Dear Colleagues, I wanted to let you know that my book, (Not) kidding: politics in online tabloids (Brill), is finally out: https://brill.com/display/title/69821 The book offers an analysis of the 2015-2016 presidential and Brexit campaigns - both articles and user comments - published in major Polish, British, and US online tabloids: Pudelek, Mail Online, and Gawker; in addition, 20 journalists and editors from these outlets were interviewed to understand their work, their newsrooms, and notions of professionalism. This allows to expose the emotional public sphere of comment sections, as well as the key tabloid “(not) kidding” frame: ambiguous, reactive to readers, and shielding online tabloids from accusations of deteriorating democracy. More about the book: Often reduced to the role of sensationalist gossipmongers, online tabloids are a vital source of political news for the public. This book offers a deep dive into Pudelek, Mail Online, and Gawker coverage of 2015-2016 political campaigns in Poland, the United Kingdom, and the United States, where votes led to major populist shifts. Thanks to a close study of news stories, anonymous comments under articles, and interviews with online-tabloid journalists, Helena Chmielewska-Szlajfer exposes the emotional public sphere of comment sections, as well as the key tabloid “(not) kidding” frame: ambiguous, reactive to readers, and shielding online tabloids from accusations of deteriorating democracy. Chapter 1 How Did We Get Here? Tabloidization of News and the 2015–16 Elections in Poland, UK, and the US Chapter 2 Politicians Are Crooks, Votes Are Rigged, and Other Visions of an (Un)just World Chapter 3 Backoffice, or How Online Tabloid Journalists Write on Politics Chapter 4 Conclusion. Online Tabloid Voices and Democracy Helena Chmielewska-Szlajfer, Ph.D. (2014), Assistant Professor at Koźmiński University and LSE Visiting Fellow, is a sociologist specializing in everyday culture, democracy, and media, and the author of Kazimierz Kelles-Krauz: Marxism and Sociology (Brill, 2018) and Reshaping Poland's Community after Communism: Ordinary Celebrations (Palgrave, 2019). I hope you enjoy the book! Please let me know if you would like to write a review and I can arrange a copy. Best wishes, Helena ___________________________ Dr Helena Chmielewska-Szlajfer Assistant Professor, Kozminski University, Department of Management in Networked and Digital Societies 2017-2025 LSE Visiting Fellow, Department of Media and Communications twitter.com/HChSz <http://twitter.com/HChSz> Recent publications: Chmielewska-Szlajfer, Helena, 2024, (Not) kidding: politics in online tabloids, Leiden: Brill, https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004692688 <https://brill.com/display/title/69821> Chmielewska-Szlajfer, Helena, 2020, Academics know better (?): scholars and politics in major opinion dailies during the 2015 presidential campaign in Poland, Critical Sociology, 46(7-8), 1267-1281, https://doi.org/10.1177/0896920520907962 <https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0896920520907962> Chmielewska-Szlajfer, Helena, 2019, Reshaping Poland’s community after communism: Ordinary celebrations, New York: Palgrave, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-78735-0 <https://www.palgrave.com/9783319787343>