Dear all,

I hope this email finds you well.

For the forthcoming NUSE meeting, I’m happy to share the theoretical framework and literature review sections of the paper I am currently working on as part of the INEQNEWS project. The abstract for this was accepted at ICA, and I will be presenting the paper (in full) there later this year.

In this paper, I try to bridge three literatures: journalism studies, sociology, and digital inequalities. The overarching goals of the paper are three-fold: One, to explore whether the news consumption as a whole is more commonly associated with social classes that engage in ‘highbrow’ cultural activities (e.g., going to the museum, art exhibitions etc.), and its implications. Second, we make an original contribution to the journalism studies by introducing a “Status Demonstration” scale i.e., a scale that measures whether news consumption can be perceived as a tool to demonstrate one’s social status. Third, we investigate whether such status demonstration attitudes towards the news are more prevalent within participants that engage in “high culture” and greater social class.

The paper is currently still being written, and some parts may read quite sociology-heavy. The goal is to situate theories from sociology (Bourdieu) and digital inequalities to the field of journalism studies. Antonis and Courtney have already highlighted to me the areas that need reworking, but please highlight any other areas that you think may benefit from being more rooted in JS.

Other than the general research questions, I am also looking for any advice that you may have. Since the methodology is not yet complete, I am attaching a document that comprises the two scales used in the paper.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this on Friday.

Many thanks,

Atri Mukherjee Doctoral Researcher, NUSE Unit M  +32 496 31 54 25 | @AtriMukherjee_ Pleinlaan 9 – 1050 Brussel - www.vub.be

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