<i>Tertius</i>Tactics: “Mediated Social Capital” as a Resource of Power for Traditional Commercial News Media

Hess, Kristy

doi:10.1111/comt.12005

Cited by 27 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 47 publications

(70 reference statements)

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“…I have argued elsewhere that the current approach to social capital and the news media presents a functionalist approach that tends to ignore issues of power, conflict and inequality (Hess 2013a). As De Souza Briggs (1997 suggests, the enthusiasm for the collective dimension of social capital has given the concept a "circus tent" quality where all things positive and social are piled beneath (De Souza Briggs 1997, 112).…”

Section: Making Connections 483mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This paper suggests that the theory of social capital provides an untapped well of potential in discussions about the news media. I expand on the notion of "mediated social capital" (Hess 2013a) to consider that the small newspaper's ability to connect people deliberately and consciously is a specific resource it can harness to its advantage, coupled with its power to control the information that has the effect of bringing people together. This is not just in civic spaces and discussions about the common good-it also canvasses more private, domestic domains that are often unexplored in journalism scholarship.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In examining the way media connects people socially, I have argued elsewhere (Hess 2013a) that social capital is a particularly useful theoretical framework to engage with because at its heart it is about the value that comes from connecting people (Lesser 2000). There is no one single definition of social capital-scholars from an array of disciplines (from political science to health and education) have used the concept more broadly to discuss how relationships within close networks and associated norms of trust, reciprocity and goodwill foster benefits to individuals, communities, even entire nations (Coleman 1988;Bourdieu 1986;Putnam 2000).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Making Connections

Hess¹

2014

Journalism Studies

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The future of the traditional news media in the changing digital landscape is a topic of much scholarship and debate as newspaper circulations and advertising revenues plummet across the globe and audiences become increasingly spoilt for choice when it comes to accessing news and information. At the same time there has been a flurry of interest in the role and place of small news outlets dubbed local, community and regional publications. This paper aims to theorise the role and place of small newspapers to connect people with each other. In doing so, it reconceptualises the theory of social capital as it relates to small newspapers. It argues that the small-town press is in a particularly powerful position to actively connect people with each other, across physical and digital spaces and public/private domains. It also argues the need to recognise and study the more subtle ways news outlets foster connections between everyday, ordinary people. I draw on the concept of "mediated social capital" and its associated prisms of bonding, bridging and linking as a way of understanding this in regards to small newspapers. "Mediated social capital", repositions social capital theory to consider the small newspaper's ability to connect people as a resource of advantage which it may utilise to build or maintain its position of power. The concept provides scope to consider the role of local media to consciously and unconsciously connect people within its networks with one another, across digital and physical spaces, to control the information that connects people, and to benefit from that power. It also acknowledges the inequalities that may arise from this. Importantly, mediated social capital extends beyond discussions about the democratic ideal of the press to acknowledge the role of the news media in shaping the everyday interactions and situations in which people might connect with one another.

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Section: Making Connections 483mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Making Connections

Hess¹

2014

Journalism Studies

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“…The social goods under investigation here are health and healthcare access, and CHC comprises one resource that skilled consumers can use to navigate their health participation. With people increasingly turning to the Internet and other online/mediated sources before or instead of visiting a health provider (Sundar, Rice, Kim, & Sciamanna, 2011), media can wield considerable power in constructing what health products and practices are deemed most desirable (Hess, 2013). Mediated texts play a role in constructing the meaning of healthcare for potential consumers, thereby becoming a resource for participants from which to make sense and evaluate their Neti Pots in US Media Discourse 10 healthcare options.…”

Section: Discourse Analysis and Mediated News Textsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Case Study of the Neti Pot’s Rise, Americanization, and Rupture as Integrative Medicine in U.S. Media Discourse

Cady

Robles

2016

Health Communication

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In a period of only one decade in the US, the neti pot shifted from obscure Ayurvedic health device to mainstream complementary and integrative medicine (CIM), touted by celebrities and sold widely in drug stores. We examine the neti pot as a case study for understanding how a foreign health practice became mainstreamed, and what that process reveals about more general discourses of health in the US. Using discourse analysis of US popular press and new media news (1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012) about the neti pot, we trace the development of discourses from neti's first introduction in mainstream news, through the hype following Dr. Oz's presentation on Oprah, to 2011 when two adults tragically died after using Naegleria fowleri amoeba-infested tap water in their neti pots. Neti pot discourses are an important site for communicative analysis because of the pot's complexity as an intercultural artifact: neti pots and their use are enfolded into the biomedical practice of nasal irrigation and simultaneously Orientalized as exotic/magical and suspect/dangerous. This dual positioning as normal and exotic creates inequitable access for using the neti pot as a resource for increasing cultural health capital (CHC). This article contributes to work that critically theorizes the transnationalism of CIM, as the neti pot became successfully Americanized. These results have implications for understanding global health practices' incorporation or co-optation in new contexts, and the important role that popularly-mediated health communication can play in framing what healthcare products and practices mean for consumers.

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“…This article is part of a wider research project that theorises the way traditional newspapers connect people socially -especially those serving towns and small cities -and how this generates a form of power that news media might utilise as they shift into the digital age (see Hess, 2013aHess, , 2013bHess, , 2014a. The research adopted Couldry's 'media as practice' approach that encourages scholars to examine everyday actions oriented towards media (Couldry, 2004(Couldry, , 2012; see also McCallum and Waller, 2013).…”

Section: Research Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ritual power: Illuminating the blind spot of births, deaths and marriages in news media research

Hess

2015

Journalism

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This article conceptualises the role and place of the newspaper births, deaths and marriages column in Western societies and its relationship to news media. It identifies the births, deaths and marriages notices as a 'blind spot' within journalism and media research generated by powerful cultural norms and conventions shaping the field. This is exemplified by the 'mythical' divide between political economy and culturalist approaches to media studies that has created a gap where people's everyday practices or the social value of 'commercial' content tends to be overlooked in discussions about news media. Drawing more deeply from cultural studies and scholarship around media power and rituals, the births, deaths and marriages column provides a compelling unique illustration of the ways newspapers -especially at the local level -continue to be perceived as central to the social in this changing media world. A qualitative research project into the future of small commercial newspapers in Australia provides rich data for exploring these key ideas.

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TertiusTactics: “Mediated Social Capital” as a Resource of Power for Traditional Commercial News Media

Cited by 27 publications

References 47 publications

Making Connections

Making Connections

A Case Study of the Neti Pot’s Rise, Americanization, and Rupture as Integrative Medicine in U.S. Media Discourse

Ritual power: Illuminating the blind spot of births, deaths and marriages in news media research

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