Meso News-Spaces and Beyond: News-Related Communication Occurring Between the Public and Private Domains

The concept of meso news-spaces refers to online spaces located between the private and public realms, where everyday users, more professional media actors, or both, can produce and share news-related content among each other, yet not to a wide audience. Such spaces are afforded by digital media platforms, including, but not limited to, Facebook groups, X spaces, and group chats on WeChat, WhatsApp, or Telegram. This special issue is devoted to further understanding news-related communication that occurs neither in fully public nor fully private realms, but between or across the two. In the introduction to the special issue, we demonstrate the significance of meso news-spaces by considering the example of the use of WhatsApp groups in the mobilization of the pro-democracy movement in Israel in 2023. We then consider the challenges that meso news-spaces pose for researchers, in terms of conceptualization, research ethics, and context. We conclude with a review of the articles of the special issue, and with directions for future research around this phenomenon, that is proving to be a significant one in the digital news environment.