Global Media, Local Voices: The Dynamics of Diversity

A special issue of Journalism and Media (ISSN 2673-5172).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2026 | Viewed by 7194

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Guest Editor
Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Guadalajara, Av. General Ramón Corona, Col. Nuevo México, Zapopan 45138, Jalisco, Mexico
Interests: environment; sports; gender; race; culture; media; political economy; ethnography; the Americas
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

At a time when the US Government is seeking to prevent the city of Stockholm from embracing cultural diversity and to shut down its own media presence in order to limit points of view, the value of diversity is greater than ever. This is particularly so in journalism, which is in its own crisis/Golden Age (depending on one’s point of view!). Major political–economic and technological change are underway. Ever-greater numbers of people are both reading journalism and seeking to be journalists. The ongoing power of the global media is real—especially if we include corporate platforms in the definition—even as more and more local forms of writing, speaking, and recording bloom.

This Special Issue will reach across the globe and across genres to investigate these and other questions via a blend of political economy, ethnography, and textual analysis. It will not take the Global North or Global South as implicit price deflators or models for the rest of the world, but as zones of cultural imperialism and colonialism, state and corporate power, independence, solidarity, work, and innovation. It will deem journalism important because of the profession’s centrality to democracy, knowledge, and pleasure alike. Contributions may take the form of original research articles or reviews of the field.

Potential Topics:

  • The impact of new technology;
  • precarity in journalism;
  • violence against reporters;
  • the Global North and the Global South;
  • journalism studies by region;
  • gender, race, class, and journalism;
  • the past;
  • the future;
  • rethinking media and cultural imperialism;
  • climate change.

Prof. Dr. Toby Miller
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • journalism
  • platform capitalism
  • global media
  • diversity
  • technological change
  • media and cultural imperialism and colonialism
  • work

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 317 KB  
Article
Afghanistan-Linked Publics in Germany: Digital Networks, Actors, and Narratives in a Post-Migration Society
by Kefa Hamidi, Ramin Kamangar and Abumoslem Khorasani
Journal. Media 2026, 7(2), 122; https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia7020122 - 11 Jun 2026
Viewed by 331
Abstract
Research on migration and digital media has expanded, yet empirical knowledge about how digital network communication structures public interaction in post-migration contexts remains limited. In particular, little is known about the communicative arenas in which interaction becomes visible, the actors who gain interpretive [...] Read more.
Research on migration and digital media has expanded, yet empirical knowledge about how digital network communication structures public interaction in post-migration contexts remains limited. In particular, little is known about the communicative arenas in which interaction becomes visible, the actors who gain interpretive authority, and the recurring issues and narratives that stabilize meaning. This article addresses these gaps by examining Afghanistan-linked digital publics in Germany. Eight semi-structured interviews with key informants and a qualitative content analysis of selected TikTok accounts revealed that short-video platforms can function as central arenas of attention, where repeatedly recognized communicators become orientation points for audiences through sustained interaction. Communication stabilizes around recurring issues and narratives such as migration procedures, institutional encounters, Afghanistan-related political developments, and community conflicts, which connect everyday experiences in the country of residence to political, social, and cultural debates about Afghanistan—thereby bridging local and transnational references within shared communication networks. These environments function simultaneously as spaces of practical guidance, social orientation, and public dispute. Building on these insights, the article proposes a multidimensional model of digital diaspora communication that links communicative arenas, actors, and issues and narratives. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Global Media, Local Voices: The Dynamics of Diversity)
15 pages, 286 KB  
Article
Advocacy Journalism in Nigeria: Alaroye and the Justice Movement for Mohbad
by Abiodun Salawu and Bukola Christiana Ajala
Journal. Media 2026, 7(2), 117; https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia7020117 - 1 Jun 2026
Viewed by 294
Abstract
This paper examines the unresolved case of a Nigerian singer/rapper, Ilerioluwa Oladimeji Aloba (Mohbad), aged 27, whose tragic death occurred on 12 September 2023. His death sparked public outcry and calls for justice, resulting in massive protest movements in Nigeria and the Diaspora. [...] Read more.
This paper examines the unresolved case of a Nigerian singer/rapper, Ilerioluwa Oladimeji Aloba (Mohbad), aged 27, whose tragic death occurred on 12 September 2023. His death sparked public outcry and calls for justice, resulting in massive protest movements in Nigeria and the Diaspora. Alaroye, a foremost indigenous language newspaper, has consistently deployed its platform to advocate for justice for the deceased rapper. Using the Agenda-setting Theory, this study examines, through key informant interviews, the external events that caused public opinion on the clamour for justice for Mohbad to wane, which impeded the newspaper’s agenda-setting capacity. This paper explores Alaroye’s coverage of the circumstances surrounding the death of Mohbad and the need to galvanise justice for him. Through a content analysis of the Alaroye online newspaper, 62 newspaper stories were purposively sampled within the time frame of the incident (September 2023 to August 2024). Although Alaroye’s reports on the happenings surrounding Mohbad’s death created public awareness and debate, key informants explain that public opinion on the issue could not stimulate justice for the deceased due to political, economic, and other associated factors. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Global Media, Local Voices: The Dynamics of Diversity)
16 pages, 1815 KB  
Article
Weight Stigma in the News: Fatphobia on the Media Agenda of Spanish-Language Newspapers
by María del Mar Rodríguez-González, Yazmina Vargas-Veleda and Iñigo Marauri-Castillo
Journal. Media 2026, 7(2), 88; https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia7020088 - 22 Apr 2026
Viewed by 707
Abstract
Fatphobia, or the stigmatization of fat bodies, is increasingly prevalent in our society and is manifested in many ways, leading to serious consequences for those who suffer its effects. This study aims to enhance the understanding of the extent of media coverage regarding [...] Read more.
Fatphobia, or the stigmatization of fat bodies, is increasingly prevalent in our society and is manifested in many ways, leading to serious consequences for those who suffer its effects. This study aims to enhance the understanding of the extent of media coverage regarding this issue, as well as the approach taken in its coverage. To this end, all the information containing the term fatphobia, which was published in six leading Spanish-language newspapers, (n = 309) was analyzed to pinpoint the moment when fatphobia appeared on the media agenda, as well as the specific features of its coverage. Using a multidisciplinary methodology including content analysis, framing theory, and a gender perspective, the following digital media outlets were analyzed: eluniversal.com.mx (Mexico), eltiempo.com (Colombia), clarin.com.ar (Argentina), elcomercio.com.pe (Peru), elmercurio.com (Chile), and elpaís.com (Spain). The findings reflect an inconsistent media portrayal, and the coverage was generally found to be superficial, which indicates the need for a more committed approach to the social acceptance of all bodies and to the struggle against aesthetic discrimination suffered by women with non-normative bodies. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Global Media, Local Voices: The Dynamics of Diversity)
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20 pages, 350 KB  
Article
“There Is Shame and Pride, It’s Not Neutral”: Community Division and Commonalities in Mediatised Public Crisis
by Mona Chatskin
Journal. Media 2026, 7(1), 26; https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia7010026 - 5 Feb 2026
Viewed by 1220
Abstract
This paper examines how the Malka Leifer child sexual abuse crisis, mediatised across Australian mainstream, local and social media, impacted the Australian Jewish community. Guided by framing theory, this study uses mixed methods: a news framing analysis of ABC, The Age, the Herald [...] Read more.
This paper examines how the Malka Leifer child sexual abuse crisis, mediatised across Australian mainstream, local and social media, impacted the Australian Jewish community. Guided by framing theory, this study uses mixed methods: a news framing analysis of ABC, The Age, the Herald Sun and the Australian Jewish News across four critical discourse moments, and “peer conversation” focus groups across Jewish denominations. Findings reveal that, despite news media’s intentions, coverage consistently adopted an “otherness” frame when reporting Jewish community issues. Such simplified and limited approaches to news framing contrast with the multi-faceted nature of the ethnoreligious Jewish identity, exacerbating vulnerability in a community already navigating the legacies of the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, and triggering responses ranging from engagement to unjustified notions of shame. The article argues that more reflexive reporting practices are needed to recognise the community’s multidimensional identities and mitigate harm in future public crises. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Global Media, Local Voices: The Dynamics of Diversity)
19 pages, 852 KB  
Article
Local Voices, Global Circulation: Women’s Agency, Sorority and Glocalisation in K-Pop Demon Hunters
by Dácil Roca Vera
Journal. Media 2025, 6(4), 203; https://doi.org/10.3390/journalmedia6040203 - 30 Nov 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3085
Abstract
This article examines how K-Pop Demon Hunters (2025) portrays women’s agency and sorority while curating Korean cultural specificity within the context of global streaming. Adopting a Gender Media Studies approach, the study conducts a scene-indexed close reading of nine key sequences, applying a [...] Read more.
This article examines how K-Pop Demon Hunters (2025) portrays women’s agency and sorority while curating Korean cultural specificity within the context of global streaming. Adopting a Gender Media Studies approach, the study conducts a scene-indexed close reading of nine key sequences, applying a coding scheme (co-presence, agency, solidarity, body framing, choreography–camera, colour) and a cultural-codes matrix that classifies elements as retained, hybridised, or globalised. Findings show a consistent pattern: when two or more women protagonists appear together, agency and sorority co-occur; this is visible in the narrative arcs and through full-body staging, ensemble composition, and a persistent we/together rhetoric. Korean local specificity is divided by purpose: English-led song hooks extend transnational reach; retained social anchors (space, ritual, foodways, and folklore) preserve locality; and hybridised cues (stylised folklore; idol/traditional blends) manage cultural density without erasure. Authorship and industry context align with this encoding, combining a women centred creative core and Korean cast with on-screen emphasis on women’s friendship, repair, and shared agency. Two tensions remain: traditional attire in spectacle numbers, and the narrow body diversity in the idol-slim body ideal, inviting comparative and interpretative scrutiny. Overall, the case demonstrates how an animated musical can emphasise women’s empowerment and cultural specificity without reducing either to mere marketing tools. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Global Media, Local Voices: The Dynamics of Diversity)
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