communication and participation in the new media era

O s s c o m – Osservatorio sulla Comunicazione

Communication and Participation in the New Media

Era

Fausto Colombo

(Catholic University, Milan)


Introducing (briefly) myself

• Professor of Media Theory, Faculty of Political Sciences, Catholic University of Milan

• Director of OssCom, Research Center on Media and Communication (Catholic University)

• Main Topics:

• Digitalisation of media

• Generations and Media

• Media and Politics

• Social History of Italian Media (and Mass Culture)


Discussing about politics in the new

media era

•The new importance of the concept of public sphere

•The rivitalization oh Habermas’ approach

•Critics and alternatives


Discussing about public sphereThe role of media in Habermas’ theory:

• Media setting: newspapers, burgeois salon, cafè

• Social setting: bourgeoisie

• Cultural setting: familiar, ethical and economic values

Main Changes:

1. Transformations in media setting:

• Professionalization of production

• Product alienation

• Change from news as information to news as commodity

2. Transformations in social setting:

• Proletariat's ascent

• Mass society


Some hypothesis…

Media Setting

Social Setting

From

Public Sphere

To

Mass Democracy

From

Newspapers..

To

Cultural Industry

Frombourgeoisie

ToProletariat

ToMasses


Habermasian hypothesis about new media contribution to public

sphere (especially web 2.0)

Media setting

Social setting

From

Mass Democracy

To

New Public Sphere

From

Cultural Industry

To

New participatory

Media

From

Masses

to

New citizenship


Controversial points•Underestimation of institutional contexts (audience democracy), political feelings, popular contents

•Overestimation of the role of rationality in political choices

•Overemphasis on differences among media and underestimation of their intrinsic flexibility


Underestimation of Institutional Context

The role of media changes in different institutional systems:

• not only in totalitarism (or authoritarism) vs democracies

• but also in different forms of totalitarism (and authoritarism) and in different forms of democracy


Overestimation of the Role of Rationality

Contents and political argumentation are always challenged by emotional conditions:

•Development of fandom model of the political participation

•Difficulties in understanding the most important topics

-Because of the global dimension

-Because of links with ethical dimension


Overemphasis on differences among

media…Difficulties in defining “media”:

•Interfaces

•Rituals

•Flows/contents

Possibilites to find the same interface, ritual or content on different media, and viceversa


…and underestimation of media flexibility

Every single media always changes and presents differences

•Monopolistic Tv vs Commercial Tv vs Digital Tvs and their complexity

•Newspapers

•Web vs web 2.0


Alternative hyphotesis ..

Media (New and Old Media) setting processes are effective as far as they suit dominant culture (egemony) and are encouraged by the whole social/political system.


3 cases of political audiovisual communication

on Youtube

•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1z2fPi2VtQI

•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAuqZRrYAp0

•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXf-YbsSh0Y


Multi-dimensional model


Institutional system (formal and informal)

Political feeling (e.g personalization)

Media setting: statics, dynamics and relations between media.

Cultural change: languages, recurring contents, framing

Public sphere




Institutional system (formal and informal)

Tradition

Powers balance

Strenght of institutions

Public sphere


Political feeling

Trust in institutions Participation cultureSentiment of national belonging

Public sphere




Social and cultural roles of élitesCultural levelRole of education and high culture



Public sphere

Cultural change: languages, recurring contents, framing


Media setting: statics, dynamics and relations between media.

Complexity of settings

Diffusion of new media and media literacy

Competition and economic autonomy

Public sphere




Conclusions

•Differences between old and new media are less important then differences between societies

•The concept of public sphere could be useful, but it need some critical observation


[email protected]

http:laculturasottile.wordpress.com

communication and participation in the new media era

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