#citizenrelayCitizen Media: Translating Theory to

Practice

@dgmcgillivray @jennifermjones

Established Narratives

The Olympic Games is a media platform with an assumed dominant narrative; the IOC, Games organizers, sponsors and athletic federations attempt to defend the narrative against

counter narratives…a problem for the Olympics is that there is some ambiguity over the ownership of the Olympic Games platform and the narrative. Who owns it? Is it the IOC, the

organizing committee, the host city or nation, or the sponsors?" (Horne & Whannel, 2010, p762)

the likelihood of a spiral of silence emerges, in which fringe minority voices get less hearing and are gradually brought into conformity…the hegemony of the privileged over web content

and values will marginalise less powerful groups as it has in other media (Real, 2007, p182)

Small, alternative or citizen media offers space for the digitally empowered citizen to break stories, become media makers

and storytellers of the now, archived as an historical record

#citizenrelay used a hybrid media environment, including blogs and social media, to mobilise, organise and discuss

issues pertaining the Olympic Torch Relay

Small media, citizen-oriented

Immediacy

Speed, of communication and representation, is a prominent feature of

the accelerated mega event spectacle, creating challenges of narrative control and management for event owners and

corporate sponsors alike

• WHAT DID WE DO?

Networks and connectedness

The project intentionally adopted a decentralized and distributed structure,

where heterogeneous actors could network and amplify their messages

through a shared communication platform

locality

A commitment to a more bottom-up, place-specific agenda was built into the recruitment of

volunteer reporters from four regions of Scotland and investment in a mobile community media

centre (a minibus) to help support citizen media makers in each locality

Empowerment

mass media and institutional gatekeepers are being circumvented by citizen reporters and commentators who provide first-hand, real-

time coverage and non-hegemonic interpretations (Bakardjieva, et al, 2012),

participation

digital infrastructures offer citizens new channels for speaking and acting

together and thus lower the threshold for involvement (Bakardjieva et al, 2012: i)

Next Steps • Towards #Glasgow2014: Significant year for Scotland

(Referendum, Commonwealth Games, Home-Coming) Use of mega-event narrative to provoke and capture wider discussions relating to social and political discourse.

• Community Media Practice: Focus on developing techniques and skill-based training support that can be offered to those who take part in initiative.

• Capacity building: Strengthen and grow with relationships established during #citizenrelay to map network of ‘community media hubs’ across Scotland.

Concluding thoughts ample space within the saturated established media landscape for

citizen-owned and led initiatives, based on the philosophy of a low threshold for involvement using everyday digital technologies, effective coordination and amplification of key messages

participatory media practices can help establish new collectives which are sustained beyond mega event spectacle

in more complex media environment, citizen media need not simply oppose the established media but instead co-exist, occupying at different times each other’s traditional spaces and using similar newsgathering and distribution techniques

#citizenrelayhttp://www.citizenrelay.net