ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book aims to extend Folker Hanusch’s project by incorporating several aspects not included in that initial attempt to map the ground, such as the crucial importance of social media, new agenda setters and the ‘experiential’ dimension of lifestyle journalism. It considers contributions that explore the potential roles of the genre as a reflective, democratic, constructive or even aesthetic form. The book addresses consumerism in Turkey through a case study of Aysha magazine that provides an insight into the creative ways in which religion and consumerism are reconciled in Islamic lifestyle media. It shows that the magazine not only offers suggestions about what to consume, it also advises on how to reconcile a consumerist lifestyle with a religious one. The book examines identity in the context of difference through the discussion of cultural mediation and ‘othering’ in travel journalism and travel TV shows.
