I'm Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I work on civil society and the public sphere, social theory of communication, and communication ecologies.
... and action researchers on a number of other civic renewal and public journalism projects. ...... more ... and action researchers on a number of other civic renewal and public journalism projects. ... the significant learning and innovation that have taken place over the past three decades provide ... alliances and land trusts; and civic education that nourishes a protective ethic for local ...
In this issue, we are introducing a new feature of Communication and the Public, called “Trending... more In this issue, we are introducing a new feature of Communication and the Public, called “Trending,” which will focus on short cases from around the world in which communication is being deployed or challenged in the development of civil society or the public sphere. Our goal is to establish a case forum in which the work of younger scholars (including graduate students) can be presented relatively quickly (at least in “journal time”) so that readers can see and react to events as they unfold. Undoubtedly, many of the cases we present will turn into fully developed articles, even dissertations and books eventually. But we think there is a useful space of publication, more formal than the web, editorially reviewed, but less formal than the full article, that can serve to generate public discussion and analysis closer to the time of the events themselves and diffuse them into scholarly and public discussion. Each section will contain a modest number of cases, ranging from 1000 to 3000 words. Cases can briefly describe a set of theoretical or analytical issues or problems, but we ask that theory and analysis be relatively restricted to framing the case itself, locating it in the “family” of problems that it exemplifies, but not engaging in extensive theoretical analysis or literature review. The bulk of the case should be descriptive and analytical, written to introduce it to non-specialist readers. We are also asking contributors to keep citations to a minimum: no lists of standard sources in the field. Please cite only that material which is necessary to document your case and its claims. Each section will also have a short introductory essay, framing the cases, posing questions, and establishing common threads where warranted. In this first section, we were lucky to have a fine cohort of graduate students from the University of Wisconsin (UW)–Madison and the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania whose work in the past year we felt was worth presenting. Of course, we hope to expand this scope in subsequent Trending sections. This issue’s cases both cluster and overlap in several ways. We have two cases of the introduction of new technologies nation-wide, in China and India, and how these technologies were received. Two of our cases, focusing on China and South Africa, highlight the continuing and evolving use of both old communication technology and new in forming civil society, and the South African case extends our Introduction: Communication in civil society
Page 1. Review Essay Public Television and the Crisis of Democracy: A Review Essay Public Service... more Page 1. Review Essay Public Television and the Crisis of Democracy: A Review Essay Public Service Broadcasting in a Multichannel Environment: The History and Survival of an Ideal. Robert K. Avery. White Plains, NY: Longman, 1993. ...
Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, Mar 1, 1995
The contentious debate on the structure of the public sphere in the capitalist democ-racies has b... more The contentious debate on the structure of the public sphere in the capitalist democ-racies has begun to move into the field of mass communication, yet there are few empirical investigations of public sphere media institutions and their functions. By exploring the organizational ...
Amidst current research on the positive impact of rising rates of youth civic participation, but ... more Amidst current research on the positive impact of rising rates of youth civic participation, but also indications of a shift in the underlying forms of civic life and increasing socioeconomic disparities in levels of participation, the authors investigate the meaning of civic engagement from the perspective of high-school-aged youth. The authors inductively develop a typology of engagement based on in-depth interviews with a purposive stratified sample of eighty-nine high school students in a Midwestern city. The authors find that youth link civic engagement with ambition and achievement as a means to build capital in a Bourdieuian field of youth achievement. While civic engagement is informed by structural position, youth are actively involved in navigating their positions and choices. Civic engagement emerges primarily through volunteerism as youth struggle to assemble and deploy capital in the achievement field and thus compound class-based disparities in civic involvement.
... and action researchers on a number of other civic renewal and public journalism projects. ...... more ... and action researchers on a number of other civic renewal and public journalism projects. ... the significant learning and innovation that have taken place over the past three decades provide ... alliances and land trusts; and civic education that nourishes a protective ethic for local ...
In this issue, we are introducing a new feature of Communication and the Public, called “Trending... more In this issue, we are introducing a new feature of Communication and the Public, called “Trending,” which will focus on short cases from around the world in which communication is being deployed or challenged in the development of civil society or the public sphere. Our goal is to establish a case forum in which the work of younger scholars (including graduate students) can be presented relatively quickly (at least in “journal time”) so that readers can see and react to events as they unfold. Undoubtedly, many of the cases we present will turn into fully developed articles, even dissertations and books eventually. But we think there is a useful space of publication, more formal than the web, editorially reviewed, but less formal than the full article, that can serve to generate public discussion and analysis closer to the time of the events themselves and diffuse them into scholarly and public discussion. Each section will contain a modest number of cases, ranging from 1000 to 3000 words. Cases can briefly describe a set of theoretical or analytical issues or problems, but we ask that theory and analysis be relatively restricted to framing the case itself, locating it in the “family” of problems that it exemplifies, but not engaging in extensive theoretical analysis or literature review. The bulk of the case should be descriptive and analytical, written to introduce it to non-specialist readers. We are also asking contributors to keep citations to a minimum: no lists of standard sources in the field. Please cite only that material which is necessary to document your case and its claims. Each section will also have a short introductory essay, framing the cases, posing questions, and establishing common threads where warranted. In this first section, we were lucky to have a fine cohort of graduate students from the University of Wisconsin (UW)–Madison and the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania whose work in the past year we felt was worth presenting. Of course, we hope to expand this scope in subsequent Trending sections. This issue’s cases both cluster and overlap in several ways. We have two cases of the introduction of new technologies nation-wide, in China and India, and how these technologies were received. Two of our cases, focusing on China and South Africa, highlight the continuing and evolving use of both old communication technology and new in forming civil society, and the South African case extends our Introduction: Communication in civil society
Page 1. Review Essay Public Television and the Crisis of Democracy: A Review Essay Public Service... more Page 1. Review Essay Public Television and the Crisis of Democracy: A Review Essay Public Service Broadcasting in a Multichannel Environment: The History and Survival of an Ideal. Robert K. Avery. White Plains, NY: Longman, 1993. ...
Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, Mar 1, 1995
The contentious debate on the structure of the public sphere in the capitalist democ-racies has b... more The contentious debate on the structure of the public sphere in the capitalist democ-racies has begun to move into the field of mass communication, yet there are few empirical investigations of public sphere media institutions and their functions. By exploring the organizational ...
Amidst current research on the positive impact of rising rates of youth civic participation, but ... more Amidst current research on the positive impact of rising rates of youth civic participation, but also indications of a shift in the underlying forms of civic life and increasing socioeconomic disparities in levels of participation, the authors investigate the meaning of civic engagement from the perspective of high-school-aged youth. The authors inductively develop a typology of engagement based on in-depth interviews with a purposive stratified sample of eighty-nine high school students in a Midwestern city. The authors find that youth link civic engagement with ambition and achievement as a means to build capital in a Bourdieuian field of youth achievement. While civic engagement is informed by structural position, youth are actively involved in navigating their positions and choices. Civic engagement emerges primarily through volunteerism as youth struggle to assemble and deploy capital in the achievement field and thus compound class-based disparities in civic involvement.
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Papers by Lewis A. Friedland