Trend Journalism: Definition, History, and Critique.

This article seeks to define, historicize, and critique the phenomenon of trend journalism within American journalism. I position trend journalism as an outgrowth of journalistic movements that, since the mid-twentieth century, have sought to elevate the role of storytelling and thematic interpretation in journalistic practice. In addition to historically and theoretically contextualizing trend journalism, the article examines critiques of trend journalism and analyzes coverage of metrosexuality in the 2000s as an exemplar of the generic features and shortcomings of trend journalism. In sum, this article argues that trend journalism showcases the power as well as limits of trends as a prism through which journalists understand and explain the world to their readership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]