Journalism-Hate as Social Affect: How Anti-Press Sentiments Holistically Shape the Lives of Korean Journalists

Abstract

The growing hostility toward the press has attracted significant scholarly attention. This study proposes incorporating affect as a crucial element to understand that hostility. This study introduces journalism-hate as a socially organized affective structure that shapes, circulates, and sustains hostility toward the press and its practitioners. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 31 Korean journalists, this study shows how they perceive and navigate this negativity and its long-term effects on routines and professional identities. Findings indicate that journalism-hate’s routinized, normalized, and intractable character produces everyday trauma, prompting journalists to question the value of their work. It marginalizes those who do not conform to the journalism-hate-shaped ideal—rendering them affect aliens within their professional community.