Research Project Beyond the Here and Now of News

Project Duration: 09/01/2018 - 08/31/2023

When it comes to understanding news audiences, the stakes are high. Their practices establish everything from journalism’s economic feasibility, to its democratic impact, and sociocultural role. However, there is limited research on what causes people to become news consumers.

This project aims to understand the conditions that make news matter. It investigates the emergence, disappearance and (re)formation of news repertoires in everyday life and across the lifespan to address:

1) What causes news habits to form? Why do they change?
2) How does this impact public attention to social issues?
3) How can news organizations facilitate engagement?

By going beyond the here and now of news, this project provides fundamental insights into what underlies people’s shifting patterns of use.Its findings will improve our knowledge of how citizens view the civic potential of digital journalism and offer innovative ways for the news industry to reconceptualize its public mandate and economic models.

Contact

Chris Peters // Project manager // Professor (MSO) // cpeters@ruc.dk

Kim Christian Schrøder // Project manager // Professor // kimsc@ruc.dk

Researchers

Josephine Lehaff // Project participant // lehaff@ruc.dk

Julie Vulpius // Project participant // julievg@ruc.dk
Laura Ahva, Senior Research Fellow, University of Tampere

Stuart Allan, Professor, Cardiff University

Marcel Broersma, Professor, University of Groningen

Dennis Christensen, Head of Audience Research, Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR)

Ulrik Haagerup, CEO, Constructive Institute

Lea Korsgaard, Editor-in-chief, Zetland

Bent Steeg Larsen Director of Research, Politiken

Stine Lomborg, Associate Professor, University of Copenhagen

Mette Mortensen, Associate Professor, University of Copenhagen

Henrik Örnebring, Professor, Karlstad University

Zizi Papacharissi, Professor, University of Illinois at Chicago

Steen Steensen, Professor, Oslo Metropolitan University

Karin Wahl-Jorgensen, Professor, Cardiff University

Funding

'Beyond the Here and Now of News' is generously supported by a 5.4 million DKK grant (approx. €725.000) provided by the Independent Research Fund Denmark. In their letter, the Research Council noted that “the project’s quality and originality, and qualifications (of the applicants), are of the highest level.”

The international committee assessing the grant proposal concluded that ‘Beyond the Here and Now of News’ was, “an excellent project that contains an innovative perspective on news, journalism and audiences with the potential for great public impact in national and international settings. This project has high international significance and excels in its overall aims and objectives."

Publications

Exploring changing news repertoires: Towards a typology
Vulpius, J., Lehaff, J., Schrøder, K. C. & Peters, C., 2023, In: Journalism. OnlineFirst
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
News Audiences and the Challenges of Digital Citizenship
Peters, C., 29 Nov 2022, The Routledge Companion to News and Journalism. Allan, S. (ed.). 2nd ed. Routledge, p. 365-373 9 p.
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Book chapter › Research › peer-review
News as They Know It: Young Adults’ Information Repertoires in the Digital Media Landscape
Peters, C., Schrøder, K. C., Lehaff, J. & Vulpius, J., 2022, In: Digital Journalism. 10, 1, p. 62-86 25 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review