From pleasure to politics: Five functions of watching TV-series for public connection

Abstract

This article addresses the question of how engagement with fictional entertainment can enable audiences to function as citizens. It argues that existing theoretical perspectives assume spurious links between the use of fictional entertainment and politics. This article mobilizes the theoretical perspective of public connection to show how audience’s engagement with fictional entertainment can forge manifest links to the sphere of politics. The article presents five functions that capture the main varieties of how the engagement with TV series enables public connection. These functions are conceptualized as ‘Charging’, ‘Deepening’, ‘Affinitive motivation’, ‘Introduction/Extension’ and ‘Solidification’. These functions are theoretically qualified and empirically grounded in extensive qualitative research into people’s use of TV series in Norway. The article argues that these functions also apply to the engagement with other forms of fictional entertainment, including film and fiction literature.

Temporal ambivalences in smartphone use: Conflicting flows, conflicting responsibilities

“…Our analysis is based on qualitative data from a comprehensive project on media use in Norway (Moe et al, 2019; Nærland, 2019; Ytre-Arne, 2019). The aim of this study was to investigate cross-media use (Schrøder, 2011) and public connection (Couldry et al, 2010) through an open, informant-centered approach taking the perspective of users.…”

News as They Know It: Young Adults’ Information Repertoires in the Digital Media Landscape

“…This convergence, alongside the recognized intertextual influence of TV series, satire, and other forms of popular culture as important sources of sense-making (cf. Gray, 2006;Naerland, 2020), seemed to lead to mixed perceptions and confusion about what content experiences 'count' as news experiences. This relates to what Edgerly and Vraga (2020) call 'news-ness', the degree to which audiences are able to characterize something as news to varying degrees, even though they have difficulty defining what news 'is'.…”

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The Democratic Significance of Everyday News Use: Using Diaries to Understand Public Connection over Time and beyond Journalism

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