Between the Present and the Past: Using Card-Sorting and Biographical Approaches to Identify News Influencers’ Media Habits

Validating news through close relationships (e.g. family and friends) is a strategy that young people use to assess the trustworthiness of news [1]. Also, some authors argue that “interactions with media are embedded within a biographical understanding of time” [2]. Considering this, this paper focuses on using semi-structured interviews with biographical features and based on the Q-Sort methodological approach [3, 4], as a qualitative strategy to map past and present news consumption habits. We reflect on this methodological approach to analyse changes in media consumption over time, emphasising social and intergenerational contexts. As part of a larger project, we conducted twelve interviews with individuals - from different ages and backgrounds - previously identified by youth (between 15–24 years old) as their news influencers. The interviews (N = 12) were conducted via Zoom video call platform between July and October 2023. Findings indicate that some strategies contribute to obtaining more thought-provoking answers from interviewees. Namely paying attention to spontaneous mentions of past periods or important events in their lives and mentions of changing media habits. Even though remembering is a complex process, Q-sort helped participants to reflect upon and talk about their media habits. Moreover, our biographical approach with Q-Sort methodology revealed interesting findings with participants of distinct ages and backgrounds.