Playing the Mainstream Game. A Language-Game Analysis of “Mainstream” as a Possible Boundary Object in Journalism Studies

Abstract

“Mainstream media” and “mainstream journalism” have become significant concepts in political, popular, and academic discourse in recent years. They are key in how media, communication, and journalism scholars have been, and continue to be, concerned with relational dimensions in their work. However, the meaning of the word “mainstream” is often taken for granted. How and by whom this concept is used among media, communication, and journalism scholars is therefore of great importance. This article analyses uses of “mainstream” in academic discourse to unpack the various meanings ascribed to it. Through computational Topic Modelling Analysis and qualitative context analysis we analyse the relations, positions, normative underpinnings, and appropriate uses of “mainstream” in 779 journal articles published between 2000 and 2022. The analysis is framed by Wittgenstein’s notion of “language-game” as a way of analysing the meaning-making process constituted by uses of “mainstream” in these articles. We argue that “mainstream” resembles a “boundary object” but conclude that the rules of the “mainstream language-game” are confusing and need revisions, and that the concept only functions as an illusory boundary object, which is arguably problematic.