On Tuesday, 22 January 2019, from 2 pm to 4 pm Trine Syvertsen, professor at the University of Oslo, will visit Dr. Christoph Raetzsch’s seminar “The people formerly known as the audience – Journalismus und Partizipation”. The title of her lecture is "Avoiding the news: Implications of media resistance and non-participation in the digital era".

Abstract: Journalism is seen as a cornerstone of democracy, and there is concern about the decline in news consumption in the digital era. People who do not consume news are often considered to be marginalised and not taking part in democratic processes. In this talk, the phenomenon of news avoidance is discussed from the perspective of media resistance. Studies of media resisters, including news avoiders, have shown that people who resist media often frame their avoidance in positive terms. One of their arguments is that news reading prompts hopelessness, and that one must limit consumption if one wants to be active in society.

Everyone interested is welcome to attend. We kindly ask you to register beforehand via email to christoph.raetzsch@fu-berlin.de. The seminar takes place at the Institute for Media and Communication Studies, Garystraße 55, room 301.