Introduction
In contemporary Western societies, journalism often comes under fire. This is due in part to the increased economic threat posed to the profession by a steady decline in the consumption of news but also to increasing scepticism in the value of news and the media in general. This introductory chapter summarizes the theoretical approaches taken in this book, highlighting the unique contributions that a media psychological approach can make to our understanding of news-making and the construction of meaning. The chapter presents an overview of how psychology can contribute to our understanding of news, and it describes in relation to journalism uniquely media psychological constructs (parasocial interactions and the third-person effect). The chapter concludes with a chapter-by-chapter summary of the rest of the book.