The Department of Digital Humanities is pleased to host Dr Helena Chmielewska-Szlajfer who will discuss her latest book, (Not) Kidding: Politics in Online Tabloids.

Often reduced to the role of sensationalist gossipmongers, online tabloids are a vital source of political news for the public. (Not) Kidding: Politics in Online Tabloids provides a detailed analysis of the media coverage during the 2015-2016 US presidential and Brexit campaigns focusing on the articles and reader comments in major British Polish and US online tabloids: Mail Online, Pudelek and Gawker. In addition, interviews with 20 journalists and editors from these outlets shed light on the newsrooms production techniques and professional values.

The book explores the emotional public sphere of comment sections and introduces the concept of the “(not) kidding” frame which highlights the ambiguity and reactive nature of tabloid media and how they navigate accusations of undermining democracy.

These findings remain particularly relevant also in light of the nationalist and populist turn observed in the recent elections in the United States, Austria, France, and other democratic countries, as well as in current debates about censorship and content moderation on social media platforms.

Speaker's Info:

Dr Helena Chmielewska-Szlajfer is an Assistant Professor at Koźmiński University and a Visiting Fellow at LSE Department for Media & Communications. She received her PhD in Sociology from The New School for Social Research (2014). She is the author of “(Not) Kidding: Online Tabloid Politics" (Brill, 2024), “Reshaping Poland's Community after Communism: Ordinary Celebrations” (Palgrave, 2019), “Kazimierz Kelles-Krauz: Marxism and Sociology” (Warsaw University Press, 2014; Brill, 2018). Chmielewska-Szlajfer is a recipient of numerous prestigious scholarships, including those awarded by the Minister of Science and Higher Education, Poland, Kościuszko Foundation, and The New School for Social Research, New York. She studies everyday civic practices as well as news media, online politics, and news avoidance among young adults.