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| Id | 793 | |
| Author | Peters C., Witschge T. | |
| Title | From grand narratives of democracy to small expectations of participation: Audiences, citizenship, and interactive tools in digital journalism | |
| Reference | Peters C., Witschge T.; From grand narratives of democracy to small expectations of participation: Audiences, citizenship, and interactive tools in digital journalism ;Journalism Practice vol:9.0 issue: 1.0 page:19.0 |
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| Link to article | https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84975495595&doi=10.1080%2f17512786.2014.928455&partnerID=40&md5=662c430f8e0a6395596e1ac199c77e4c |
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| Abstract | This article critically examines the invocation of democracy in the discourse of audience participation in digital journalism. Rather than simply restate the familiar grand narratives that traditionally described journalism’s function for democracy (information source, watchdog, public representative, mediation for political actors), we compare and contrast conceptualisations of the audience found within these and discuss how digital technologies impact these relationships. We consider how “participatory” transformations influence perceptions of news consumption and draw out analytic distinctions based on structures of participation and different levels of engagement. This article argues that the focus in digital journalism is not so much on citizen engagement but rather audience or user interaction; instead of participation through news, the focus is on participation in news. This demands we distinguish between minimalist and maximalist versions of participation through interactive tools, as there is a significant distinction between technologies that allow individuals to control and personalise content (basic digital control) and entire platforms that easily facilitate the storytelling and distribution of citizen journalism within public discourse (integrative structural participation). Furthermore, commercial interests tend to dominate the shaping of digital affordances, which can lead to individualistic rather than collective conceptualisations. This article concludes by considering what is gained as well as lost when grand visions of journalism’s roles for democracy are appropriated or discarded in favour of a participation paradigm to conceptualise digital journalism. © 2014 Taylor & Francis. |
From grand narratives of democracy to small expectations of participation: Audiences, citizenship, and interactive tools in digital journalism. However while revenue generation may be part of the equation there is an alternative discourse surrounding participation which valorises it in terms of its democratising effect on media. Similarly Costera Meijers multiple studies in the Dutch context note the existence CHRIS PETERS AND TAMARA WITSCHGE of a widely different logic operating between what users value in terms of participation being taken seriously as individuals and a collectivity with wisdom and expertise to offer and the professional scepticism with which journalists traditionally view more inclusive initiatives. While digital tools may promote connection in a very literal sense these are not the same forms of public connection emphasised under the old grand narratives. In this regard there is a relationshipand potentially a paradoxbetween discourses of empowerment and participation and the actual practices and affordances of technological tools.
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