ABSTRACT
The social, cultural, and technological phenomenon of mobile news is an important area of mobile media development, marking a paradigmatic shift in the accessibility and use of news in everyday life. According to the Pew Research Center Report (2013), news is among the most popular content on smartphones because it is convenient and easy to access, while a year earlier (2012) their report observed that half of smartphone users view news on the device. News-on-smartphones has a gendered and critical-cultural aspect, that while some members of society are well served by its affordances, other lack the abilities, will, or self-efficacy to benefit from the potential offered by the device – whether positive or negative. News is on-the-go in other ways: the mobility of smartphones means that news accompanies people wherever they are. The introduction of 3G networks made use fully mobile, at least in locations where 3G was operational.
