The Uses and Limits of the Concept of "Transnational Field": The Case of Online News

• In Event: 602 - Section on Global and Transnational Sociology Paper Session. Global and Transnational Sociology: Alternative Perspectives

Abstract

Are all transnational exchanges “fielded”? This article explores the usefulness and the limits of the concept of transnational field by focusing on the case of online journalism. At first glance, online news might seem to be the perfect example of a transnational field. The frequency of international exchanges between media outlets has increased dramatically with the development of news websites, leading media scholars to develop the concept of “global news.” Yet such international exchanges do not necessarily constitute a field.
Using ethnographic methods, I analyze the circulation of online content between the United States and France, two countries with strikingly different journalistic traditions. Specifically, I compare two editorial partnerships between U.S. and French websites, one linking prestigious online magazines across the Atlantic and the other connecting tabloid-oriented news sites. In both cases, editorial content did not circulate seamlessly between the two countries. Based on these case studies, the article proposes three criteria that must be met for transnational fields to exist: competition over the legitimate definition of the field; reciprocal field effects; and the existence of common material stakes.

Author

• Angele Christin, The New School for Social Research