In a choice-rich media environment, audience perceptions of what is and is not news are not static. However, most of the scholarship about news definitions has been from the perspective of the practitioner. This article takes an audience-centric approach. Based on thematic analysis of 60 semi-structured interviews with Australians, it finds traditional understandings of news persist for many, but broader definitions outside of traditional conceptions of news are more likely to be embraced by under-35 and non-news consuming audiences. Using an adaptation of Gieryn’s boundary framework and its dimensions of expansion, expulsion, and protection, the analysis revealed strong sentiments about the quality of mainstream news from traditional news adherents, those who perceive expanded news boundaries, and those who reject legacy news. The evidence provided, and the new conceptual framework can assist news organisations, policymakers and scholars in their understanding of low and non-news users’ engagement with and perception of news.
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