Media Sociology and Journalism

“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.