ABSTRACT
Although most research on news is ultimately concerned with its impact on society, the question of the news audience has often remained an implied category. News is a heavily researched genre but, comparatively, its audience has not always received as much attention as other aspects: For example, questions of the economy of production, newswork, news sources and representation have been studied intensively as is manifested in the chapters of the present volume. Such observations led researchers to note that what is missing from the sociology of news is an account of its audiences (Schudson, 2000, p. 194). This is not exactly correct, however, as there is a growing body of studies, some of them path-breaking, on the interpretation of news (see Gamson, 1992; Morley, 1980; Lewis, 1991; Philo, 1990; Liebes, 1997). According to Silverstone, what is missing is not research on news viewers, but rather a more ritual and mediational approach to news as a dynamic component of social and cultural life (2005, p. 17).
