The internet enables the assembling of – concurrently and in the same informative cyberspace – journalists, readers, information sources and society organized agencies. In this scenario, in which everybody has a say, the journalist role is called into question. In view of an identity crisis never seen before, the on-line journalist has been resetting his/her roles. The present research has analysed the productive routines in O Globo and Extra web sites to see how the internet added roles to these professionals. The starting point was David White s pioneering study about the journalist role in selecting news, in 1950, in which he ascertains the relevance of the gatekeeper s role in the on-line journalism. The gatewatcher concept, which defines the journalist on-line as an observer searching for content that may be of his audience interest, has also been applied. Following, the old theory which relates the journalist to a mediator has been reviewed, vis-à-vis the internet. We observe that, as the horizontal communication model of the internet brings a new layer of information to the on-line journalism, it also superimposes functional layers to the journalists. The news production from interactive channels, like blogs and polls, is added to the traditional processes of verification, editing and distribution of news that always characterized off-line journalism. However, increasing public participation imposes new roles for professionals in the newsrooms. It was possible to see how the on-line journalist is establishing his identity based on a new pillar: as an audience mobilizer, seeking the public engagement to support certain causes.