The issue of socio-economic inequality has after many decades of benign neglect, in both the academy and journalism, become an increasingly important question. The economic crisis, beginning in 2007/2008 and followed by years of austerity has exasperated class and regional division. There have been numerous socio-economic and political outcomes from this; not least the Brexit vote in the UK and the election of Donald Trump, both unimaginable a decade ago. The role of journalism and the wider media in the production (...) and reproduction of inequality is an increasingly important issue. Has journalism treated the issue of inequality in a satisfactory fashion? Has journalism challenged powerful interests, or has journalism itself played an ideological role in the reproduction of structures of inequality? This special edition includes eight papers concerned around the area of socio economic inequality and media treatment; including investigations of discourses defending growing economic inequality and discourses... (shrink)

ABSTRACTA clear sign of the heightened interest in economic inequality was the surprise popularity of Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the twenty-first century. The book reached the top of the bestseller lists and was described as a ‘media sensation’ and Piketty himself as a ‘rockstar economist’. Piketty’s key thesis stated that the return on investment will be higher than economic growth, meaning that inequality is destined to worsen and that the post-war Keynesian period of progress, in terms of a flattening of (...) inequality, was in fact a small break from the norm. What he termed patrimonial capitalism would see continual increases in rates of socio-economic inequality unless drastic action is taken. In this article, Piketty’s book is treated as a paramount example of the mediation of economic inequality. The book received a generally positive response, however some writers acted defensively against the book’s main thesis, that is the secular trend of growing inequality. Exploring the press in the UK,... (shrink)

ABSTRACTAs the number of freelance journalists increases, the changing nature of work in journalism has effects and possible implications for the kinds of news discourses that are circulated. This paper explores the experiences of freelance journalists in the Republic of Ireland in the context of increasing casualised work. We consider whether challenging working conditions impacts the type of journalism work carried out by freelancers and by extension influences the construction of news and wider discourse. Following the constructionist school, this paper (...) explores the journalistic routines and practices employed by freelancers who are often constrained by resources and time. We do so to consider the impact of these influences on discourse before the text. The study was conducted by interviewing freelance journalists about their lived experiences. This paper contributes to debates around journalism’s so called ‘fourth estate’ function. In particular we question if this role is undermined by changes in the... (shrink)