ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the scholarly literature on how social media have changed the way the news media cover scandal – particularly sexual scandals – and how the news audience consumes the stories. It describes the particular cultural moment where technology creates a ‘new digital space for malfeasance and indiscretion’ with the power to send these tales of misdeeds ricocheting around the globe in record time. The chapter explores scandal and situating it within the lens of the theory of the public sphere. It provides a brief history of sexual scandals and how they have been covered historically, as well as why that has changed in the digital age. The chapter suggests that for what these changes mean for the future of how the press covers scandalous news and how the public consumes it. People can commit sexual scandals, for example, without meeting face to face with their victims through sexting or social media.
