What the Concept of Boundaries Brings to the Study of Norms

• In Event: Normative Theories of Digital Journalism

Abstract

Norms imply a degree of stability, a set of "normal" assumptions and values around which to orient. Yet, as premised by this panel and discussed in two decades of journalism studies, the norms of news work and the normative stances for news in society are presumed to be changing (or are encouraged to change) in light of broader social and technological developments. I make the case for boundaries as a useful lens through which to understand these phenomena, based on the forthcoming book Boundaries of Journalism (Carlson & Lewis, 2015). First, to the extent that norms function as powerful weapons meant to erect borders and make categorizations, a boundaries perspective shows how the actual malleability of borders runs up against the seemingly static nature of normative commitments. Second, and conversely, if we assume that norms and normative theories are greatly in flux, we should pay attention to norm construction now more than ever because the new borders that are developing will need something on which to stand.

Author

• Seth C. Lewis, U of Minnesota