The Relevance of Journalism

Abstract

The media-saturated nature of everyday life is well acknowledged in current audience research, but the role of journalism for people living in this digitalised environment remains less clear. To provide a better understanding of the role of journalism and news in everyday life, this article states the case for combining two complementary analytical perspectives in cultural audience research that draw on the framework of practice theory. We need to focus on both interpersonal communication practices within social networks and on discursive practices and patterns of how people use the media. Empirically, this article draws on an extensive audience study conducted in Finland, whose findings provide a cause for moderate optimism regarding the sustaining relevance of journalism in people's everyday life in the digital era. Firstly, social networks—both offline and online—constitute a vital structure within which the output of journalism is rendered meaningful by users. Secondly, the discursive practices applied by the participants emphasise the importance of news as a central means of orientation to society and making sense of the political nature of the public world. However, much of this potential remains unknown to journalists because users' activities occur at a distance from journalism and political institutions, which poses a challenge to digital journalism.