A Missed Opportunity? How Lifestyle Journalists Think About Inclusion in Their Work

Research on inclusion within journalism is devastatingly consistent: far from enhancing inclusion, journalism can actually diminish it. It is noteworthy that the vast majority of such research has focused on hard news beats. In contrast, we know very little about the role that softer forms of news, such as lifestyle journalism, may play in reporting inclusion. To address this issue, this study draws on interviews with lifestyle journalists from Austria and the United States (n=74). We find that while this particular specialty offers potential for inclusion, lifestyle journalists broadly don’t believe they are tapping that potential.