Abstract
I would like to begin my first introduction as the incoming Managing Editor of Journal of Communication Inquiry by thanking Subin Paul, under whose editorship JCI has seen a growth in the number of submissions and whose guidance not only ensured a smooth transition of operational management to the incoming editorial team but also ensured that JCI’s invaluable institutional knowledge is preserved and passed on. Subin’s mark is also evident in this issue because he guided most of the articles presented here through the peer-review process and their subsequent acceptance for publication.
In this issue, Arsenii Khitrov analyzes audience responses to the popular Russian police TV series Glukhar’ to examine how viewers of the show define its realism and articulate their positions. Based on an analysis of discursive patterns in the audience’s online comments, the author expands on existing research on the perceived realism of media texts by identifying additional dimensions employed by audience in their assessments. He also shows that those assessments can go beyond evaluations of a particular media text to work as an interpretive lens for discussing real-life issues—Russian police corruption and violence in the Glukhar’ case, —regardless of how realistic they perceive the text to be.
Transitioning from television to online, Mark A. Rademacher and Casey Ryan Kelly analyze the marketing strategy of Huckberry.com, a popular online retailer selling an outdoor lifestyle to male consumers, to examine the construction of lumbersexuality as an emergent masculine taste regime. The authors argue that Huckberry exploits a putative crisis of authenticity, which is acutely felt by its male consumers, by promoting a lumbersexual aesthetic as a more authentic lifestyle standing outside of mass culture and in opposition to the disposability of mainstream brands. The authors contribute to extant research by demonstrating the wide versatility and adaptability of taste regimes, which, in the case of lumbersexuality, provide the male consumer with a wide assortment of social practices that enable him to both express his refined tastes and enact subtle class-based distinctions that contrast lumbersexuality with mainstream masculinity.
The questions addressed by Chelsea Reynolds in the next article, titled “Building Theory from Media Ideology: Coding for Power in Journalistic Discourse,” would be of particular interest to journalism scholars. Focusing her attention on critical discourse analysis (CDA) as an increasingly popular approach in critically oriented communication scholarship, she asks how journalism scholars can inform their work with this robust framework in a rigorous, systematic way. Based on an exploratory review of seventeen studies that applied CDA and were published in the journals affiliated with the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication during the last two decades, she identifies key weaknesses in the way CDA has been applied by journalism scholars, such as lack of clarity in defining discourse and failure to sufficiently explain coding procedures. Informed by this analysis, the author offers methodological interventions to improve the application of CDA to studying ideology and power in journalistic discourse.
The intersection of journalism, ideology, and power is also prominent in Andrew Arthur Fitzgerald’s essay. Bringing a normative lens to his theorizing, the author addresses what many critics have seen as the failure of the press to alert the public to the recent rise of authoritarian politics. Starting with an analysis of the socio-political context and media practices before and during the rise of two authoritarian movements, fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, the essay draws parallels between those historical cases and contemporary trends that have emerged during and since the 2016 presidential election in the United States. The author argues that rather than relying on objectivity and adopting fairness-as-impartiality as the gold standards in their practice, journalists should embrace what he calls a “little-p partisan” press, by accepting their role in shaping political outcomes and by not shying away from criticism and good faith argumentation.
The argument made in the article by Dolors Palau-Sampio is also driven by a normative concern, by problematizing the contribution of journalism to shaping public discourse on another salient issue: migration. The article asks, specifically, what kind of storytelling practices can help journalists go beyond the often fragmented, simplified, and vilifying portrayals of migrants to provide a more comprehensive picture of migration that would give justice to the complex, multifaceted nature of this societal phenomenon. Based on the analysis of nine storytelling projects that were released in the course of the current decade in countries directly affected by the Central American flows of migration, the author argues that journalists should embrace the practice of what has come to be known as “slow” journalism. Combined with approaches that are consistent with this practice, such as giving voice to migrants by including first-person testimonies collected on the ground, using narrative techniques, and relying on a wider range of sources, these approaches, the author argues, should provide a more contextualized, complex, and nuanced view on migration resulting in a more responsive, and responsible, journalistic coverage.
Finally, Gilbert B. Rodman reviews four recently published collections of writings by Stuart Hall (Cultural Studies 1983, Familiar Stranger, The Fateful Triangle, and Selected Political Writings) to ask, and to show, how much we can still learn from Hall about what it means to be powerful public intellectuals, scholars, and writers. Hall’s works, Rodman argues, are “a stunning reminder of the breadth and power of Hall’s intellect. While it would be possible to think about these books simply as nostalgic snapshots of some prior historical moment, I think it’s more useful (and certainly more in keeping with Hall’s legacy) to approach them as politically valuable provocations for the present.” As many of our readers know, Journal of Communication Inquiry was the first American journal to publish Stuart Hall’s work, and we are excited that Hall’s legacy continues to resonate with cultural scholars both among and beyond JCI readership.
I began the introduction by expressing gratitude to the former managing editor. Let me end it by thanking many of the others whose service and contributions of time and expertise make this journal possible, including SAGE production staff, Advisory Board members, our reviewers, and authors.