Unbound Journalism: Interloper Media and the Emergence of Fortune-Telling Journalism

Authors

  • Changwook Kim Handong Global University
  • Wooyeol Shin Kyungnam University

Keywords:

interloper media, journalistic practice, YouTube, Korean journalism

Abstract

This study examines how interloper media are challenging the boundaries of journalism by offering new imaginations of what journalism could be. By conducting a case study of the left-leaning political YouTube channel Rhyu Si-min’s AlliLeo, this study shows how it could create intimate emotional ties between its host/guests and audiences by using unique rhetorical strategies that stress authenticity and sincerity. This study also reveals how the YouTube-based journalistic interloper could successfully position itself within the boundaries of Korean journalism by transforming the traditional norm of journalism as truth-telling and the ideal role of journalists as truth-tellers into uncertainty-resolving and fortune-tellers, respectively. It then critically evaluates the possible social and political implications and the conceivable consequences of this transition for the future of journalism and for society at large.

Author Biographies

Changwook Kim, Handong Global University

Changwook Kim (PhD, University of Massachusetts Amherst) is an assistant professor of sociology at Handong Global University. His research interests include creative/digital labor, digital journalism, and cultural policy, specifically in East Asia. His research has appeared in various academic journals including Journalism, Television & New Media, the International Journal of Cultural Policy, Inter-Asia Cultural Studies, and among others.

Wooyeol Shin, Kyungnam University

Wooyeol Shin (PhD, University of Minnesota) is an assistant professor in the department of media and visual arts at Kyungnam University. As a journalism studies scholar, his research program focuses on what is happening to journalism in a changing media environment. His research has appeared in leading academic journals including Journalism, International Journal of Communication, Asian Studies Review, and Environmental Communication.

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Published

2021-07-29

Issue

Vol. 15 (2021)

Section

Articles

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