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Media Sociology and Journalism is a dialogue on contemporary society as defined through news media, politics and contemporary sociological theory. The tenacity of deeply opposing truth claims in politics and in journalism exposes the current fragility of democracy as a type of society and regime of power. Debates are reviewed on competing explanations of post truth attitudes, the rise of populism, fake news, conspiracy theories, neoliberalism, nihilism, white nationalism and the flights from and to democracy. Focus is on the tenacity of deeply opposing truth claims where each side takes the other’s claim to be an existential threat. A dialogical critique of divisions in news media, politics and contemporary sociological theory provides an alternative way forward as right populism, fake news and post truth attitudes render democracy fragile. It is argued that professional journalism also contributes to this fragility when it reports or opines on the most vulnerable subjects in society but does not address them as their imagined audience. The fragility at the heart of democracy, the fine line that once crossed separates freedom from equality or rule by the people from authoritarian demagogues, are further examined through case studies of mainstream acts of journalism on the themes of immigration, urban poverty and cultural diversity.
“Although focused on journalistic practices, this deeply original and timely work is of far wider interest. In the face of what the author terms ‘fake populism’, the analysis moves through a series of sophisticated readings of normative political theory, contemporary sociological theorizing and media studies, and on to a set of empirical studies of leading newspapers and their treatment of a number of pressing issues. Coursing through the analysis lies a deeply ethical questioning rooted in the dialogics of the Russian philosopher Mikhail Bakhtin. Is it possible, the author asks, to have a journalism that speaks with, and does justice to the experience of, those subjects outside the newspapers’ projected audience who are presented as carriers of urgent social problems and potential targets of political exclusion? And behind this question lies another, that of a dialogic democracy, one that, without having to give up a concern with truth, would remain inclusive, even as it seeks to bring different, conflicting viewpoints into conversation with each other” — Brian C.J. Singer, Senior Scholar, Glendon College, York University.
“Media Sociology and Journalism: Studies in Truth and Democracy by Greg Nielsen is a must-read book for everyone who intends to understand the emergence of new political scenarios in the first decades of the twenty-first century and their relations with media and journalism in contexts of disinformation and digital cultures” — RafizaVarão Professor of Ethics and Journalism at the University of Brasília.
“In his outstanding book, Nielsen addresses the fragility of democracy’s openness and its implications for media today. He first exposes how certain media and other sources use that fragility to misrepresent their anti-democratic practices as democratic. He then demonstrates compellingly that his innovative notions of ‘dialogic journalism’ and inclusive ‘implied audiences’ are necessary counters to those anti-democratic threats. A must read for our media age” — Fred Evans, Professor Emeritus, Dept. of Philosophy, Duquesne University.
“Media Sociology and Journalism: Studies in Truth and Democracy” by Greg Nielsen is a must-read book for everyone who intends to understand the emergence of new political scenarios in the first decades of the 21st century and their relations with media and journalism in contexts of disinformation and digital cultures. — Rafiza Varão Professor of Ethics and Journalism at the University of Brasília
Greg M. Nielsen is a professor of sociology at Concordia University in Montreal. He studies contemporary society through research on media, journalism, and political and social thought.
Acknowledgments; Introduction: Between the Posts; 1 Fake Populism and News: Freedom versus Democracy; 2 Political Theory: Deliberative, Agonistic and Dialogic Democracy; 3 Contemporary Sociology, Journalism and Society; 4 Acts of Journalism: Truth, Ghosts and Migrant Subjects; 5 Writing Inequality into the Urban Commons; 6 Exotopy and Cultural Boundaries: The Secular Question in Quebec; Conclusion: Deliberative or Dialogic Democracy?; Conclusion: Is Another Journalism Possible?; References; Index