end with the publication of content; rather, they serve as starting points for new academic discussions, international collaborations, and interdisciplinary research. Knowledge production is therefore understood not as a completed process, but as an ongoing practice of collective production.

In this context, Transversal Media approaches every published interview, article, or editorial work not as a completed product, but as the starting point for new intellectual encounters. The fundamental aim of media production is not merely to create content, but to establish long-term academic and editorial relationships among individuals from different disciplines. In this way, media moves beyond being a technical instrument for facilitating the circulation of knowledge and becomes an infrastructure for continuously evolving interdisciplinary intellectual production.

3.2. Transversal Media in the Context of Manovich’s Five Principles of New Media

The development of digital technologies has radically transformed media production processes not only in technical terms but also in terms of content creation, circulation, and restructuring. This transformation has rendered it insufficient to explain media solely through traditional communication tools and has provided the basis for the development of new media theories. While Manuel Castells (2010) argues that, in the digital age, knowledge circulates through networks rather than centralized structures, Lev Manovich (2001) developed a comprehensive theoretical framework for explaining the technical and structural characteristics of new media.

According to Manovich (2001), new media is built upon five fundamental principles: numerical representation, modularity, automation, variability, and transcoding. These principles constitute the fundamental characteristics through which the production, organization, and circulation of digital media content can be understood.

Numerical representation refers to the ability of all digital content to be converted into numerical data and processed by computer systems (Manovich, 2001). This characteristic enables media content to be continuously updated, reorganized, and reproduced across different platforms.

Modularity refers to the structure of digital media content as consisting of independent yet interoperable components. Texts, images, videos, audio recordings, and other digital elements can maintain their individual identities while simultaneously becoming components of larger editorial structures (Manovich, 2001). This characteristic enables different types of content to be integrated and used within the same editorial structure in digital publishing.

Automation refers to the ability of digital systems to perform certain production processes with little or no human intervention. Content management systems, digital archiving processes, and editorial workflows can be carried out in a more systematic and sustainable manner through automation (Manovich, 2001).

Variability refers to the capacity of the same digital content to be reorganized and adapted for different users, platforms, and contexts. Accordingly, a single piece of content can be republished in different languages, with different designs, or in formats tailored to different target audiences (Manovich, 2001).

Transcoding refers to the transformation of not only the technical infrastructure of digital media but also the forms of cultural production. In the digital environment, content acquires meaning within a new media ecosystem in which technological codes and cultural codes are continuously interacting with one another (Manovich, 2001).

These principles provide an important theoretical framework for explaining the technical and structural characteristics of digital media. However, Manovich’s approach focuses primarily on the technological characteristics of digital media. Editorial relationships established among academics, artists, journalists, and researchers from different disciplines, intercultural circulation of knowledge, and long-term interdisciplinary collaborations remain outside the scope of this model.

4. Transversal Journalism: The Role of the Interview in Interdisciplinary Knowledge Production

4.1. The Concept of Journalism and Digital Transformation

Journalism is defined as the process of collecting, verifying, interpreting, and presenting verified information to the public while serving the public interest (Kovach & Rosenstiel, 2021). This definition demonstrates that journalism is based not only on news production but also on the production of reliable knowledge necessary for the healthy functioning of public life. Nevertheless, journalism is not merely a professional activity concerned with transmitting information. According to Zelizer (2004), journalism constitutes an epistemological field of knowledge production that influences how social reality is produced, interpreted, and circulated. Accordingly, journalism is not simply a practice of recording events; it is an institutional and editorial process that contributes to the formation of social knowledge.

With the development of digital media technologies, journalism has undergone a significant transformation. The production, distribution, and consumption of news are no longer carried out solely by traditional media institutions but also through digital platforms, databases, and online networks. Bradshaw (2018) argues that developments particularly in data journalism and digital news have transformed journalism from linear news production toward data-driven, participatory, and network-centered forms of knowledge production. Journalism has thus moved beyond an activity based solely on reporting events and evolved into an interdisciplinary production practice that interacts with different fields of expertise.

However, the existing literature on journalism focuses largely on news production, verification processes, ethical principles, and digital journalism. Conceptual approaches that explain long-term editorial relationships established among academics, artists, researchers, and journalists; the role of interviews in interdisciplinary knowledge production; and collaborative intellectual production facilitated through international editorial networks remain limited. This situation necessitates reconsidering journalism not only in terms of news production but also within the context of interdisciplinary knowledge production.

Drawing on this conceptual gap, this study defines Transversal Journalism as a model of journalism that supports collaborative intellectual production by establishing editorial relationships among knowledge producers from different disciplines. Within this approach, the primary function of the journalist is not merely to collect information. The journalist also serves as an editorial facilitator who establishes intellectual connections across different disciplines, creates spaces for shared discussion, and supports the circulation of interdisciplinary knowledge. In this way, journalism moves beyond news production and becomes one of the fundamental components of interdisciplinary media production.

Within the Transversal Journalism approach, the interview is not regarded merely as a journalistic product consisting of questions and answers. Rather, it is conceptualized as a collaborative model of knowledge production comprising research, editorial preparation, reciprocal knowledge exchange, and interdisciplinary interaction. The interview process begins with an examination of the academic or professional work of the person being interviewed and continues through the preparation of questions, editorial evaluation, structuring of the text, and publication. The published text is therefore understood as the visible outcome of a broader editorial production process.

In accordance with this approach, interviews are not intended merely to present knowledge pertaining to a particular discipline. Questions are designed to establish conceptual connections across different fields, bringing areas such as media, communication, art, cinema, digital culture, artificial intelligence, and cultural studies together within a shared space of discussion. In this way, the interview moves beyond one-way information transmission and becomes an editorial research method that supports interdisciplinary intellectual production.

Within the scope of this article, Transversal Journalism conceptualizes the interview not merely as a content-production technique, but as an editorial interface that connects different knowledge communities. From this perspective, the value of an interview is measured not only by the information it provides at the moment of publication, but also by the intellectual relationships it establishes across disciplines and its contribution to generating new avenues of research.

The interviews conducted within this approach bring together academics, researchers, and professionals representing different subfields of media and communication studies within the same publishing ecosystem. The interviews with Lev Manovich in the field of new media and software studies; Salomé Voegelin in sound studies; Audrey G. Bennett in visual communication and design; James E. Grunig, Dejan Verčič, and W. Timothy Coombs in public relations; Melissa Terras in digital humanities; Melissa Zimdars in media literacy and disinformation studies; Paul Bradshaw in data journalism; Brooke Kroeger and Helen Benedict in journalism studies; Griselda Pollock in art history; and Lina Redford and Roland Philippe Kretzschmar in contemporary art provide examples of bringing different disciplines together within a shared editorial framework.

An important characteristic of these interviews is that they are not prepared exclusively for Turkish-speaking audiences. The interviews published in PR Carnet are republished in English in PR Carnet World following editorial evaluation and translation processes. In this way, the same editorial production reaches different readerships through national and international academic circulation, thereby making the intercultural dimension of interdisciplinary knowledge production visible.

In conclusion, Transversal Journalism moves beyond approaches that define journalism solely in terms of news production and reconceptualizes the interview as a holistic media practice that supports interdisciplinary knowledge production, editorial collaboration, and intercultural circulation of knowledge.

5. Transversal Communication: From Editorial Relations to Global Knowledge Networks

5.1. The Concept of Communication and Digital Transformation

Communication is defined as a social process through which meaning is produced, shared, and interpreted among individuals and communities (McQuail, 2010). This process encompasses not only the transmission of information but also the formation of shared meanings, the establishment of social relations, and the maintenance of cultural interactions. Communication, therefore, refers to a much broader field of social and cultural interaction than the exchange of messages alone.

With the development of the digital media environment, communication processes have undergone significant transformation. Beyond traditional models of mass communication, a new media environment has emerged in which individuals and institutions interact with one another, participation has increased, and multidirectional communication networks have developed. According to Couldry (2012), media is not merely a technical system for producing content but also a social activity through which shared practices can develop among individuals. This approach conceptualizes communication not simply as the transmission of messages, but as a dynamic network of relations in which the production of shared meaning takes place.

However, the existing literature on communication focuses largely on media use, participation, digital platforms, and communication technologies. By contrast, long-term editorial relationships established among editors, academics, artists, and journalists; trust-based academic communication processes; and sustainable communication networks that enable interdisciplinary knowledge production have received comparatively limited attention. In particular, the literature has not sufficiently developed conceptual approaches that explain how communication contributes not only to content production but also to collaborative intellectual production, particularly within international interview processes.

Drawing on this conceptual gap, this article defines Transversal Communication as a sustainable communication model based on research, trust, editorial collaboration, and collaborative intellectual production among knowledge producers from different disciplines. Within this approach, communication is understood not merely as an exchange of information, but as the editorial relationship itself through which interdisciplinary knowledge production becomes possible.

5.2. Editorial Communication and Collaborative Knowledge Production

Within the Transversal Communication approach, communication is not regarded as a technical process that begins with sending an interview request. Rather, it is conceptualized as a long-term model of academic interaction that begins with editorial research, develops through mutual trust, and continues beyond the publication of the resulting content. In this process, the editor is not merely an individual requesting content, but an editorial actor who establishes intellectual connections across different disciplines and facilitates collaborative knowledge production.

Within this model, the communication process begins with a detailed examination of the academic or artistic work of the person to be interviewed. Reviewing the relevant literature, analyzing the interviewee’s areas of research, and preparing original questions accordingly constitute the initial stage of editorial communication. The correspondence that follows does not merely determine organizational details; it also establishes editorial trust and creates the basis for collaborative work.

Communication does not end once the interview has been completed. Editorial evaluation, revision of the text, translation, publication, and subsequent correspondence constitute the fundamental components that sustain the continuity of communication. In this respect, Transversal Communication explains not one-time exchanges of messages, but long-term editorial relationships that make collaborative academic production possible.

6. Transversal Publishing: An Interdisciplinary Editorial Model

6.1. The Concept of Publishing and Digital Transformation

Publishing, in its broadest sense, refers to the editorial production activities organized to prepare knowledge, subject it to editorial evaluation processes, and deliver it to particular readerships (Greco, Rodríguez, & Wharton, 2007). This definition conceptualizes publishing not merely as a technical process of distribution, but as a comprehensive activity encompassing knowledge production, editorial oversight, and public circulation.

With the development of the digital media environment, publishing has undergone significant transformation. The linear production model of print publishing has increasingly given way to content that can be reorganized on digital platforms, recirculated across different environments, and continuously updated. According to Manovich (2001), one of the fundamental characteristics of new media is the ability to reproduce and reorganize content in different contexts through its modular structure. This transformation has moved publishing beyond being merely the final stage at which content is released, turning it into a dynamic editorial process through which knowledge is continuously restructured.

However, the existing literature on publishing focuses primarily on editorial management, digital publishing technologies, publishing economics, and content distribution. By contrast, practices involving the reconnection of knowledge produced across different disciplines within shared editorial processes, bilingual editorial production models, and publishing practices based on the intercultural circulation of knowledge have received comparatively limited attention. In particular, conceptual models explaining how content can be reintroduced into editorial circulation across different cultural contexts remain insufficiently developed in the literature.

Drawing on this conceptual gap, this study defines Transversal Publishing as a publishing model in which knowledge produced across different disciplines is reconnected within a shared editorial framework, recirculated across different linguistic and cultural contexts, and sustained as part of an ongoing process of interdisciplinary knowledge production. Within this approach, publishing is not regarded as the final destination of published content, but as a continuous editorial production process encompassing research, editorial evaluation, translation, and international circulation.

6.2. Editorial Translation and Intercultural Circulation of Knowledge

Within the Transversal Publishing approach, translation is not merely the transfer of texts from one language to another. Translation is also a productive process that involves the editorial reassessment of a text, the preservation of its conceptual coherence, and its recirculation for different readerships. Therefore, editorial translation is not a supplementary stage of publishing, but one of the fundamental editorial mechanisms that sustain the continuity of interdisciplinary knowledge production.

Within this approach, translating a text into different languages is not intended merely to establish linguistic equivalence. It also aims to preserve the comprehensibility of concepts across different cultural contexts, maintain editorial coherence, and make knowledge accessible to new academic communities. In this way, publishing moves beyond one-way content production within national boundaries and becomes a multilayered editorial model that supports the intercultural circulation of knowledge.

The Transversal Publishing model proposed in this study regards editorial translation as a natural continuation of interdisciplinary knowledge production. The process of knowledge production that begins with research continues seamlessly through the preparation of the interview, editorial evaluation, translation, and dissemination to different readerships. In this way, publishing is reconceptualized not as the distribution of completed content, but as a dynamic editorial production process through which knowledge continuously re-enters circulation.

6.3. Transversal Publishing in the Context of PR Carnet and PR Carnet World

The Transversal Publishing approach proposed in this study is exemplified through the editorial practices carried out within PR Carnet and PR Carnet World. Interviews and academic content initially prepared in Turkish for PR Carnet undergo editorial evaluation and translation before being republished in English in PR Carnet World. The purpose of this process is not merely to present the same content in a second language. Rather, its primary aim is to enable knowledge produced across different disciplines to enter international academic and cultural circulation.

Within this editorial model, PR Carnet and PR Carnet World are not regarded as two independent publishing outlets, but as Turkish- and English-language circulation layers of the same interdisciplinary editorial ecosystem. While content published in Turkish is opened to discussion within local academic and cultural contexts, its English-language versions reach international readerships and engage with new research communities. In this way, the same editorial production gains renewed visibility across different linguistic contexts and supports the intercultural circulation of knowledge.

In this respect, the publishing practices carried out within PR Carnet and PR Carnet World constitute a concrete application of the Transversal Publishing approach. In this model, publishing is reconceptualized not as the final stage of content production, but as a dynamic process that sustains interdisciplinary knowledge production, strengthens editorial relationships, and enables intercultural academic circulation.

6.4. The Theoretical Position of Transversal Publishing

The Transversal Publishing model proposed in this study represents the final stage at which the concepts of Transversal Media, Transversal Journalism, and Transversal Communication are integrated at the editorial level. Transversal Journalism initiates interdisciplinary knowledge production through the interview; Transversal Communication establishes the editorial networks of relationships that make this production possible; and Transversal Publishing enables the knowledge produced to re-enter circulation across different linguistic and cultural contexts. Thus, these three concepts are not regarded as independent processes, but as complementary components of the same editorial model.

In conclusion, Transversal Publishing reconceptualizes contemporary digital publishing not merely through its technological infrastructure, but as a holistic publishing approach that considers interdisciplinary knowledge production, editorial continuity, and intercultural circulation together.

7. Research Design and Methodology

This study is based on a qualitative research approach and employs conceptual analysis as its method. Conceptual analysis is a theoretical research method that aims to examine existing concepts used to explain a particular phenomenon, evaluate the relationships among these concepts, and, where necessary, develop new conceptual frameworks. In this context, the aim of the research is not to generate empirical data, but rather to develop a new conceptual model capable of explaining interdisciplinary editorial processes in media studies.

The theoretical framework of the research is primarily grounded in Félix Guattari’s (2015) concept of transversality. In addition, Manuel Castells’ (2010) Theory of the Network Society, Lev Manovich’s (2001) New Media Theory, Nick Couldry’s (2012) approach to media practice, Julie Thompson Klein’s (1990) theory of interdisciplinarity, and the relevant literature on journalism, communication, and publishing are considered together. These theoretical approaches are examined comparatively, and their strengths and limitations are analyzed in terms of their capacity to explain media production processes within the context of interdisciplinary editorial relations.

The central premise of the research is that, although existing media theories largely examine digital media, journalism, communication, and publishing as distinct fields, they do not provide a holistic conceptual model capable of explaining the interdisciplinary editorial relations among these domains. Accordingly, the theoretical approaches identified in the literature are synthesized, and the concepts of Transversal Media, Transversal Journalism, Transversal Communication, and Transversal Publishing are developed on this basis.

The applicability of the conceptual model proposed in the study is illustrated through editorial practices carried out within PR Carnet and PR Carnet World. In this context, international interviews conducted with academics, journalists, and artists from different countries, editorial preparation processes, the bilingual publishing model, and the intercultural circulation of knowledge are treated as illustrative cases of the proposed theoretical framework. These examples are not used for the purpose of empirical validation, but rather to demonstrate how the concepts developed in the study correspond to contemporary media practices.

In this respect, the study constitutes a qualitative conceptual inquiry oriented toward theory development. Its principal contribution is to reinterpret existing media theories and propose a new conceptual model that explains media, journalism, communication, and publishing processes on the basis of interdisciplinary editorial relations.

8. Conclusion

This study proposes the concept of Transversal Media by reinterpreting Félix Guattari’s (2015) concept of transversality within the context of media studies. Guattari’s approach to transversality, originally developed to explain multidirectional communication among different levels within institutional structures, is adapted in this research to media production processes and transformed into a new conceptual framework for explaining interdisciplinary knowledge production. In this way, the study seeks to extend the concept of transversality beyond the context of institutional psychotherapy and offer an original theoretical contribution to media and communication studies.

Throughout the research process, the literature on media, journalism, communication, and publishing was examined collectively. Although these fields make significant contributions to understanding the contemporary digital media environment, they remain limited in explaining interdisciplinary editorial relations in a holistic manner. Castells’ (2010) approach to the network society explains the structure of digital networks; Manovich’s (2001) New Media Theory addresses the technical characteristics of digital media; Couldry’s (2012) approach to media practice examines the social dimensions of media production; the works of Kovach and Rosenstiel (2021) and Zelizer (2004) explain the public function and epistemological dimensions of journalism; and the work of Greco, Rodríguez, and Wharton (2007) addresses the editorial structure of publishing. However, these theoretical approaches do not examine, within a single conceptual model, the long-term editorial relationships established among academics, journalists, artists, and researchers from different disciplines.

Drawing on this theoretical gap, the study develops four complementary concepts: Transversal Media, Transversal Journalism, Transversal Communication, and Transversal Publishing. Transversal Media refers to an editorial media model that enables the nonlinear circulation of knowledge across different disciplines. Transversal Journalism redefines the interview not merely as a method of information gathering, but as an editorial instrument for interdisciplinary knowledge production. Transversal Communication describes a sustainable communication model grounded in research, trust, and long-term editorial collaboration. Transversal Publishing, meanwhile, refers to an interdisciplinary editorial production model that enables knowledge to re-enter circulation across different linguistic and cultural contexts.

The conceptual framework developed in this study is illustrated through the editorial practices carried out within PR Carnet and PR Carnet World. Interviews conducted with academics, journalists, and artists from different countries are evaluated together with the processes of editorial preparation, translation, and bilingual publication, and are examined as concrete examples of interdisciplinary knowledge production and intercultural circulation. In this respect, PR Carnet and PR Carnet World are treated as illustrative cases representing the practical field of application of the concepts proposed in this study.

The principal contribution of this research extends beyond introducing a new concept to media studies; it lies in proposing a holistic theoretical model that enables media production to be reconsidered through interdisciplinary editorial relations. Within this model, media, journalism, communication, and publishing are not regarded as independent activities, but as complementary components of the same knowledge-production ecosystem. Accordingly, media production is reconceptualized not as a linear content-production chain, but as a dynamic structure comprising processes of research, editorial relationship-building, intercultural circulation, and collaborative intellectual production.

Nevertheless, this study is conceptual in nature and aims to establish the theoretical foundations of the proposed model. Therefore, empirically testing the Transversal Media approach across different media organizations, digital publishing platforms, and international editorial networks will be important for assessing the explanatory capacity of the model. Future qualitative and quantitative research examining how the proposed conceptual framework manifests itself across different publishing practices could make significant contributions to the literature.

In conclusion, Transversal Media is a conceptual approach that proposes reconsidering media production in the digital age not solely through technological transformation, but also through the dimensions of interdisciplinary knowledge production, editorial collaboration, and intercultural circulation. The concepts of Transversal Media, Transversal Journalism, Transversal Communication, and Transversal Publishing developed in this study are expected to provide a foundation for new discussions in media and communication studies and to serve as a theoretical starting point for future research.

9. References:

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Castells, M. (2010). The Rise of the Network Society (2nd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell.

Couldry, N. (2012). Media, Society, World: Social Theory and Digital Media Practice. Polity Press.

Greco, A. N., Rodríguez, C. E., & Wharton, R. M. (2007). The Culture and Commerce of Publishing in the 21st Century. Stanford University Press.

Guattari, F. (2015). Psychoanalysis and Transversality: Texts and Interviews 1955–1971 (A. Goffey, Trans.). Semiotext(e).

Jenkins, H. (2006). Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York University Press.

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Kovach, B., & Rosenstiel, T. (2021). The Elements of Journalism: What Newspeople Should Know and the Public Should Expect (4th ed.). Crown.

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