[Air-L] New book: “(Not) kidding: politics in online tabloids”

[kanya at poczta.onet.pl]

Dear Air-Listers,

I wanted to let you know that my book, (Not) kidding: politics in online tabloids (Brill), is out:

https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004692688 

The book offers an analysis of the 2015-2016 presidential and Brexit campaigns - both articles and user comments - published in major Polish, British, and US online tabloids: Pudelek, Mail Online, and Gawker; in addition, 20 journalists and editors from these outlets were interviewed to understand their work, their newsrooms, and notions of professionalism. This allows to expose the emotional public sphere of comment sections, as well as the key tabloid “(not) kidding” frame: ambiguous, reactive to readers, and shielding online tabloids from accusations of deteriorating democracy.

I hope you enjoy the book!


Best wishes,
Helena



More about the book:

Often reduced to the role of sensationalist gossipmongers, online tabloids are a vital source of political news for the public. This book offers a deep dive into Pudelek, Mail Online, and Gawker coverage of 2015-2016 political campaigns in Poland, the United Kingdom, and the United States, where votes led to major populist shifts. Thanks to a close study of news stories, anonymous comments under articles, and interviews with online-tabloid journalists, Helena Chmielewska-Szlajfer exposes the emotional public sphere of comment sections, as well as the key tabloid “(not) kidding” frame: ambiguous, reactive to readers, and shielding online tabloids from accusations of deteriorating democracy.
Chapter 1  How Did We Get Here? <https://brill.com/display/book/9789004692688/BP000001.xml> Tabloidization of News and the 2015–16 Elections in Poland, UK, and the US

Chapter 2  Politicians Are Crooks, Votes Are Rigged, and Other Visions of an (Un)just World <https://brill.com/display/book/9789004692688/BP000002.xml>
Chapter 3  Backoffice, or How Online Tabloid Journalists Write on Politics <https://brill.com/display/book/9789004692688/BP000003.xml>
Chapter 4  Conclusion <https://brill.com/display/book/9789004692688/BP000004.xml>. Online Tabloid Voices and Democracy



Helena Chmielewska-Szlajfer, Ph.D. (2014), Assistant Professor at Koźmiński University and LSE Visiting Fellow, is a sociologist specializing in everyday culture, democracy, and media, and the author of Kazimierz Kelles-Krauz: Marxism and Sociology (Brill, 2018) and Reshaping Poland's Community after Communism: Ordinary Celebrations (Palgrave, 2019).


Dr Helena Chmielewska-Szlajfer
2017-2025 Visiting Fellow, Department of Media & Communications
London School of Economics and Political Science
—
Assistant Professor, Kozminski University
twitter.com/HChSz <http://twitter.com/HChSz> 


Recent publications:
Chmielewska-Szlajfer, Helena, 2024, (Not) kidding: politics in online tabloids, Leiden: Brill, https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004692688 <https://brill.com/display/title/69821> 
Chmielewska-Szlajfer, Helena, 2020, Academics know better (?): scholars and politics in major opinion dailies during the 2015 presidential campaign in Poland, Critical Sociology, 46(7-8), 1267-1281, https://doi.org/10.1177/0896920520907962 <https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0896920520907962> 
Chmielewska-Szlajfer, Helena, 2019, Reshaping Poland’s community after communism: Ordinary celebrations, New York: Palgrave, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78735-0









Helena Chmielewska-Szlajfer