Book review: News Discourse and Power: Critical Perspectives on Journalism and Inequality by Henry Silke, Fergal Quinn and Maria Rieder

Abstract

more confidence in their computers than smartphones. The use of smartphones by young adults leads on to the debate of ‘addiction’. Are people addicted to smartphones? This question is discussed in the last chapter of the book. For some, there is ‘a generation of smartphone and social media addicts incapable of taking their eyes off Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp’ (p. 108). For others, it is ‘a gateway into socialising’ (p. 109). The young are aware of their attachment to this technology coupled with their need to be connected, but they are also critical about such technologies having taken primacy over human relations. The authors suggest that the use of smartphones ‘must be seen as a cultural practice integrated within a more complex interweaving between consumption, production, representation, and (self) regulation practices. This enables us to go beyond the idea of addiction and embrace a vision capable of encompassing the behaviours and dynamics around young people and new communication technologies’ (p. 123). This book is the result of a well-designed research project. The authors have approached key questions from their background and expertise in sociology and culture, and these areas of interest add to its strengths. Questions relating to the use of smartphones by young people are explored by means of in-depth interviews as well as by a thorough examination of the literature relating to the usage of digital technologies. I recommend it highly for academics, researchers, educators and scholars.