Journalism's Long Cosmopolitan Turn

The figure of the journalist as a ‘citizen of the world’ is deeply inscribed on journalism culture, yet in recent years new media scholars have appropriated the concept of cosmopolitanism for citizen and networked journalism. Using scholarship on cosmopolitanism, and profiles of several journalists well known in public discourse, this paper explores the meaning of cosmopolitanism in journalism. We argue that histories by Rantanen, Stephens and others demonstrate the historical basis of cosmopolitanism in journalism culture and practice. We analyse the inherent qualities of journalism that mark it as cosmopolitan, exploring these in archetypal examples drawn from celebrated journalists’ work. We advance the hypothesis that cosmopolitanism has long been an aspiration in journalism generally, and argue that recognition of this matters to the future of journalism. We also explain how this hypothesis will be explored in future cases involving the work of less well known journalists.