Kristina Riegert

Activists, Individualists, and Comics The Counter-publicness of Lebanese Blogs

This article examines whether the ways Lebanese bloggers blur the boundaries between the national and transnational, the formal and informal, and entertainment and politics can be described as counter-publics. We focus on the ten most popular individual blogs in Lebanon during the time period April 2009–2010, noting bloggers’ mutual connectivity and links to online media in Lebanon. We then analyze themes common to these blogs, focusing specifically on how Lebanese bloggers question the norms and push the boundaries of what can be said mediated public sphere. While there are differences between the bloggers not least due to whether they are writing in Arabic or English—almost all explicitly criticize the current sectarian system, human rights violations, as well as existing religious, gender and environmental norms. Whether they see themselves as cosmopolitan or locally based activists, a significant minority uses humor and political satire as key elements in their blogs.

Cultural Mediators Seduced by Mad Men: How Cultural Journalists Legitimized a Quality TV Series in the Nordic Region

Based on theories about the role of cultural mediators in cultural production and using the TV series Mad Men as a case, this article investigates how cultural journalists in the Nordic countries have contributed to legitimizing “quality TV series” as a worthy field of aesthetic consumption. Key analytical points are as follows: (1) cultural journalists legitimize Mad Men’s quality by addressing aspects internal (aesthetic markers) and aspects external (culture industry markers) to the series, as well as the series’ broader social and historical anchoring; (2) Nordic cultural journalists position themselves positively toward the TV series based on their professional expertise and their personal taste preferences and predilections; (3) these legitimation processes take place across journalistic genres, pointing to the importance not only of TV criticism, epitomized by the review, but of cultural journalism more broadly in constructing affirmative attitudes toward popular culture phenomena such as TV series.