Between Proximity and Distance

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview on approaches to conceptualize and research the journalism/audience relationship. It addresses theoretical issues in more detail and discusses some ways the journalism/audience relationship has been conceptualized in empirical studies. The chapter focuses on the proximity and distance between journalism and audience and the role of journalism research in this respect. Paradoxically, the relation between journalism and its audience as a topic is both classical and emerging in journalism research. The most common approach to assess the journalism/audience relation in an integrated research design relies, however, on survey data. Online media have introduced new modes of observation to journalists, including monitoring and aggregating digital traces of audience members which reveal information about news preferences, appreciation, engagement, or recall. In particular, the integration of social media into the media repertoires of individuals and media organizations urges us to rethink these categories, which are so fundamental, even constitutive, for journalism and audience research alike.

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