Understanding the Gates: The Journalistic Field in a Time of Mediatization

Barnard, Stephen R.

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-90446-7_3

Stephen R. Barnard²

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Abstract

This chapter lays out the conceptual framework that guides the book, beginning with a brief overview of Pierre Bourdieu’s field theory, which is broken into two sections. The first focuses on “elements of practice,” or what Bourdieu referred to as capital, habitus, and doxa. The second section summarizes the structure of the journalistic field, with subsections on field formation and professionalization, inter-field relations, and field transformation. The focus then shifts to providing an overview of mediatization as a theoretical perspective before introducing the concepts of “networked habitus,” “media meta-capital,” and “mediatized superstructure.” The chapter concludes with a brief discussion of emergent field dynamics like gatewatching and gatecrashing, which are driven by networked publics’ collaborative efforts to fulfill the function of a “fifth estate.”

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Notes

1.
The term “superstructure,” inspired by a Marxian conceptualization of power dynamics beyond the political-economic “base,” is meant to signal the ubiquity of mediated communication, and by extension, the endless reach of its influence throughout all spheres of society.

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Department of Sociology, St. Lawrence University, Canton, NY, USA
Stephen R. Barnard

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Barnard, S.R. (2018). Understanding the Gates: The Journalistic Field in a Time of Mediatization. In: Citizens at the Gates. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90446-7_3

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90446-7_3
Published: 10 June 2018
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-90445-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-90446-7
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