Alvares Claudia Gustavo Cardoso Peter Da

ESF Forward Look
Media in Europe:
New Questions for Research
and Policy
European Science Foundation (ESF) Forward Looks
The European Science Foundation (ESF) was Forward Looks enable Europe’s scientiic community,
established in 1974 to provide a common platform in interaction with policy makers, to develop medium-
for its Member Organisations to advance European to long-term views and analyses of future research
research collaboration and explore new directions for developments with the aim of deining research
research. It is an independent organisation, owned by agendas at national and European level. Forward
66 Member Organisations, which are research funding Looks are driven by ESF’s Member Organisations
organisations, research performing organisations and, by extension, the European research community.
and academies from 29 countries. ESF promotes Quality assurance mechanisms, based on peer review
collaboration in research itself, in funding of research where appropriate, are applied at every stage of the
and in science policy activities at the European level. development and delivery of a Forward Look to ensure
Currently ESF is reducing its research programmes its quality and impact.
while developing new activities to serve the science www.esf.org/flooks
community, including peer review and evaluation
services.
www.esf.org The Forward Look ‘Media in Europe’ emerged from a
workshop initiated by the ESF Standing Committees
for the Humanities (SCH) and Social Sciences (SCSS)
to address the need for research initiatives that would
bridge the methodological divides between the
humanities and the social sciences.
Authors
• Dr Claudia Alvares, Lusofona University, Portugal
• Professor Gustavo Cardoso, ISCTE, Portugal
• Professor Peter Dahlgren, Professor Emeritus,
Lund University, Sweden
• Professor Ola Erstad, University of Oslo, Norway
• Professor Johan Fornäs, Sodertorn University,
Huddinge, Sweden
• Professor Peter Golding, Northumbria University,
Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
• Professor Hannu Nieminen, University of Helsinki,
Finland
• Professor Colin Sparks, Hong Kong Baptist
University, Hong Kong
• Professor Slavko Splichal, University of Ljubljana,
Slovenia
• Dr Charis Xinaris, European University – Cyprus,
Nicosia, Cyprus
European Science Foundation

• Ms Sarah Moore, Science Oficer
• Dr Nina Kancewicz-Hoffman, Head Humanities
and Social Sciences (to Dec 2013)
• Dr Eva Hoogland, Senior Science Oficer
(to Oct 2012)
• Ms Céline Ottenwelter, Administrative Coordinator
ISBN: 978-2-36873-007-2
Pictures: © iStockphoto
Contents
Foreword 3
Executive Summary 5
1. Introduction 9
2. Political Participation in an Age of Mediatisation 11
3. What is the ‘Digital Divide’ and Why is it Important? 17
4. Content Creation and Creative Industries: New Practices with Economic Prospects 24
5. Identity Formation: From Facebook Groups to Institutional Forms of Cultural Heritage 30
6. Conclusions 36
7. Recommendations 42
Annex 1: Membership of the Scientiic Committee and the Quality Reference Group 50
Annex 2: Forward Look Activities and Participants 51
Foreword
l l l
he media are such a familiar part of everyday per- dramatic uses and abuses of communications 3
sonal, professional and social life that it oten takes media, we have become accustomed to them being
Media in Europe: New Questions for Research and Policy

a jolt of some kind to make us conscious again of at the heart of social, cultural, political and eco-
their ubiquity and of the need to interrogate our nomic life. In recent decades the communications
relationship to them. media have become ever more central in people’s
With the so-called traditional or ‘old’ media, activities in work and leisure, as citizens, con-
such moments of heightened awareness and relec- sumers, individuals and members of publics. his
tion on the power of the media have occurred on centrality demands the urgent and renewed atten-
the occasion of, for example, public scandals result- tion of researchers.
ing from invasions of privacy or violations of public Developments in media are thus among the
norms of decency and taste. But old media have most important and inluential of our age, but our
already long co-existed with what are still some- understanding of the role and potential of new and
what incongruously called ‘new’ media, primarily old media alike needs urgent attention and refresh-
internet, mobile telephony and digital communica- ing; it can be diicult to separate what we really
tion, which are now pervasive in so many areas of understand about the role of media in people’s indi-
personal, social, political, economic and scientiic vidual and social lives from our assumptions, hopes
life. hese newer information and communication and fears about them, and diicult too, sometimes,
technologies have enriched our existence enor- to keep research on media grounded in theory and
mously – expanding possibilities for education, connected to core disciplines.
entertainment, industry, personal fulilment and his is why the European Science Foundation
social connection, not to mention the invaluable supported the proposal to conduct a Forward Look
resource they represent for scientiic activity and in the area of Media Studies. It is clear that we need
communication. Many people could no longer to take stock of what we know, and to relect on
entertain the idea of a world without internet and what we still do not know and what we will prob-
mobile telephones and their innumerable applica- ably need to know in the near future. Forward
tions. Looks are designed to allow precisely for this kind
Nonetheless, most of us also recognise the of stock-taking and relection on future research
potential for rapidly evolving media and com- needs. This is not an instrument to predict the
munication technologies and applications to have future and how to get there. Forward Looks allow
unanticipated and/or deleterious efects. Some of for a joint consideration of our stock of knowledge
these are already well known to us, for example and a concerted efort to determine what research
the efect of ile-sharing on intellectual property needs to be done to ill the gaps in our knowledge,
regimes, the use of social networking websites to based on our best understanding of trends and pat-
abuse individuals or support extremist groups, the terns in the natural and social world.
exploitation of personal data gleaned from internet his Forward Look began its life entitled ‘New
or mobile telephone use by commercial organisa- Media, New Literacies’, in the conviction that criti-
tions or even government, etc. Beyond these more cal competence in using and engaging with new
media and new applications was indispensable for At the same time, such a research agenda will
every citizen. However, in the process of explora- not succeed if certain infrastructural conditions
tion and discovery that every Forward Look entails, are not in place, and this will especially require the
it was ascertained that the issues the participants commitment and support of research institutions
wished to pursue went beyond questions of how and funding organisations. his report therefore
individuals engage with the media. In the early includes recommendations to research leaders and
scoping phase, four leading and critical areas of science policy makers and we warmly encourage
inquiry were identiied: political participation, the them to act on these suggestions. he issues at stake
digital divide, the creative economy and identity are important for matters such as equality, social
formation. hese topics were separately addressed cohesion, political engagement, security, employ-
in dedicated workshops during 2012, involving ment and the economy.
experts in each of the areas.
Once the critical issues in each area had been
identiied, and tentative conclusions drawn, the Professor Sir Roderick Floud
Steering Committee of the initiative met to syn- Chair, ESF Standing Committee for the Social
thesize the results from the four lines of activity Sciences
and to drat an agenda for research and policy. In
a inal step, a conference involving a broader range Professor Milena Žic Fuchs
4 of stakeholders from all sectors of society– aca- Chair, ESF Standing Committee for the
demics, policy makers, industry, practitioners and Humanities
representative associations – was convened in early

2013. his event was highly productive, generat- Mr Martin Hynes
ing in advance an unanticipated volume of written ESF Chief Executive
feedback on the drat research agenda and recom-
mendations, which contributed enormously to the
quality and relevance of the report that follows.
As a result of the sustained efforts of the
Steering Committee, with the careful oversight of
the Quality Reference Group, this report thus con-
tains an agenda for research in the domain of media
studies for the next ive to ten years that, if followed,
will equip us to deal better with existing and immi-
nent challenges, to anticipate some of the potential
pitfalls and to continue to exploit the beneits of
developments in digital communication technolo-
gies. he research agenda is presented in the form of
a set of twelve vital questions that should be priori-
tised by researchers, research funders and research
policy makers.
Executive Summary
l l l
Media studies is a ield that has grown rapidly in to and use of technologies do not only relect exist- 5
recent years and which will become even more impor- ing social inequalities, in fact, they may also be an

tant in the future, as ‘new’ media – notably digital element in their reproduction.
communications, the internet and mobile telephony Digital media and communications technology
– become almost universal. have also been heralded as a new domain of and
Given the now pervasive role of the media in so platform for creativity, allowing individuals to be pro-
many areas of social, economic, cultural and political ducers and users of content and applications as never
life, and our current context of rapid social and tech- before. However, there remains much to understand
nological change, it is urgent to take stock of what we about changes in content creation and the crea-
know, and dare to ask bold new questions about the tive industries, and how they will inluence cultural
nature and role of media and our relationship to them. production, ownership regimes, business models, dis-
Far from being an unproblematic driver and product tribution systems and consumption practices, not to
of progress, new media and communication technolo- mention the economic implications of all these.
gies and applications have desirable and less desirable Media are furthermore at once a resource, an
efects on individuals and society that demand to be environment and a vehicle for the construction,
much better understood than they currently are. dissemination and expression of individual and
he ESF Forward Look on Media Studies, con- collective identities. New media forms ofer new
ducted between 2012 and 2013, aimed to deine, in possibilities, conditions and constraints for identity
discussion with science policy organisations, practi- formation and association which are potentially
tioners and other stakeholders, a common European changing the very nature of social interaction and
research agenda that would begin to address the new the relationship between the physical and the virtual.
research and policy challenges relating to media and It is urgent to develop research that investigates and
communications. understands the changes taking place and how they
Four leading and critical areas of inquiry emerged are afecting individual or collective identities and/
in the Forward Look process. In a period in which or promoting new forms of agency.
coincident crises of economy, welfare, political partic- he broad-based and integrated approach of the
ipation, and private–public provision are all creating Forward Look to these four key thematic areas made
levels of uncertainty and social disquiet unknown it possible to distil the key concerns into twelve spe-
in a generation in Europe, the role of the media in ciic research questions that demand attention in the
enabling, thwarting and transforming the nature of coming 5-10 years (see Box 1). Without close investiga-
political engagement and citizenship is of critical tion into and relection on these issues, we will not be
concern. able to begin to address holistically, rigorously and
Furthermore, rather than acting as a democ- reliably the great societal challenges facing Europe
ratising and levelling force, the diffusion of in the twenty-irst century, in areas such as social
communication technologies may actually be caus- inclusiveness, citizenship, innovation, job creation,
ing what is broadly known as the digital divide to freedom, privacy and security.
deepen rather than disappear; diferences in access
Recommendations Infrastructure
• Collaborative international research would
At the same time, the Forward Look aimed to spec- greatly facilitate comparative, diachronic study,
ify the institutional frameworks that would support but this kind of research is diicult to set up and
such a research agenda, and has done so in the form coordinate, and would beneit greatly from sup-
of a set of concrete recommendations for research port measures, such as internationally coordinated
and policy. A irst sub-set of recommendations con- research programmes and workshops. Relevant
cerns research approaches, while the second relates organisations such as subject associations, the
to the infrastructure required to conduct rigorous, European Commission, and the members of ESF
reliable and efective research. and Science Europe should take up this challenge.
• A delicate relationship exists between indus-
Approaches try, government and academia in this area.
• As with so many other societal challenges, each of Cooperation between academic researchers,
the key research questions identiied will require statutory agencies and commercial organisa-
an interdisciplinary approach. Higher education tions, which oten hold enormous datasets of
institutions and funding bodies should actively high interest to social scientists and humanities
facilitate media scholars in undertaking interdisci- scholars, should be promoted, not least through
plinary research, and on no account penalise them appropriate recognition of such cooperation by
6 for this type of efort through discipline-based universities and research funders.
research assessment methods. • Data management and availability is a persistent
• It is not suicient to take snapshots of the world if issue for media studies. Data in this area should
we want to understand trends and developments. ideally be included in the Council of European
Researchers must be permitted and supported Social Science Data Archives (CESSDA), and
to undertake long-term (diachronic) studies, strategies for the collation, management and dis-
meaning that research funders must comple- semination in this area should be developed.
ment their desire for immediate results with the • Training opportunities for doctoral and post-
ambition to obtain more durable and signiicant doctoral researchers in media and communication
indings. studies should be expanded, and dedicated long-
• As well as looking through time, we need to look term inancial support mechanisms set up. Such
across space in comparative investigation, mind- training should pay attention to the need to
ful that the easiest comparisons are not always the enlarge research capacity and capabilities in
most revelatory. Cross-national, but also regional international, collaborative, comparative and dia-
and local level analysis will yield precious insights chronic research, as outlined above.
into factors afecting the difusion, use and impact
of media and communication technologies, while he ultimate objective of the Forward Look on
comparisons across social and cultural groupings, Media Studies was to raise awareness among
age cohorts and generations are key to under- researchers and science policy makers of the impor-
standing diferential engagement with media and tance of taking up those essential questions and
communications at an even iner level of detail. infrastructural challenges. We hope the ideas and
• At the same time, media studies, by nature a challenges raised in this initiative provoke debate
hybrid ield, should be careful to remain theo- and assist in the development of forward-looking
retically grounded. Researchers and research research and policy in these vital ields of activity.
funders both must be attentive to the theoretical he quality of our individual and collective lives in
foundations of work programmes and research the twenty-irst century will depend on it.
projects, in even the most pragmatic-seeming or
policy-oriented study.
Box 1: Key research questions for the future
1. What is the relative impact of technologi- 7. How do new uses of communication tech-
cal innovation and socio-cultural context in nologies articulate with bodily experience, for
shaping the actual uses of digital media? example in the domains of healthcare, educa-
2. How do key trends in markets and media tion, art, gaming culture and fashion?
industries impact on public knowledge and 8. What are the implications for privacy and the
public culture, and how does public policy principles of democracy of the increasing use
relate to market imperatives? of new media technologies to facilitate every-
3. What is the relationship between cultural day social transactions?
production and consumption, the nature and 9. To what extent do diferent intellectual prop-
role of audiences, and economic, social and erty regimes facilitate or impede diferent
cultural stratiication? forms of creative agency?
4. How and in what ways are structural ine- 10. How will the demands of sustainability and
qualities associated with demographic and ecological considerations inluence the devel-
economic variables not merely coincidental opment of media technologies and their uses
with ‘digital divides’ but also both their cause in the future?
and efect? 11. What are the prospects, problems and poten- 7
5. How and under what circumstances does tials of European and other transnational

mediatisation hinder or contribute to new identities in a context of increasingly complex
– democratic or anti-democratic – forms of global media lows?
political participation? 12. In what ways can (critical) media literacy
6. How do changes in power relations relate to serve to foster citizenship and enhance cul-
the role of the media in destabilising tradi- tural capital and thus promote democratic
tional deinitions of identity and promoting engagement, empowerment and social and
new forms of agency? cultural inclusivity?
1.
Introduction
l l l
The European Science Foundation instrument would help advance the organisational cohesion of 9
called the ‘Forward Look’ is designed to develop European media research.

medium- to long-term views and analyses of future his Forward Look emerged from a workshop
developments with the aim of deining research initiated by the ESF Standing Committees for the
agendas and priorities at national and European Humanities (SCH) and Social Sciences (SCSS)
level. By assessing what we know and what we need in response to the need for a better coordinated
to know, Forward Looks can identify the ways in development of research initiatives that bridge the
which research can advance knowledge, and at the methodological divides between the humanities
same time assist the development of evidence-based and the social sciences. Following the example of
policy and practice. an earlier ESF Research Networking Programme,
This Forward Look is about media stud- ‘Changing Media, Changing Europe’, the initia-
ies, a ield that has grown rapidly in recent years, tive was expected to bring together researchers
although in its many varied forms it has been a from different methodological backgrounds in
focus of academic inquiry and organisation for the humanities and social sciences, and to propose
longer than is sometimes appreciated, beginning research initiatives crossing traditional borders
with the scientiic study of newspaper readership between diferent disciplines in media studies.
at least a century ago in many countries, and with The workshop ‘Bridging Methodology Gaps,
an expanding scope as cinema, and later broadcast- Building Institutional Bridges: Interfaces for
ing, came to play a prominent role in people’s lives improved SCH–SCSS synergy and wider cross-
during the twentieth century. he ield of media committee collaboration in research into afective
studies, broadly conceived, will become even more sciences, media studies and urban studies’ was a
important in coming years, as what have long been ‘mini’-foresight exercise looking at the speciic ield of
termed ‘new media’, notably digital communica- new media and new media literacy where humanities
tions, the internet and mobile telephony, become and social science methodologies could be usefully
commonplace. combined. In so doing, it was expected to highlight
It is therefore important that we – scientists, the beneits to be reaped from closer coordination. A
policy makers and citizens – make sure that we do number of interesting topics in media research were
the things that need to be done. We need to take identiied which could be put on a future research
stock of what research has already told us, recognise agenda, such as: where are the dominant controver-
where changing social and technological circum- sies in the ield of communication and media studies?;
stances require us to reconsider such knowledge, in what ways have diferent approaches changed, if
and be very clear about what we need to know and at all, due to, or in relation to, the digital media?;
how such knowledge can be obtained in a rigor- what policy-oriented and activist/policy strategies
ous, reliable and comprehensible manner. This are associated with current communications research
ESF Forward Look aims to meet these needs by focused on the new media and new literacy? An ESF
identifying a common European research agenda Forward Look on media research was deemed to be
and specifying the institutional frameworks that the ideal follow-up to this workshop.
In spring 2008, a Forward Look Proposal, hope the ideas and challenges raised in this Forward
‘Media Studies: New Media and New Literacies’, Look provoke debate and assist in the development
was submitted to the ESF Directorate, with Kirsten of research and policy in these vital ields of activity.
Drotner (SCH) and Slavko Splichal (SCSS) as acting
co-chairs1, but for various reasons the initiative did
not progress for the next three years.
In June 2011 a group of the 2007 London work-
shop participants resumed where they had let of
in 2007–8. While the title of the Forward Look
remained unchanged, its main objectives were rede-
ined, so as better to relate to recent developments
in media studies.
In preparing the Forward Look the concept
of ‘media literacy’ was the initial guiding concept
and focus. A background working paper synthesis-
ing literature on this concept was prepared by Ola
Erstad et al. (2012), available on the Forward Look
webpages. As debate evolved in the development of
10 the Forward Look, it became increasingly necessary
to go beyond many of the issues raised in discuss-
ing media literacy in order to formulate proposals

for research and policy responding to the pervasive
role of the media in so many areas of social, eco-
nomic, cultural and political life. his larger agenda
is relected in the choice of topics in the body of
the report now entitled ‘Media in Europe: New
Questions for Research and Policy’. hese address
political engagement, the creative economy, digital
divides, and identity formation. We do not for one
moment suggest that these areas exhaust all that
can and needs to be known about the media in the
lives of people in Europe. However, they do frame
major and signiicant areas of inquiry which, in the
course of much debate, emerged as leading and criti-
cal ields.
In the chapters that follow, a number of objec-
tives are addressed. The first objective of this
Forward Look is to deine a set of key research
questions that, given the challenges posed, need to
be addressed in the next ive to ten years. Closely
linked is the second objective: to propose a new
research agenda in discussion with relevant science
policy organisations, practitioners, technological
developers and other stakeholders from across
Europe. Consequently, the report develops such an
agenda in the form of a set of concrete recommenda-
tions for research.
he inal objective is to raise awareness at the
science policy level of the importance of taking up
those essential questions and policy challenges. We
1. Professor Kirsten Drotner was the spiritus agens of the irst

proposal but unfortunately she was not able to join the FL
Scientiic Committee in 2011. We gratefully acknowledge her role
in developing this Forward Look and her support as a member of
the Quality Reference Group.
2.
Political Participation
in an Age of Mediatisation
l l l
Introduction example, Harvey, 2011). As Hay writes: 11

…privatization, the contracting-out of public

Mediatisation is a term that invokes the ubiquity services, the marketization of public goods, the
and pervasiveness of media in the contemporary displacement of policy-making autonomy rom the
world. From the macro-institutions that structure formal political realm to independent authorities,
society to the nooks and crannies of our everyday the rationalization and insulation rom critique
lives, media have become an omnipresent element. of neoliberalism as an economic paradigm, and
In today’s world, online media are no doubt the the denial of policy choice (for instance in discern-
most signiicant spaces where civic cultures can ing the imperatives of competitiveness in an era
lourish – as well as be obstructed; media, in short, of globalization) are all forms of depoliticization.
play a key role in participation and are therefore (Hay, 2007: 159).
central to democracy. As such, it may help to think
of media not merely as technologies and phenom- The notion of participation lies at the heart of
ena present within society, but rather as means democracy; it is axiomatic that citizens in various
through which many of the transactions of social ways take part in the discussions and decisions that
life take place. hat this includes political life impact on their lives. Democracy is a complex, shit-
should not be a surprise. ing and contested political order, and the contexts
his text is written against the backdrop of sev- and modes of participation vary greatly; new forms
eral concurrent crises that are profoundly shaping are continually evolving. Formalised representation
the historical present of Europe. he economic– and voting – assuming validity and transparency
inancial crisis within the EU (and globally) is – embody participation, but so do innumerable
generating a social and welfare crisis and despera- micro-contexts of citizen input. We argue that
tion among many people, not least among younger democracy needs a functioning representative
generations which are facing severe unemployment. system with parties as well as a viable domain of
his in turn is causing a political crisis, as many alternative, extra-parliamentary politics. Both are
governments are unable to meet both the needs of in transition at present. Moreover, both are shaped
their citizens and the requirements for inancial in positive and negative ways by media. Our hori-
equilibrium. Democracy itself is entering a cri- zons thus acknowledge the importance of electoral
sis period, where the current stresses and strains politics and we suggest continued attention to that
are eroding the taken-for-granted socio-cultural realm, but in the light of the current crises we would
prerequisites on which democracy is premised. A prioritise a research focus on alternative democratic
major structural problem for participation (and politics and the extra-parliamentarian domain. If
democracy generally) that has emerged in recent citizens are without a sense of engagement, indeed
decades is the tendency for political power to drit if people lack an identity dimension that positions
away from the formal, accountable political system them as potential agents in the political life of soci-
and into the private sector, in the logics of neo- ety, democracy becomes functionally crippled as
liberal versions of societal development (see, for well as potentially delegitimised. Indeed, much
discussion and research in Western democracies
over the past two decades have emphasised precisely
the transnational patterns of disengagement among
citizens, especially among the younger age cohorts,
at the local, national, regional and global levels.
his disengagement at the level of formal politics
is particularly acute as a consequence of the cur-
rent political and economic crises which undermine
public trust and legitimacy in regard to politicians
and political institutions.
Yet, in parallel with this trajectory of decline we
ind an opposing one: new forms of reengagement
are concurrently manifesting themselves. hese are
usually located beyond mainstream party politics, afordances can illuminate elements of power that
in the broad and sprawling arena of alternative poli- enable/disable a sense of civic self in daily life via
tics. Citizens are engaging politically via networks, the promotion of such dimensions as knowledge,
social movements, single-issue groups, neighbour- trust, values and practices (Dahlgren, 2009). Such
hood associations, interest organisations, and other cultures can be strongly empowering and are crucial
12 collectivities. Oten driven by frustration with the to curbing social discontent in the current context;
responsiveness of the established parties or even however, they are oten fragile and easily eroded by
by a sense that the mainstream political system various strategic measures or even merely adverse
marginalises or excludes groups, many citizens are circumstances.
inding new routes to engagement and participa- here are a number of factors that impinge on
tion. Some forms of engagement are leading to new how participation actually functions at any particu-
kinds of political practices and new ways of being lar point in time for any particular group. he extent
citizens, efectively altering the character of politics to which civic participation is present naturally
in some contexts. depends on the initiatives that citizens themselves
Many activists within alternative politics sense take, but an analytically fundamental point is that
that strategic pressure can be brought upon decision such agency is always contingent on circumstances.
makers in diferent ways. hese impulses contrib- Our question thus becomes: what are the contin-
ute to the development of what Rosanvallon (2008) gencies that shape participation today? Since much
terms counter-democracy, the process whereby participation takes place through (new) media, they
citizens, in various constellations, exercise indi- can be seen as part of these contingencies, as both
rect democratic power by bypassing the electoral enablers and inhibitors of political participation.
system. hese developments, though in many ways
encouraging, are not without their dark sides: the
present crises have meant that reengagement also What research tells us: digital
includes the rise of political activities on the far media enable but cannot ensure
Right, expressing racist, ultra-nationalistic and political participation
other anti-democratic sentiments.
In order to analyse the link between individu- Traditional mass media journalism, as the classic
als and social agency within the informal setting medium of the public sphere, is a key institution
of non-institutional politics, we should focus on of the public sphere, and its functioning is vital to
the role of ‘passions’ in public space. In a time of the dynamics of democracy. It has historically oten
tumultuous change it is important to highlight been the object of legitimate criticism, when in its
newer ‘agonistic’ (Moufe, 1999) trends in political less laudable moments it has fostered ignorance and
life, in which individuals confront relevant issues. disorientation. he latter tendencies have lourished
he components of political agency appear to reso- in recent decades with the intensifying crisis within
nate most immediately in people’s lifeworlds of Western journalism, which has been characterised
meanings and identity. he task of comprehending as both an institutional/economic downturn and
democratic agency and participation directs our a professional decline. However, the distancing
attention to parameters at the taken-for-granted from the ideal of objectivity, with factual content
level that shape people’s willingness to engage in increasingly giving way to opinion, is not necessar-
politics. In this domain, the mechanisms of power ily negative. While reliable news useable for civic
are subtle. he perspective of civic cultures and their purposes is increasingly replaced by sensationalism,
tal communication: people and organisations can
directly link up with each other for purposes of
sharing information as well as afect, for providing
mutual support, organising, mobilising, or consoli-
dating collective identities. his feature makes it a
potentially strong facilitator of civic culture, help-
ing to strengthen engagement and participation.
Digital networks, in the form of polycentric nodes,
ofer a communication structure which can foster
democratic social relations, as Castells (2010) demon-
strates, impacting on how civic agency is enacted and
how politics gets done. It is important to underscore
the social character of such activity: the networking
involved helps to avoid the debilitating consequences
of isolation, promotes social capital, and helps to
forge collective identities.
his digital lubrication of the social is also essen-
celebrity gossip and other trivia, the prevalence of tial for the emergence of the political, for people to
opinion can simultaneously be regarded as a virtue step into their identities as political agents. People 13
and characteristic of ‘citizen journalism’, in which continue to develop their civic practices in online set-

what is contested is the very notion of objective fact tings as they ind new ways to participate, using these
and disinterested observation. evolving communication technologies. he tools are
Curiously, even when journalism is providing more and more efective, less expensive, and easier
a good professional service, and when citizens are to use than in the past; access and collaboration are
connected to the public issues via news coverage, it increasing, and we are evolving from being mostly
has been shown that journalism in itself is insuf- media consumers to include many media producers
icient to facilitate participation if citizens do not – or ‘prosumers’, in the current jargon. In short, the
feel that there are meaningful opportunities for digital media in particular can be very good at help-
them to engage politically (Couldry, Livingstone ing to promote a subjective civic empowerment, an
and Markham, 2007). his reminds us that there enhanced sense of agency that can make use of many
are limits to what the media can do in altering struc- kinds of participatory activities, or what we can call
tural relations of power. civic practices.
he familiar problematic patterns follow main- he newer digital media are of course a part of the
stream journalism onto the internet, but in the larger social and cultural world, intertwined with the
online world other forms of journalism also become oline lives of individuals as well as with the func-
visible: from the major news organisations’ reliance tioning of groups, organisations and institutions.
on social media and citizen-provided material to While many proponents enthuse about how this new
alternative news agencies, various kinds of blogs, world of information is having an immensely positive
quasi-journalistic material, and information pro- impact on everything from personal development
vided by various sorts of organisations and activist/ to the nature of our civilisation, other voices raise
interest groups. he terrain has become bewilder- serious questions about the relationship between the
ing and highly contested, but at the same time internet and democracy. In fact, there has been an
does allow for much more civic participation – via extensive literature on this theme since the mid-1990s.
journalism – than before. Further options for civic A key motif from this literature that we underscore is
participation are found in the seemingly ininite the importance of avoiding technological determin-
possibilities for discussion and debate available ism in how we view media (Curran et al., 2012). here
online, and beyond that the whole universe of is nothing automatic about their social consequences,
groups, networks, activists, and movements with and they should not be seen as ofering some simple
their online presence. Online spaces have become technological panacea to democracy’s diiculties.
an important extension of the public sphere and Rather, media should be seen as enabling infrastruc-
are thus of great signiicance for participation in a tures (Miller, 2011) whose uses and implications can
variety of forms. lead in a variety of directions.
An important attribute of the internet that leads As technical infrastructures, media are predi-
to it being somewhat easily classiied as an enhancer cated on political, economic and policy dimensions
of democracy is its capacity to facilitate horizon- as well as on technical aspects, some of which are
problematic in regard to participation. New media patterns or structures of opportunity for partici-
are not simply neutral conveyors, since market pation, we would here inquire into the kinds of
logics condition our access to information online. participation – and power-sharing (see Carpentier,
Not only is the internet dominated by a few com- 2011) – that are aforded by the use of new technolo-
panies such as Google, Yahoo, Microsot, Apple gies, namely whether they can be deemed as falling
and Facebook, in what amounts to concentrated into the traditional political domain or whether
corporate control, but also personalised ilters in they approximate a conception of participation that
search engines tailor search results on the basis of is essentially ‘civic’.
past search history and geographical location. Issues Where the public sphere has traditionally been
of surveillance and privacy undercut shared, social associated with notions of rational deliberation, it is
knowledge, with marketers beneitting from access now increasingly linked to new multimedia commu-
to personal information. nicative channels. hese oten privilege other forms
Further, in public sphere contexts, we should of political expression, including the visual, the sym-
bear in mind that the density of the internet envi- bolic, the afective, the personal, all of which allow
ronment in the contemporary media landscape for an articulation of a subjective embodied experi-
results in an intense and incessant competition for ence that contrasts with collective normativity. he
attention. It is easy to express oneself, but diicult traditionally textual has not disappeared, but text
to gain an audience. It is also the case that the use of online tends to be shorter than in print media, and
14 the internet for political purposes (at least deined shares the stage with these other communicative
in traditional terms) comes quite far down on the modes. As such, an important avenue for research
list of activities, far behind consumption, entertain- in the ield, which ties in with our considerations
ment, social connections, pornography, and so on. on participation, concerns how the public sphere is
he internet does not, by itself, politically mobilise being altered through the use of new media, namely
citizens who may lack engagement. Moreover, for social media platforms, by politicians, citizens and
those who are engaged, there is a strong tendency alternative news services.
to drit towards like-minded discursive ‘cocoons’ his shit to new forms of political expression
or ‘echo chambers’ on the internet. here people may also correspond to an increasingly visible
are less likely to be confronted with views that dif- dichotomy between traditional institutional and
fer from their own – or to develop the capacity for alternative non-institutional politics. Thus, we
genuine argumentation. should inquire into what extent the modes of polit-
ical expression of alternative politics difer from
those of electoral politics. Moreover, the afective
What do we need to know? character of much online communication suggests
Comprehending new modes that it may well resonate with identity processes and
of participation and political collective memories in ways that traditional politi-
expression cal discourse is less likely to do. his suggests that
we should be alert to the diferent cultural patterns
While these features must be kept in view to under- whereby alternative politics functions to reconigure
stand the links between the internet and democracy, democracy on the one hand and traditional politics
the fact remains that the internet and social media attempts to reinvent itself on the other.
are both being successfully used on many fronts for In order to formulate a concrete research agenda
participation – and in fact altering the character for this purpose, we would irst proceed by attempt-
of the public sphere in the process. his leads us ing to map panoramas of society, democracy and
to probe into the nature of the changes concern- media which describe the background context
ing participation and the traditional public sphere. anchoring the historical speciicity of our topics of
Democracy is being transformed as its social, cul- analysis. Such broad vistas would entail the deline-
tural and political foundations evolve, and the ation of maps and genealogies of prevailing power
character of participation is a part of these large arrangements on one hand and of the ever-changing
developments. With regard to the media, the term media landscape – with a particular emphasis on
participation is oten used interchangeably with the web and social media – on the other hand.
access or interaction, which ignores its key dimen- his would be followed by the macro-level chart-
sion, namely that democratic participation must in ing of overarching proiles of media usage within
some way actualise and embody power relations, the population as a whole as well as for strategically
however weak or remote they may seem. Taking selected groups. he internet and mobile media
into account that democratic systems ofer varying would be in focus, but these would have to be situ-
ated in the context of the larger media landscape. of electoral politics and the vicissitudes of voter sub-
Such research would also include the evolution of jectivity and practices. his is because alternative
use patterns, socio-cultural impact on daily life forms of political expression, which are particularly
and institutions. A more analytic strand within the visible amongst counter-democratic groups, have
mapping of media usage proiles would illuminate been inluencing the modes of political communica-
media use in relation to social connections, collection in the ‘traditional’ public sphere. As such, one
tive identities, social capital, and so forth, in order could select a broad range of arenas of involvement,
to map the discursive low of power and opinion from networks, social movements, activist groups,
formation. to transitory issue mobilisation, in order to extract
On the basis of the proiles of media usage, we useful lessons from their experiences that could be
could then draw up micro-level portraits of political applied in other contexts. Various corners of civil
agency, which illuminate the types of agencies that society, popular culture, and consumption would
are repressed, enabled or produced by the use of the be taken up in search of new modes of the political.
internet. While exploring subjectivity at the indi- Even examples of questionable, deviant expressions
vidual level, the target is not isolated individuals, of political disposition would be included.
but rather processes as they relate to forms of col- Our focus on the vitality of alternative poli-
lective identities, organisation, networking, and the tics, however, should simultaneously consider the
relationship between the personal and the political. latter’s coincidence with the ever greater grip of
Research here would be alert for new conceptions corporate power, precisely the soil in which the 15
of politics and the political; new forms of practice Occupy movement, for example, inds its nour-

and skills; new kinds of experience that are relevant ishment. In a context of economic austerity and
for participation. Within this panorama one would growing social inequality, Occupy protestors have
also address the themes of public spheres and popu- designated the neo-liberal practices of elite corpo-
lar culture, consumer and civic practices, and the rations and deregulation of the inancial market as
boundaries and blending between them. ‘the enemy’ that uniies masses. heir use of social
In understanding civic agency, its practices and media to disseminate protest activities to virtual
identities, a sense of the historical is important. audiences demonstrates a tension, which research
his becomes especially signiicant when seeking to should explore, between the emancipatory potential
understand where and how political memories and of new technologies for political mobilisation and
meanings cohere and are sustained and how this the market structure of social media which capital-
may change in a digital age; and also in understand- ises on non-commodiied content.
ing why some contexts result in certain political
desires or passions coming to the fore, especially
when they are haunted by a particular politics of Conclusion
the past.
he interplay of media with their social, his- Existing ‘democracy’ does not automatically
torical, economic, cultural and political settings, guarantee extensive civic participation, either in
coupled with the overarching attributes of social parliamentarian or extra-parliamentarian contexts.
structure and power relations as well as the inter- hus, any perceived lack of participation should not
twining of individual meaning-making processes be seen as simply a question of civic apathy, but must
and forms of collective identity, help us gain be understood against the backdrop of the dilem-
insights into the relationship between mediatisation mas of late modern democracy.
and political participation. his leads us to efec- In the light of the current crises, we would pri-
tively compare the use of new technologies with oritise a research focus on the informal spheres of
other more traditional modes of communication for daily life (lifeworld) where individuals’ motivation
political mobilisation and expression. Rather than to participate in politics is shaped. We highlight
side-lining traditional political communication, the need to research civic cultures, focusing on how
which remains a large part of political experience individuals engage in conversation with each other
for many, a focus of research should thus be how to form associative/collective identities. Examining
the ‘new’ is inluencing the old. civic cultures can help us understand the elements
Within this remit, we particularly advocate of power that enable/disable a sense of civic self in
research on concrete examples that relate to alterna- daily life.
tive politics, such as counter-democratic groups and his perspective is important because the cur-
their use of media, whilst simultaneously continu- rent neoliberal context conceives the citizen as
ing to devote some attention to the formal domain “devoid of social bonds, out of some sociocultural
black box, ready to play his or her role in democracy”
(Dahlgren, 2006). Lack of attention to the civic
cultures which mould individuals’ willingness to
participate in democracy can result in widespread
discontent, political and social conlict, and gener-
alised scepticism regarding the role of public sphere
institutions within society. his undermining of
public trust may be further compounded by grow-
ing awareness of prevalent online market logics that
commodify non-proit information content and per-
sonal data, thereby restricting the right to privacy
and placing surveillance in the public interest.
As a consequence of the decline in public trust,
individuals may increasingly withdraw into ‘anti-
public’ realms, where they use the right to freedom
of expression to promote anti-democratic values
(see Cammaerts, 2009). We argue that it is impor-
tant to address the signiicance of the modes of
16 participation aforded by new media for the health
of democracy. If citizens are devoid of a sense of
empowerment, they can easily resort to anti-public

activities in an online context which poses serious
challenges in terms of regulation.
3.
What is the ‘Digital Divide’
and Why is it Important?
l l l
he term ‘digital divide’ is used to cover a broad 17

range of social diferences in access to and use of

digital equipment and services, most notably per-
sonal computers, and in the ability to access the
internet in terms of both physical connection and
capacity to use. he range of phenomena grouped
under this term is very wide and particular deini-
tions highlight diferent aspects of the problem, but
it is possible to begin from a non-prescriptive work-
ing description provided by the Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD):
‘ …the term “digital divide” refers to the gap between
individuals, households, businesses and geographic
areas at diferent socio-economic levels with regard
both to their opportunities to access information
and communication technologies (ICTs) and to
their use of the Internet for a wide variety of activi- very least, the concept of a binary ‘digital divide’
ties’ (OECD, 2001). needs supplementing with what is oten variously
he term has a history which now spans almost termed a ‘digital spectrum’ or ‘digital continuum’
two decades, apparently having been coined in the (Guerrieri and Bentivegna, 2010: 14-16; Livingstone
USA in the 1990s as part of the early discussions and Helsper, 2007).
over the difusion of the internet (van Dijk, 2006). Whatever term is used, the issue covers a wide
When it irst entered oicial discourse, it was pri- area of contemporary life, and it is a subject of both
marily concerned with physical access to computing intellectual and policy interest around the world
and telecommunications services and this remains for precisely this reason. Economic developments
a theme in discussions of the issue. Over time, con- have rendered what is variously termed the ‘network
cern has broadened to include less tangible factors society’, the ‘knowledge society’ or the ‘information
that afect the technical skills needed to participate society’ central to discussions of our common future,
in the online world and the nature, type and quality and competitive advantage in these terms is seen
of the usage made of the resources provided by these as dependent upon the universal, or at least very
technologies. As attention has shited from access widespread, access to and facility in the use of the
to a particular technology towards issues of skills internet. Socially, increasing international mobility,
and usage, some of the limitations of the concept the provision of leisure and entertainment services,
of a digital divide have become apparent. Access changing patterns of education, and coping with
implies a polarity of connection/non-connection, the impact of ageing are all seen as examples of how
but issues of skills and usage are better understood these technologies are increasingly woven into the
using a graduated scale of engagement. At the fabric of daily life. In terms of governance, the twin
interests of equity and eiciency imply that more of access to the physical infrastructure necessary for
and more services are provided in electronic format, internet use. A study by UK National Statistics, pub-
and that access is available to all citizens. From the lished in January 2001, for example, demonstrated
individual point of view, ICT skills are increasingly that while 6% of the lowest income decile group had
a requirement for many types of employment and a home internet access, 50% of the highest decile group
necessary part of social life (European Commission, had the facility (National Statistics, 2001: 153). Early
2010: 3). studies of the international distribution of internet
From this perspective, the continued existence connectivity demonstrated an equally unsurprising
of a digital divide, however deined, is an obstacle pattern of inequality. In general, internet connectiv-
to any agenda of social inclusion. If societies are ity closely correlated with per capita gross domestic
today partly, and will in the future be more or less product: more developed countries tended to have
completely, structured around the internet, then higher access than developing countries.
the pursuit of economic eiciency as well as social For most commentators, these indings were to
and political equity demands that no social group be expected, since studies of the difusion of new
ind itself excluded from participation. Research in technologies very oten show a propensity for early
this area has therefore oten had a normative bias adopters to come from relatively wealthy and edu-
towards the beneits of digital inclusion and strong cated groups. From this theoretical perspective, it
links with policy formation. was only a matter of time before the spread of the
18 technology more or less evened out these crude soci-
ological inequalities. he difusion of the internet,
From access to usage it was thought, would be very like that of television:
a new and expensive technology was adopted irst
he digital divide, variously conceived, has been by the wealthy but later, as the cost fell, it became
the subject of a large number of studies. At the risk close to universally available, with only very few
of gross over-simpliication, it is possible to deine households remaining without the means to receive
three currents of thought which approach the issue a signal. he main diference, it was argued, was that
from rather diferent perspectives. he earliest of the rate of difusion of the internet was much higher
these concentrates on the issue of the technological than for earlier technologies and therefore more or
means of access to the internet: access to personal less universal access would be achieved relatively
computers, including later mobile devices, and to quickly.
appropriate telecommunication links, beginning To some extent, these predictions have been
with ixed-line dial-up and today involving mobile borne out, at least in the developed world. A range of
broadband. The second and third approaches, studies has shown that, over time, the internet does
elaborated below, both accept these technological indeed become a much more pervasive feature of
dimensions as foundations for internet access but social life and that the stark gaps that were observed
also conceptualise the issue of the digital divide in the earliest period have diminished. An NTIA
in terms of possession of the necessary skills and report from February 2010 demonstrated that while
competences for using these technical afordances. 29.2% of the poorest group (with family incomes of
In the terms employed here, these latter approaches less than $US15,000) reported using the internet in
give relatively greater weight to digital competence. the home, amongst those in the richest group (with
family incomes of more than $US150,000) usage was
Patterns of physical access 88.7% (NTIA, 2010). his is still a substantial difer-
From the earliest studies of access to technological ence, but it is much smaller than that recorded in the
apparatus, it was apparent that the digital divide irst report in 1995. Similarly, Figure 1, illustrating
mapped very closely onto some of the standard soci- the most recent data from Europe, shows that, at
ological variables. One of the earliest studies, Falling least within the developed world, national difer-
hrough the Net, published in July 1995 by the US ences in levels of access persist, but are decreasing
National Telecommunications and Infrastructure over time. By this account, the digital divide is clos-
Authority (NTIA, 1995), showed that among the ing and may one day efectively disappear, in the
rural poor only around 1% had access to the tech- same way as diferences in access to broadcast televi-
nology then needed to go online (i.e. a computer and sion efectively disappeared in the past.
a modem), while for well-of urban households the The process is more protracted outside the
igure was around 30%. Such results were repeated developed world, but even in the developing world
in country ater country: income, age, gender, educa- wireless telephony means that it is possible to fore-
tion, location and so on were all powerful predictors see a future in which simple physical access to the
100
95 2007
93 93 92
2012
90 87 87
84 85
81 80
78 79 79 78
80 77
75 75 75 75 74
71 70
69 69 69 68
70 67 66
63 62 62
60 60 61
60 57 58
55 54 55 54 54
53
51 51
50
46 45
43 44
41 41 40
38 39
40
30
25
22
19
20 19

10
Portugal
Greece
UK
Iceland
Malta
Italy
Cyprus
Luxembourg
Ireland
EU 27
Norway
Belgium
Poland
Spain
Romania
Bulgaria
Finland
Austria
Estonia
Slovenia
Hungary
Sweden
France
Latvia
Slovakia
Croaa
Lithuania
Germany
Figure 1. Percentage Household Internet Penetration in Europe in 2007 and 2012 – Source: Eurostat
relevant technologies will be, if not universal, at with lower incomes and less education, as well as
least very much more widely difused. In many Blacks, Hispanics, people with disabilities, and
European countries, the ownership of a (ixed) tel- rural residents were less likely to have home Internet
ephone connection was still in the 1980s a socially access service” (NTIA, 2011: 11). his inding con-
and economically divisive factor. Today, the situ- irms more than a decade of previous research about
ation has dramatically changed: the number of the demographic factors that inluence access, but
mobile telephones in Europe exceeds the number further analysis demonstrated that these factors
of people. In 2011, there were 120 cellular mobile did not explain all of the diferences between social
subscriptions per 100 people in Europe. Even in groups. At the survey date in March 2010, 29% of
Africa, where access to ixed line telephony has US households did not have internet access at home.
been severely restricted, the spread of mobile con- When asked the reason for this, by far the largest
nections has been phenomenal: in 2011 almost 54% group (47%) stated that their reason was that they
of the African population had a mobile connection did not need it or were not interested in it (NTIA,
(ITU, 2013). 2011: 35). In other words, nearly 14% of US house-
Considered in more detail, however, there is one holds have made a more or less conscious decision
very important reservation to such a view: even in not to connect to the internet.
countries where the technical means of internet
access are widely available, and where policy ini- Factors in digital inclusion
tiatives designed to ensure universal take-up have hese indings suggest that the availability of tech-
long been in place, there remains a substantial pro- nology is not adequate to explain even physical
portion of the population that are unconnected. access to the internet and that the digital divide
A recent NTIA publication, Exploring the Digital can only be fully understood as a complex and
Nation: Computer and Internet Use at Home, inves- multi-dimensional phenomenon. It has long been
tigated this issue in some detail. In the USA, more recognised that, unlike television, the internet ena-
than 20% of the population remains without inter- bles an enormous range of diferent activities and
net access, and “the results indicate that households the uses to which it is put are multiple. here can,
therefore, be substantial diferences in the way that context, taken to constitute digital competence. In
digital technologies are used even when physical particular, they distinguished between what they
access is very widespread if not universal. term ‘operational and formal internet skills’ of the
he second main line of approach to the digital kind investigated by Guerrieri and his colleagues,
divide begins from the recognition of this complex- which allow people simply to use the internet with
ity and examines divergences in the social capital a greater or lesser degree of facility and what they
available to actual and potential users which would call “information and strategic internet skills” (van
allow them to enjoy ‘meaningful’ internet usage Deursen and van Dijk, 2010: 908). hese latter, they
(Gangadharan and Byrum, 2012). Following this argue, permit particular kinds of usage, and a high
line of thinking, Guerrieri and his collaborators level of such skills permits usage for news, infor-
developed a “European index of digital inclusion” mation and personal development. hey argue that
(EIDI) which combined measures of the availabil- there are distinct patterns of usage emerging that
ity of broadband infrastructure, of facility in usage map, once again, on to familiar social indicators.
and of impact, understood as the range of uses hese patterns demonstrate that there is emerging
to which the internet is put. he evolution of the a ‘structural usage gap.’ his gap is between difer-
components of this index demonstrated that, as ent social groups, some of whom habitually “take
time passes, internet usage is less and less a matter advantage of the serious Internet activities they
of physical access and much more a matter of the engage in, while others only use the Internet for
20 skills and resources available to users (Guerrieri and everyday life and entertaining activities” (van Dijk
Bentivegna, 2010: 115). & van Deursen, 2012: 15). he conclusion which they
he EIDI study of the countries of the European draw from these indings is that the digital divide
Union arrived at striking conclusions. At the not only relects social inequalities but that it is
national level, diferences both in the components increasingly coming to be an element in their repro-
of the Index and of the Index itself, are both sig- duction. On this account, far from fading away, the
niicant and enduring over time, although there is a digital divide will persist and may well deepen.
general ‘improvement’ in the levels overall. A simi-
lar set of indings applies to the distribution of the
index with regard to those groups (e.g. the elderly, Towards a research agenda
women, rural dwellers, etc.) who have long been
known to be less likely to have even simple physical On all three of these accounts, the digital divide
access. he authors argue that the main reasons for remains a live issue for social scientiic investiga-
the diferences in what they call ‘e-Inclusion’ have tion and for public policy. he technology and the
to do with the level of economic development and skills involved change rapidly. he short history
social inequality. From this perspective, the aim of access has involved a shit from ixed-line dial-
of digital inclusion can only be realised if policy is up, through ixed-line broadband to the evolving
directed towards developing “a social system that technologies of mobile communication. he skills
promotes the economic development and social wel- required to use these technologies have changed
fare of its citizens by reducing inequality in all its just as quickly. Both the relevant technologies and
various aspects.” (Guerrieri and Bentivegna, 2010: the social resources needed for their utilisation
139). are likely to continue to change in the foreseeable
future. Understanding the drivers of these changes
Internet usage and social reproduction and the complex relationship between the technical
he third approach, best exempliied in the work of and the social factors involved will be a problem for
van Dijk and van Dursen, shares a great deal with many years to come.
the second, but accords even greater importance to
social inequality and shits attention further away The normative foundations of research
from physical access. he focus shits from seeing For a variety of reasons, the majority of studies, par-
inequalities of access and usage as resulting rom ticularly those which are closely articulated with
social inequalities towards one in they are seen as policy formulation, take a strongly normative stance
contributing to such inequalities. towards digital inclusion. Social groups that cur-
Basing their work on the situation in the rently do not have high participation rates are seen
Netherlands, which has a very high level of internet as problematic and, in the words of the British gov-
penetration, and where issues of physical access are ernment, will be “targeted” as part of a programme
of relatively limited importance, they investigated a of “driving digital participation” (Department for
much wider range of the skills that may be, in this Business, Innovation and Skills, 2010).
Such coercive rhetoric may be appropriate in or whether they are deeply rooted in social relations
policy proposals but an unreflective normative and require major policy initiatives to overcome.
approach is an obstacle to a properly social scien- To the extent to which these diferences are
tiic research agenda. he motivations and pleasures linked to levels of competence and confidence,
of social groups who choose not to have physical addressing them is partly an issue of digital
access to the internet, and those who use it for competence as an aspect of more general media
entertainment rather than self-improvement, can competence (Tuominen and Kotilainen, 2012).
only properly be understood if they are studied as Alongside research into the efectiveness of meas-
authentic human cultures rather than simply as ures to improve competence, there is a need to
problems to be targeted for correction. investigate diferent strategies for their provision.
More critical approaches also tend to rely upon Literacy, in both its general and speciic forms, has
a strong normative framework. Many writers, fol- long been a preserve of the formal education system,
lowing Bentham and Foucault, have argued that which usually operates under the direction of gov-
the widespread adoption of the internet leads to the ernmental policies which aim at universality and
perfection of a ‘digital panopticon’ in which every inclusivity and thus have the intent of reducing digi-
action is subject to computerised surveillance and tal divides. here is, however, an increasing amount
analysis (Campbell and Carlson, 2002). It is argued of educational material produced by commercial
that government and business gain unprecedented companies and, since such material is necessarily
knowledge of citizens and customers, and thus are rationed through price, it will tend to reproduce or 21
able to exercise more efective political and mar- exacerbate one of the most evident sources of the

keting control. In its extreme form, it is argued, digital divide. Two major research tasks follow from
we are all implicated in this process through our such considerations. he irst is to understand the
acceptance of such technologies: ‘he ultimate pub- comparative efectiveness of diferent strategies
lic panopticon can be achieved by convincing the towards developing human capital, both between
population to spy on itself.’ (Kietzmann and Angel, diferent countries and within the same country.
2010: 137). he second is to examine the diferent outcomes for
Again, there is an alternative normative approach digital inclusion between public and private provi-
which argues that the vast accumulation of informa- sion of services, and the efects of diferent balances
tion about individuals and their social behaviour, between the two.
aggregated into ‘big data’, permits a much fuller and
more accurate understanding of social life and thus The impact of mobile communications
the development of policies better suited to achiev- he issues of surveillance and social inequality are
ing desirable goals. he diferences of approach, in particularly evident in the expansion of mobile com-
the end, boil down to a normative argument over munication. In the last 20 years this development
the relative merits of, and the ways to achieve a bal- has changed our everyday communicative prac-
ance between, liberty and eiciency. tices in fundamental ways. Mobile telephones have
All researchers bring normative frameworks to acquired much the same capacity and functions as
their investigations. hese need not cause problems traditional computers. With the new generation of
provided they are acknowledged. What is problem- ‘smartphones’ the user can easily access the internet
atic is when the overall agenda of research into a from almost anywhere, as long as there is a func-
complex human phenomenon is subordinated to tional network supporting the mobile broadband
one single normative framework that is, in turn, standards (3G, 4G). his development has enhanced
closely linked to policy. Any future research pro- the emergence of new and unforeseen modalities of
gramme will prove more fruitful if it is open to the social connectivity and interaction, too, with the
questions that arise from a plurality of approaches. assistance of rapidly proliferating manifold ‘social
media’ applications (Facebook, You Tube, LinkedIn,
The problem of social inequality to name the most obvious).
All three of the currents identiied above demon- With the saturation of our everyday life by
strate that the classic sociological indicators of mobile telephony and online connectivity – espe-
social inequality are central to understanding dif- cially for the younger generations – expectations of
ferent patterns of access and usage and this will their democratising inluence have developed. he
certainly remain central to any future research new kinds of social networks are assumed to cre-
agenda. here are, in particular, competing projec- ate new kinds of sociability and engagement, with
tions as to whether these diferences are relatively fresh cultural and political implications – new soli-
short-term phenomena that will pass in due course darities and new social identities. Some examples of
the political potential of these networks are the big
political protest movements of recent years – the
Arab Spring, the Occupy movement, and the Los
Indignados movement. he shape and structure of
these new social developments, and the role played
in them by technological developments, is a major
new research theme.
The balance of public and private

A further research theme is concerned with the more
general implications of the increasing importance of
the internet in all aspects of social life and the inter-
play between public policy and private provision
noted above. Historically, there has been wide-
spread concern to ensure the universal availability
of a range of information and opinion about pub-
lic matters, since these are considered essential to
democratic political life. To that end, governments
22 have established policies designed to ensure the
plurality of sources and universality of availability,
particularly with regard to broadcasting. he rise

of the internet as a means of distribution disturbs
the oten-delicate balance that has permitted these
mechanisms to function: for example, the advertis-
ing subsidy to commercial newspapers seems to be
in danger of disappearing in many countries. It is Arab spring, demonstrations in Cairo, February 2011 © iStock
at present not known what efect this shit will have
on the plurality of provision, on the independence
of the providers, or the availability of such material. Combining different research methods
Tracking these developments and understanding he dimensions of the research agenda discussed
their implications for diferential access and usage above require a shit of focus in terms of the meth-
will be of increasing importance as the outcomes odologies employed. First, it will be necessary
become clearer. to move away from over-reliance upon the sorts
Similarly, the availability of current technologies of large-scale studies that have predominated in
has oten been a matter of public concern and thus the past. Such survey-based investigations at the
of public policy: the insistence upon universal ser- national and international level remain invaluable
vices in telecommunications is an obvious example. starting points, but in order to grasp the mean-
he pace and direction of technological innovation ing of particular behaviours, a micro-sociological
is unpredictable, but it will certainly impact upon approach is required. Understanding usage implies
availability and usage. Two current examples are the understanding the motivations and aims of the
deployment of IP6 and the shit to wireless access users and such knowledge can only be obtained
to the internet through mobile phones. he former through a much closer engagement with the world
has provoked debates over the continuation of ‘net of the users themselves.
neutrality’, in which all messages are treated equally, Second, much of the current discussion is based
versus the implementation of systems whereby addi- upon data derived, with some important exceptions,
tional payments ensure priority treatment. Mobile from national-level research. his will remain an
access has re-kindled debates over pricing policies important dimension in any research agenda, as
that have a direct and obvious impact upon internet much for funding reasons as for any other, but
usage: unlimited access encourages a wide range of it must be supplemented by research both at the
usage; metered access tends to limit it. Both these sub-national and the comparative, cross-national
and future developments in technological hardware level. Research has demonstrated both that local
and the kinds of services available raise questions and transnational studies can reveal important
about their impact upon the digital divide in terms dimensions of digital usage (Newhold et al., 2008;
both of access and usage. Guerrieri and Bentivegna, 2010). Particularly with
regard to policy-oriented research, comparative
examinations of the eicacy or otherwise of difer-
ent polices employed in diferent countries are likely
to be extremely valuable.
In conclusion: inclusion
and participation
One of the most exciting promises of the new media

is that they open the possibility of much higher lev-
els of participation in many aspects of social life.
his is true of the individual as consumer, as the
development of online commerce supplements other
forms of purchase. It is also true of the provision of
public services, some of which can be accessed more
easily and cheaply through online means. More
uncertain, but perhaps more exciting, is the prom-
ise of online participation broadening the role of the
citizen in the decision-making processes of society. 23
Whatever normative position is adopted towards

its desirability, new communication technologies
provide the possibility of sustaining and deepening
democratic practices. More than this, they provide
the possibility of extending the degree to which
citizens are able to decide their futures far beyond
the routines of periodic elections. he potential of
new communication technologies for realising the
promises of democratic life are perhaps the most
important dimensions of the new research agenda.
4.
Content Creation and Creative
Industries: New Practices
with Economic Prospects
l l l
24
Europe was, from a very early time, a cradle of crea-

tivity, spurred by competition among, for instance,
small city states in Renaissance Italy and, later,
between emerging European nation states and
beyond, connecting the world through the irst
waves of global cultural exchange. he develop-
ment of states, industry and modern society went
hand in hand with creativity, works of art and free
thinking unparalleled in the world. Even in today’s
world, Europe continues to foster creativity, now in
ierce competition (and useful exchange) with most
of the rest of the world.
Creativity is, however, an ambiguous term,
somehow lauding the idea of the unique, genius and
the innovative, and something it is very diicult to
argue against. In the literature several rhetorics of
creativity and creation have been identiied (Banaji
et al., 2010). Creativity should be distinguished con-
ceptually from ‘creation’ as a philosophical concept
that addresses the singularity of the work of art and and diverse social practices. It is also diicult to
its detachment from common modes of production. clearly deine which jobs fall under the heading of
Content creation is to a larger extent focusing on creative industries, which is relected in statistics of
the everyday practices people engage in when they labour markets within these sectors. Conceptions of
use diferent technologies. he impact of Web 2.0 creative industries are closely related to discourses
technologies has implications for the way people on future orientations of the workforce in Europe.
create content and share this with others, further An important context framing the relevance of a
developed by the growth of social media. he ways research agenda targeting content creation and crea-
in which we consume media have become increas- tive industries is the present crisis in Europe with
ingly more complex, hybrid and fragmented. its implications for transformation and change on
he creative industries and the creative economy diferent levels. Media research is of importance in
(Howkins, 2001) imply a broad set of cultural activi- targeting these fundamental processes of cultural
ties with economic implications for innovation and development and the impact of changes in media
exploitation of knowledge and information. hese culture and mediatisation, and media researchers
terms are diicult to specify since they cover many are particularly suited to conduct research on such
kinds of mediated communication and their social communicative interaction in social media, to the
consequences. Media research on ‘content creation growth of the cultural industries as an economic
and creative industries’ will contribute to ways of and cultural force in contemporary societies.
understanding production, distribution and con- Much of the established media-industry domi-
sumption of content in diferent social domains and nance has been deflated in the new context of
how digital media have changed traditional roles networked communication and participation. For
and conceptions of who produces and consumes instance, ile-sharing networks are now an essential
media content. his chapter raises the question of part of the media industry, in which users become
what is unique for a European agenda on creativity distributors and generators of added value. In this
and creation, and considers implications for policy sense, the boundary between producers, distribut-
and research. ers and consumers of media goods is increasingly
blurred, fuelled by creativity and the social net-
working of individuals, which dramatically change
What research tells us models of mass communication, media use and the
media industries.
During the last five years we have witnessed a he main reason for the increased emphasis
change in content production, distribution and on content creation as a common term for quite
mixing never before seen in cultural history. he diverse social and cultural processes is, therefore,
re-use of culturally produced content is of course the new condition for production, distribution and 25
not new (Miller, 2008), but the introduction of Web consumption that digital technologies represent.

2.0 technologies represents a dramatic change in the However, such a broad conception of creativity,
possibilities for content creation. We are now in a encompassing almost all kinds of content generated
situation where potentially everybody with access by people, gives rise to serious concerns about what
to computers and the internet can produce and dis- this term really implies or includes, and threatens
tribute content, which others again can re-use. he to give the term a positive association with develop-
actual implications of this on cultural production ment in general or to make it a policy slogan. Still,
and development are still in the making (Drotner the terminology around creation and creativity has
and Schrøder, 2010). implications for the future direction of research
he evolving challenges related to these develop- into the media industries, cultural production and
ments in content creation and creative industries participation in the production, consumption and
during the last decade are relevant on diferent sharing of media content.
levels, from the engagement of individuals in Content creation has been present in political
productive practices, building communities and and institutional agendas since the advent of a new
knowledge economy. Immersed in an ever-growing are thus deeply implicated in the creative economy,
networked digital era, content creation becomes a drawing from and impacting upon the cultural
key point, since sustainability of the media indus- tissue and the ways in which societies represent
tries relies, more than ever, on this competitive themselves and lend themselves to representation.
edge. Although the romantic overtones are not to he focal point of much ongoing research is the
be overlooked, the conceptual distinction between interconnection between diferent levels that crea-
creation and creativity is theoretically useful for tive cultural production represents, from the social
media studies; on the one hand because it resists practices of individuals to collective orientations
the subsumption of culture to commodiication, on in media use and macro processes of the creative
the other because it allows the productive polarity economy in Europe. here is increasing interest,
of the cultural between singularity and universality, both within the humanities and the social sciences,
between social engagement and individual experi- in studying how social media create new spaces for
mentation, to continue to impact the manifold ways cultural participation, the implication for consump-
of meaning-making in our increasingly networked tion and creation of taking part In such networks,
societies (Jenkins, 2006). and what is really meant by digital engagement.
In turn, the creative industries and creative econ- Further, there is increased attention to diferent
omy analysis in media research imply a broad set of forms of communication within such communi-
cultural activities with economic implications for ties and the interrelationship between online- and
26 innovation and exploitation of knowledge and infor- oline participation. Important aspects of this are
mation (Seton-Green et al., 2011). hese industries new ways of integrating diferent modalities in
represent alternative paths of skills and competen- textual expressions (multimodality), both of reme-
cies to the labour industries of the twentieth century. diation from former genres and a constant remixing
Media form the main sector deining these indus- of content, and sharing, collaboration and network
tries, not only as tools for creative processes such as relationships.
design and content creation, but also in the way that Creative practices are, to a greater degree than
media corporations invest in and develop important before, also based on processes of sharing rather
creative industries as economic forces within our than producing content and, through that, develop-
societies, as, for example, the Disney Corporation ing speciic communities of practice, of co-creative
and Pixar. According to the ‘he European Cluster labour and cultures of collaboration. How this is
Observatory Priority Sector Report: Creative and played out in diferent creative practices will dif-
Cultural Industries’ (Power, 2011) irms within the fer according to contexts and objectives of such
creative and cultural industries, in 2009, employed practices. Research literature also links notions of
a total of 6.4 million people in 30 European coun- empowerment and agency in the way people are
tries in 2009, and regions with high concentrations engaged in and develop certain creative practices
of creative and cultural industries have Europe’s (Lundby, 2008).
highest prosperity levels. Furthermore, most of the Over the past two decades, growing attention
regions in the top 25 highest cultural and creative has been devoted to the cultural and creative sector
growth regions are small and medium sized regions. as a powerful cluster of economic development in
In the past, the term ‘cultural industry’ used to cover complex and educated urban societies. Studies and
most of the employment and activities within the policy projects that aim to understand and invest
cultural sector represented by established cultural inancially in the creative sector have grown expo-
institutions in society; the term ‘creative industries’ nentially since 2008, as the inancial crisis deepened
is now used to refer to practices of content creation and investors sought alternative routes out of the
which have economic implications for the practition- quagmire.
ers and others, oten in the framework of small and Within the EU, attention is now directed to the
medium sized irms, for example within web design. impact of creative industries for economic growth
he value of the creative industries is both sym- and for the promotion of new sectors of employ-
bolic and economic. he symbolic capital arising ment. It is necessary for research to address the
from these ventures strengthens the self-awareness role of media in creating new economic markets
of creative societies whilst fostering a cultural legiti- and the impact of digital technologies on media
mation derived from the recognition of its members ownership, on structural developments of distri-
as being at the vanguard of artistic production and bution and access, as well as on new job markets
relection. Hence, by combining symbolic with eco- opened up by media developments. In a speciic
nomic value, the creative industries are now at the Communication from the EU Commission (COM
forefront of policy interests in modern societies and 2012: 4) it is argued that:
he cultural and creative sectors are faced with Such developments also open up research ori-
a rapidly changing environment driven by the entations towards creative learning as ways of
digital shit and globalisation, leading to the emer- engaging young people in culture (homson and
gence of new players, the coexistence of very big Seton-Green, 2011). As such, media literacy is a key
structures with micro-entities, a progressive trans- component of such a research orientation (homas,
formation of value chains and evolving consumer 2011). All aspects of media literacy are important,
behaviour and expectations. While these changes but, in particular, there is a need to focus on the
ofer great opportunities in terms of lower produc- ability to engage in critical relection on media
tion costs or new distribution channels, they call texts and practices. Through reading and writ-
for action at diferent levels. ing (multimodal authoring) we can develop social,
cultural and political understandings of the world.
Further, the document argues for a multi-layered Questions concerning critical media literacy, there-
strategy, encouraging interdisciplinarity in the fore, are at the heart of any research agenda in the
research approach, where media literacy and chang- years ahead.
ing skills are important factors.
he implications further raise awareness of the ii) Participation and sharing within creative
need to study the symbolic value represented by the communities
creative sector and the role of media. Old organi- here is an urgent need to focus research on crea-
sational structures are challenged and institutional tive participation as embedded in people’s everyday 27
structures are increasingly inluenced by creative lives, building on former ethnographic traditions

practices. The knowledge economy forces us to in media research. Of key importance in dealing
rethink and re-address drivers for economic develop- with creative participation is a research orientation
ment and change and new business models emerge, towards equality, digital divides, class and cultural
oten combining mass media with more personal capital, as part of cultural struggles of content crea-
media (Lüders, 2008). here is a need to focus our tion. his includes the relevance of issues of gender
attention more towards the creative workforce than and age, minority/majority, immigrant populations,
just institutions and, here, there are implications for empowerment, and inclusion–exclusion processes
the role of the state and of citizenship in developing of creative participation in future-oriented media
the creative workforce. As such, we move between cultures. As opposed to more consumption-oriented
local, national, European and global processes as studies, we need to study what people actively do
well as urban and non-urban, while the creative with the media and the implications for ways of
workforce is very oten an urban development. reorienting audience studies. he making of com-
Based on the above we can identify key areas munities around creating and sharing content has
of knowledge and the ‘state of the art’ of ongoing been growing as a ield of research for some time,
approaches in media research on content creation and will increase in the years to come. Examples of
and creative industries in three interrelated dimen- such studies are game studies and online gaming
sions: communities (Aarseth, 2004), fan iction communi-
ties (Lankshear and Knobel, 2006), and sharing of
i) Production studies, productive practices audio and video as DIY communities (Knobel and
and creative learning Lankshear, 2010) and remixing processes (Drotner
Studies of production practices in diverse socio-cul- and Schrøder, 2010; Lessig, 2008).
tural settings have become a key area of research in
contemporary and future oriented media research iii) Growing cultural, economic and creative
initiatives. his include how professionals and semi- sectors
professionals are changing their practices and ways he technological developments of the digital age
of distributing media content both within mass might raise hopes that increased production of
media organisations and new online services. he media texts and artefacts by people working out-
most dramatic change in recent years is the way side the media and creative industries will lead to
people in general are involved in productive media a more equitable distribution of economic assets
practices, from postings and messaging on social in the development of the creative economy. his,
media to multimedia productions. here are ten- however, is challenged by evidence that inequal-
dencies to blur distinctions between amateurs and ity and social exclusion persist. here may be more
professionals, reorienting the validity of what con- opportunities to become content creators, but the
stitutes the professional within a particular creative means of storage and mass distribution for proit
domain. are dominated by globalised companies.
What we need to know iii) Transformations within media cultures
Which are the key transformations of our media
It is crucially important not to look forward with- culture today? he mediatisation processes of
out looking back, in the sense that trends and cultural production are changing our ways of
ields of media studies need to be understood as relating to texts and genres, as well as the spatial
developmental processes. Some areas persist, some dimensions of participation in culture as seen in
change and some become less relevant. Based on the growth of social media. Also, to what extent
trends and changes at a contemporary European will contemporary media culture be inluenced
level, certain research themes and areas become by user-generated content creation?
apparent within the framework of this chapter. It iv) Methodological
is important to stress the need for critical research How do we study the growth of new media
that examines the underlying implications of ongo- audiences as part of creative culture, conceptu-
ing processes. ally and methodologically? We should address
he conceptual approach to media literacy as and present arguments for ways in which media
“the ability to access, understand and create com- studies can strengthen trans-border studies
munications in a variety of contexts” (Livingstone and response-mode collaboration between
et al. 2004) is deeply traversed by creative pro- humanities and social science scholars in order
cesses and frames as well as contemporary modes to enhance conceptual and methodological
28 of knowledge production. hese issues need to be innovation appropriate to a digital environ-
critically addressed in a European research agenda ment. Further, several methodological issues
side by side with the economic edge of literacy. become important in the years to come in order
Consequently, ethical concerns also provide an to address the changes discussed in this chap-
important frame for the interaction between the ter, both related to the role of the researcher and
creative industries and media literacy and allow research designs and moving beyond dichoto-
for (an)other understanding of collaboration versus mies of quantitative and qualitative methods.
appropriation; dissemination versus media bullying; In particular, there is a need to focus more on
resistance versus repression. longitudinal research designs in order to trace
Looking ahead, there are various challenges to developments over time concerning audiences
be addressed. Below we have grouped some of the and industries, and as ways of following families,
important research questions and key challenges: communities and creative industries during dif-
i) Structural transitions ferent timescales. We also need to know more
To what extent will creative industries initiate about the interconnections between online and
changes in media structures, ownership and oline media practices and ways that mobile
business models? How, and to what degree, technologies support content creation across
will this evolve as fundamental changes within contexts and settings. Online research is still
media industries depend in part on the resources early in development and new methods are
allocated to them by existing and new industry needed. In response to these developments
actors? Will states legislate or regulate in this some argue for more processual methodologies
area, such as copyright legislation? How will (Drotner, 2013) and ways of involving research
industries manage a sustained media distribu- participants in data collection as participatory
tion system when we witness a paradigm shit research designs. Digital technologies also repre-
on sharing practices of media content? sent an important development as research tools,
ii) New audiences in ways of collecting multimodal data and sot-
In a context where accessibility to content ware for analysing large data sets (data mining).
becomes a key point, what are the new roles that Of course, these methodological issues raise sev-
participant audiences play in the multiplicity of eral ethical challenges, for example for the role
media landscapes in terms of production and of the researcher, ways of getting access to public
distribution? To what extent is ‘the participation’ and private content, and ways that data can be
of audiences in part a relection of the ‘techni- used for non-intended purposes. he growth
cal formats’ that enable such participation? Can of content creation and the creative industries
audiences, through networking and participa- will generate many methodological challenges
tion, add value to the development of content for media research in the years to come.
creation and lead to iterative innovation and
creative processes through ‘customer’ feedback
or even via hacking?
Conclusion
he relevance of the above sections will be drawn

out for two domains in which we address some key
questions.
Scientiic:
We might ask about the scientific capacities of
media studies to take on the theoretical and concep-
tual challenges posed by media literacies in general
and creative aspects of these in particular. For
example, is the ield of audience studies in a posi-
tion to advance a systematic and holistic approach
to media literacies, given their increasing relevance
for (in)equities of employment, in addition to the
better-rehearsed citizenship-consumer options? Are
critical/cultural studies an option for investigat-
ing digital creativities that oten transcend binary
oppositions between critical relection and creative 29
expression – binaries that critical/cultural studies

still employ?
Policy:
For policy makers in the area of cultural pro-
duction there is a need to develop holistic and
multi-layered approaches that include and inter-
connect the diferent aspects and actors of content
creation and creative industries. Agencies funding
media research will also need to re-orient the-
matic priorities along new challenges and evolving
research areas. Such areas would include: cultural
transformations due to content creation, eco-
nomic initiatives as part of media developments,
democratic participation in a creative culture, text
production and new forms of distribution of texts,
audiences as part of production and consumption,
creative learning as part of educational trajectories.
An important point concerns methodological re-ori-
entations, as media research needs to develop new
methodological approaches in order to study such
developments within cultural and media sectors.
5.
Identity Formation: From
Facebook Groups to Institutional
Forms of Cultural Heritage
l l l
30
Introduction: mediated identities
Identity formation can be broadly described as the

development of ways to deine and give meaning
to individuals or collectives in relation to oth-
ers and to themselves. Identities are formed from
within and without, in a complex interplay of
mutual recognition and understanding of self and
others. Identity formation in relation to both ‘old’
and ‘new’ media has been the subject of various
humanities and social sciences discourses, includ-
ing analyses of subject formation in diferent media
genres (from romance novels to talk shows) as well
as audience research on how diferent people use
media as resources in their everyday lives (Bennett
et al., 2011; Livingstone, 2005). In many ways, peo-
ple shape their tools of communication that then
shape them. his is particularly true of identity for-
mation in the digital era, where the development
of consciousness (e.g. individual, social, national,
racial or gender) is profoundly mediated by uses of
communication technologies and identiications are
therefore directly linked to experiences of media use.
Individual self-understanding increasingly has to
negotiate how diferent identity dimensions are pro-
posed and ordered in media texts of various kinds.
One’s sense of being as well as one’s perception of
reality is contingent on the ability to access and use with ‘others’; performative social networks and new
media, from on-line newspapers to participation in forms of linguistic and cultural identities which are
social media, and from texting to on-line gaming. both produced and relected by new forms of archiv-
his may be extended to discussions concerning the ing and interaction.
formation of hybrid identities which, for instance, Identity is a term that incorporates two seem-
relate to cyberbodies and gamer subcultures; for- ingly opposite meanings, as it implies both ailiation
mations of individual identity and identiication with another and individual uniqueness in terms of
a diference from the other. It suggests belonging, tence in the twenty-irst century is a condition of
as in being part of a community, as well as making knowledge for the formation of identity and subjec-
oneself distinct; it signiies both sameness and dif- tivity. Knowledge involves technical qualiication
ference. Identity is not just a strict sameness across but also ethical wisdom and aesthetic apprecia-
time or space, even though it oten implies some tion. Navigating in today’s media world demands
kind of similarity in that, for instance, somebody knowing how to search and ind relevant sources
is recognisable over time or the members of a col- of information as quickly as possible by ‘googling’,
lective entity share some characteristics. Moreover, etc., but also being able to tell reliable from unreli-
it involves the aspect of selhood: a dynamic pro- able sources.
ject with a cultural dimension, linked to the efort Media competence is a life skill that is neces-
to give meaning to oneself and to others through sary for full participation in society. his raises
signifying practices of interpretation (Ricoeur, questions of who is considered to be literate today
1990/1992). Such signifying processes make use of and how liberating media competence is in rela-
various kinds of symbols that are mediated through tion to identity formation. Can it really be argued
shiting modes of communication, thereby link- that increased and facilitated access to media use
ing identity formations closely to media processes. and media content further enables the individual
Consequently, the topic of identity formation incor- to form identity in a more informed, responsible
porates a number of contradictions to be explored and critically aware manner? Or is perhaps the
through an interdisciplinary approach. opposite true: that ‘democratic’ access to media use 31
Whether individual or collective, identities are and content further ixes the subject in set identity

not fixed, stable or unified entities but increas- formations which may appear luid and boundless
ingly fragmented and fractured, constantly in a but are oten new forms of oppression taking the
process of change and transformation. No identity form of invasion of privacy, victimisation or abuse,
is a ixed essence; all identities are to at least some or even simply appearing as identiication efects
extent luid, contextual, contested and discursively (which the subject cannot necessarily be aware of
shaped. In spite of this luid diversity, there are still or control) through the ailiation with one iden-
some structural frameworks that organise identity tity group or another? Issues of media competence
discourses in relation to certain dominant dimen- and identity formation always implicate issues of
sions or identity orders, such as age and generation, power, where there tend to be problematic imbal-
gender and sexuality, class and status, ethnicity and ances between diferent social groups (in terms of
nationality, etc. Speciic individual or collective class, gender, ethnicity, age, etc.) as well as between
identities are formed at the intersection between all individual citizens and political or commercial
these. his intersectionality is no mere addition of institutions (state and market actors).
age, gender, class, ethnicity, etc., since none of these A widened range of societal debates and conlicts
identity orders is constituted in splendid isolation are today centred upon identity issues: intergener-
from the others. Instead, they deeply afect each ational shits, gender inequalities, national issues,
other from the very beginning, as they are mutu- ethnic relations, European integration, human
ally co-constituted. rights, multiculturalism and xenophobia all have a
Media studies increasingly tend to take such primary focus on issues of collective and individual
intersections into account. Identities are relation- identity, which are in turn strongly related to uses of
ally constructed across diferent (oten intersecting media genres and technologies. he latter are obvi-
and antagonistic) discourses and practices that link ously related to the former, but it remains an open
diferent forms of individual habitus and cultural question whether new media have opened new links
capital to positions in social ields. between people or just ofered new modes of being
In contemporary post- or late modern society, ‘alone together’ (Turkle, 2011). here is, therefore,
through processes of mediatisation, globalisation an urgent need for joint European media research
and commercialisation in the information and to take such issues seriously, and approach identity
knowledge society, individuals form identity in rela- formations as they are constructed by the use of var-
tion to media access and media efects. herefore, ious kinds of media, which is for instance important
media competence (as access to ‘new’ and ‘old’ when it comes to the interplay between new waves
media as well as the ability to critically assess of media technologies and complex sequences of
and process media content) becomes directly rel- overlapping generations among media users, audi-
evant to the issue of identity formation. If media ences and publics.
competence poses the question ‘what is needed in A reasonable balance must be upheld so that the
order to be a literate person?’, then media compe- social efects of new media technologies are fully
acknowledged but not overestimated. It seems for
instance clear that networked digital modes of com-
munication and so-called social media of various
kinds have had strong (though contested) repercus-
sions on social and political life (Elliott and Urry,
2010; Hayles, 2012; Hepp et al., 2008; Morley, 2006).
he Arab Spring ofered ample evidence on the way
text messaging, mobile phone cameras and blogs
have afected civic resistance as well as state and
market surveillance. But at the same time, pro-
cesses of remediation (whereby new media lean on
and reshule aspects of older ones, and vice versa)
imply that the older media forms and practices
largely remain in place too (Bolter and Grusin, 1999).
One cannot take for granted that new phenomena
make the older ones obsolete. For instance, in most
countries television is still the dominant medium in
terms of time of usage in the majority population,
32 followed by radio, while the internet continues to
reproduce important structures, forms and con-
tents from the established media (press, books,

TV, radio, ilm, music media, etc.). Also, television modes of signiication involve a growing scale of
largely remains among the most socially widespread media technologies, the potential gap increases
media forms, while the internet still has a very between (a) the ‘front-stage’ performance of identity,
biased use in terms of class and other identity cat- for instance in shiting internet environments, (b)
egories. Such considerations must be kept in mind the oten complex and hybrid ‘back-stage’ under-
when formulating policies for meeting the present standings of selves and others in everyday life, and
media situation. (c) the industries’ and institutions’ ways of manag-
Moreover, we need to take into account that ing and organising how identities can be formed and
in a media-saturated world, audiences are bom- communicated.
barded with messages and information. However,
it remains to be seen how much media content we, What research tells us: past and present
as audiences, actually absorb and how much we il- approaches to mediated identities
ter out, and whether there is any wider spread of Whereas in the late twentieth century the ield
a social media fatigue syndrome where individu- of media studies was divided by deep and oten
als are overloaded and therefore tend to abandon antagonistic diferences, one may today discern
network activities. Perhaps we have been placing more convergences and dialogues between per-
too much agency on technology and we need to spectives. Instead of mutually hostile camps, there
reconsider how institutions and individuals cope is more oten a dynamically interweaving set of
in a media-saturated world. In addition, if we are currents that sometimes reinforce and sometimes
to accept that each of us processes information contradict each other (Fornäs, 2008). his is for
through a ilter bubble, then perhaps we need to instance true of textual and contextual approaches.
investigate how to empower people in their need A number of cultural turns have paid greater atten-
to break the bubble. his is particularly important tion to genres of arts, entertainment and popular
when it comes to issues of media competence as peo- culture but also in a wider sense to signifying prac-
ple need to be aware that they are in a ‘box’, and to tices and aesthetic aspects in all kinds of media
this efect, a broader perspective of media compe- and communication processes. As identity has to
tence is needed. It seems that the latter is also a key do with social actors’ meaning-making, this in turn
point for policy formation. has reinforced the interest in identity issues. At the
Besides its fundamental intersecting of diverse same time, interpretations have become more aware
individuals, collectives, identity orders and sym- of the importance of contexts, so that the cultural
bolic modes, identity formation in an increasingly acknowledgement of meaningful texts has fused
mediatised society involves the more and more with a complementary attention to social contexts.
complex interaction of several key levels. Identities As a result, identity formations have become under-
are always symbolically expressed, and when these stood as resulting from signifying practices that
link individuals and collectives to various forms of A strong visual current has been notable, fuelled
meaning, always mediated through communica- by the success of new visual media forms. Verbal
tive resources that operate within a complex set of interpretations are not enough, and there is a need
social contexts. hese cultural and contextual cur- for reined readings of the visual markers and land-
rents seem to contradict each other, as they either scapes that deine individuals and groups. However,
expand or limit the scope of symbolic forms, but in aural modes of communication, not least music but
another sense they supplement each other and have also speech, continue to be of vital importance in
blended in fruitful ways, for instance in the diverse today’s mediascape. Music is sadly neglected in
ield of cultural studies. much ordinary media studies, despite being focal
he development of new, networked and elec- for much of the content and use of new as well as
tronic media technologies has had far-reaching older media. here is a great need to develop new
efects on identifying practices, for instance as innovative methods for understanding how medi-
a result of a heightened compression of time and ated sounds work as tools for identity formation;
space and a convergence between diferent modes of this analysis should not be neglected nor let to
expression, technologies and branches. Much com- dedicated musicologists or other sound specialists.
mon as well as academic discussion of this digital One may also discern a material current,
turn has produced the expression of a radical break whereby some from a perspective of media archae-
that completely alters the conditions for everything ology have argued for a focused attention on the
from political agency to fan culture. he whole dis- materiality of media efects instead of interpreting 33
tinction between ‘old’ and ‘new’ media is based on meanings. his stands in a dialectical relation to

that idea. At the same time, inluential currents of another, discursive, current which focuses on how
media history have emphasised the intermedial con- meanings are made across media texts. Discursive
nections between ‘old’ and ‘new’ media, and the fact approaches map out the webs of communicating
that new forms of mediation always remediate older meaning that organise the social world, and how
forms and genres. his in turn tends to relativise such ordering mechanisms position and constitute
the recent digital turn and point to certain conti- human subjects. In some ways, the two again con-
nuities across time. Again, there are both ainities tradict each other in that radical discourse analysis
and tensions between this pair of currents, as digital tends to deconstruct material worlds (from sensual
and intermedial perspectives on mediated identities and afective bodies to technological machines)
ofer slightly diferent takes on change and continu- as efects of social and communicative discourses,
ity in media history. while on the other hand materialist positions have
Another pair of themes concerns the basic coor- argued against textual analysis of mediation and for
dinates of time and space. A historical current has a return to immediate lived experience and material
revitalised an interest in not only understanding efects. For instance, are human bodies and tech-
the present situation as if it was autonomous from nical artefacts in communication practices to be
all that came before but, rather, linking the pre- seen as extra-textual material actors or as textual
sent to the past and the future, focusing on various discursive constructs? On closer scrutiny, the two
kinds and levels of temporal processes. his is, not streams oten run in parallel in important eforts
least, important for identity issues as identiication to understand the close interaction between mate-
has very much to do with tracing genealogies and riality and discourse, seeing materiality not as an
trajectories of subjects across time, reconstructing alternative to meaning but, instead, focusing on the
identity positions that link past to contemporary close interaction between the two.
actions. At the same time, a spatial current has
also been notable, with studies of communication What we need to know: mediated identities
geography, city branding and media ethnography. into the future
his is likewise essential for identity issues, where Although current research has dealt with a variety of
a move from abstract and universal ideas to situ- aspects of identity formation from a media studies
ated modes of understanding has been inluential. perspective, relevant research questions and topics
Here, the spaces and locations where identities are of investigation in this area may be seen as compris-
made by uses of media are put in focus, making ing three major thematic categories which aim to
use of ethnographic or geographic modes of map- explore (a) how mediated identity formations are
ping. Just as time and space need to be understood changing today; (b) why these changes take place;
together, there is also a need to synthesise historical and (c) what their main consequences are.
and spatial perspectives in media studies of identity
formation.
How mediated identities of communication, as well as the roles of the ‘new’
are changing today media.
Understanding the interaction between new
he irst category of questions is concerned with media technologies, new genres of text and com-
deining and describing ongoing changes of identity munication, new political and economic structures,
formation. his relates issues of individual, social and new social and psychological ways of life, is one
and cultural identities to notions of diversity and of the relevant issues here, particularly considering
power. As individual identity formations interact the changes in communication technologies in rela-
with social and collective identiications and with tion to other social and cultural factors. In assessing
the symbolic forms of identity that are constructed the proper role of ‘new’ media, one must not disre-
in various media texts and genres in arts and enter- gard the historical process of mediatisation that the
tainment genres, it appears relevant to examine the sociocultural world of identity formation is subject
way that such formations work. Moreover, the issue to. Here we must study how new media forms reme-
of self-identiication of an individual or a social diate older modes of communication, replicating
group and its interaction with other identiications, but also redeining them. his efort can beneit
as well as their struggle for recognition through dif- from the history of previous media transitions that
ferent media forms, is directly relevant here. his is may shed light upon the current situation, involving
reinforced by the role of media-focused subcultures contradictory and ambivalent processes of explora-
34 such as fans, gamers or ‘hacktivists’, particularly tion, exploitation, institutionalisation, disciplining
considering the changing role of public institutions and normalisation.
– from archives and libraries to museums and public he way in which conventional features of social
service media – in supporting identity formation interaction (e.g. immediacy or ritual social events)
and the dynamic of that change. limit or enhance identity formation in social media
In addition to these issues, social fragmentation environments should be explored.
and media fragmentation, as they relate to audience he ways in which the engagement in new ICTs
power and institutional power, place identity forma- redeines identity by creating distinctions between
tion in a ield of tension. he distribution of cultural non-users and (diferent kinds of) users is also of
capital across social space as well as the intersec- relevance. Furthermore, the trend towards indi-
tions between diferent identity dimensions, such as vidualisation in new media resources (techniques
age, gender, class and ethnicity, play an important and genres) also afects identity formation. Both
role in the formation of identity. here is a need the brighter and the darker aspects of, for instance,
to examine the materiality of mediated identities: the internet need to be acknowledged, neglect-
which identities are excluded or marginalised in ing neither its emancipatory nor its authoritarian
current media practices; which are the performa- potentials – the former linked to resources for
tive aspects of identity formation; and which bodies democratisation and empowerment, the latter to
(e.g. gendered, abled/disabled, young/aging) matter new forms of surveillance and post-panoptical ‘sous-
while others do not. For instance, the performances veillance’ as well as to misogynist and xenophobic
of (masculine, feminine or ‘queered’) gender and ‘haters’.
sexual identity are afected by developments of ‘new’
media access and content in feminist groups, male
subcultures, internet pornography, dating, chat- What are the consequences
rooms, blogs, information websites, etc. here is of the creation of new modes
furthermore a need to come to grips with the ways of identity formation?
in which ‘haters’ of various kinds (misogynistic,
homophobic, xenophobic, sectarian or fundamen- he third category of research questions concerns
talist ‘trolls’, etc.) threaten to undermine eforts to the consequences of new modes of identity forma-
make new media a vital element in public spheres. tion as they afect the development of transcultural
identities and the issue of empowerment.
Whether recent changes in cultural consumption
Why key modes of identities and media use have led to new forms of identity, e.g.
have changed changing the balance between European, national
and sub-national identiications, is a possible area of
he second category relates to the media-related investigation. his directly relates to the prospects,
causes behind current identity transformations, problems and potentials of transnational identi-
including matters of technology, form and context ties such as those linked to Europe, in a situation
of increasingly complex and multi-levelled global results in areas essential for an active participation
media lows (Arslan et al., 2009; Uricchio, 2008). It in a mediatised world. Failure to do so will not only
remains to be seen whether new social media con- prevent the theorisation of identity from advancing
tribute to intercultural dialogue and the emergence alongside a constantly evolving and rapidly expand-
of new ‘contact zones’ where diverse cultures meet, ing technology which has a direct impact on identity
as well as to what extent they shit or perpetuate formation, it will also hinder progress in inluencing
established power structures between diferent the material manifestations in all areas of society
cultures and societies. he role of language and and culture in a constructive manner.
translation for the formation of identity in ‘new’
media environments and the rise of hybrid linguis-
tic systems due to the use of ‘new’ media that further
contribute to the proliferation of more hybrid, luid,
transitory and de-territorialised identities have also
not been adequately researched. Current media
transformations afect the ways in which ictional
identities in arts, popular culture and games inter-
act with people’s own identiications and social
practices.
Media studies should get a better understand- 35
ing of issues related to empowerment, aimed at

strengthening individual and collective citizens’
(and non-citizens’) communicative rights and
resources in relation to state control and the power
of large corporations to pre-structure and limit the
potentials of new media technologies. Here, regu-
lation and responsibility need to be balanced with
rights and freedoms of expression, and democratic
movements as well as public cultural institutions
should ind ways to make even better use of the
emerging new media resources.
Conclusion
Considering all of the above, it is of vital impor-

tance that future research take into account the
complexity, the luidity, the materiality as well
as the performative aspects of identity formation
and examine it both as a consequence as well as a
cause of engagement with media-related technol-
ogy and production. In a media-saturated world it
is imperative to examine aspects of how and why
identity formations are changing and to investi-
gate the consequences of such changes across the
spectrum of identity variables such as gender and
sexuality, race and ethnicity, age and (dis)ability, to
name but a few. Research undertaken in this area
may have direct impact, and its results can ind
practical application, in the domains of healthcare,
education, art, gaming culture and fashion. he
complexity of media lows as well as the increased
use of media technologies make a re-examination of
identity formation urgent, suggesting both a need
for a new theoretical framework to be articulated
and also, importantly, for the implementation of the
6.
Conclusions
l l l
36 he preceding four chapters outline the key deining mobilised, are of essential concern. he very notion
features of the issues we regard as demanding pri- and practice of citizenship in a democracy, in other
ority in the ield of media studies in Europe in the words, are at issue, with the media in all their forms
years ahead. In each chapter we have explained why and changing nature at the heart of engagement and
the issue is important, what research has already empowerment.
revealed, and how changes in social and techno- he chapter suggests that we need a renewed
logical development demand that new questions research focus on the nature of alternative demo-
be addressed, both to take policy forward and to cratic politics. It also outlines the importance of
enlarge our understanding of these critical institu- mediatisation, the saturation of political communi-
tions and processes. We do not, of course, suggest cation of all kinds by media. he chapter questions
that these observations exhaust the research priori- the presumption that technology will inevitably and
ties or possibilities in this ield, but they do represent insistently enlarge possibilities for political action
a range of urgent and important questions. In this and mobilisation, not least because of its potential
chapter we set out a number of important questions for by-passing representative organisations and
that arise from this discussion and which can be institutions, and the possibility that selective expo-
translated into research tasks. In the subsequent sure in a diverse and individualised communication
chapter we outline some recommendations as to environment could emphasise the reinforcement
the infrastructure and support for research which of attitudes as much as constructive dialogue. he
would allow these objectives to be met. Chapter 6 chapter suggests prioritising research that considers
is thus addressed primarily to the research commu- ‘political agency in context’ and sets out a number of
nity and those responsible for developing research thematics that would follow from such a perspective.
strategy. It summarises the key issues identiied in In Chapter 3 we return to the vexed question of
the Forward Look discussions as priorities for the the digital divide. Large political and social ques-
medium-term future of media studies, intellectu- tions of equity and eiciency do not disguise the
ally, socially and culturally. For such research to be fact that, however complex and multi-dimensional,
undertaken however, attention to the organisational inequities in access to and ability to use new com-
and logistical bases for research is required, and munication technologies persist, and endure beyond
Chapter 7 addresses these questions. what once was expected to be a transient condition.
In Chapter 2 we assessed the ways in which polit- As the chapter concludes, the digital divide may well
ical engagement needed substantial investigation to be deepening, as it is not only relecting pre-existing
relect changing times and technologies. Writing inequalities but coming to be an element in their
in a period in which coincident crises of economies, reproduction. hus it remains vital to map the con-
welfare, political participation, and private–pub- tours of social disadvantage and inequality onto to
lic provision are all creating levels of uncertainty the use and ownership of communication facilities.
and political dilemmas unknown in a generation, One important task within this is to address evident
the means by which knowledge and information diferences between national experiences. What
about policy are disseminated, and political action might we learn from rigorous and well-structured
comparisons across national policy boundaries that the nation state or locality, through new ‘contact
could enlarge our understanding of, and hence abil- zones’, whether through practice or the consump-
ity to address, the digital divide in all its forms? tion of both ictional and non-ictional forms.
A further task lies in investigating the diferent All these debates of course contain within them
implications and outcomes of public and private the seeds of innumerable research questions and
provision in digital services. approaches. But we can now attempt to distil some
In Chapter 4 we consider the research questions of the more urgent themes into a set of priority
arising from examination of the creative industries. research questions.
While much research has looked into everyday expe-
rience and the values, ideas, beliefs and attitudes of
consumers, there is much less known about the acts Key research questions
and structures behind both creation and creativity. for the future
here remains a need to depart from the residue of
romantic excess imbued in the concept of creativ- 1. What is the relative impact of technological
ity, and to understand better the relationship of innovation and socio-cultural context in
symbolic to material value in the content of com- shaping the actual uses of digital media?
munications. One resource for taking this research hroughout its history, media research has grappled
forward is in the rediscovery and deployment of with an oten stereotyped simpliication referred
various ethnographic methodologies, and to recog- to as technological determinism. At its simplest, 37
nise that media research has always, for reasons of this idea suggests that innovations in technology –

access and practicality, been unable to generate the printing, the cathode ray tube, wireless, the internet,
volume of ‘production studies’ required to obtain a mobile communications goods – are the drivers and
balanced understanding of the full communications enablers of major social changes, indeed their deter-
process. here remains much to understand about minants. Caution against this view will oten note
the qualities, activities and character of the creative how inventions are taken up some time ater their
workforce. For all these reasons the chapter sets out appearance only when the social conditions are
three dimensions, in media literacy and creativity, ‘right’ for their widespread adoption and applica-
in social practices of audiences, and in the impact of tion. his debate has become much revived in recent
technological developments on the creative and cul- times because of the prevalence of the ‘new media’,
tural economy, that form key areas for new research although it is becoming understandably common-
emphases and priority. place to note that we must soon stop speaking of
Chapter 5 is concerned with identity formation, the internet, mobile telephones, and the like as ‘new’
recognising the many ways in which the media are when they are part of the natural environment to
both a resource for the construction of identity and growing fractions of the population. Formulations
a means for its dissemination and publicisation. he such as ‘the information society’ suggest that so
chapter considers the contradictory and dual mean- prevalent are such technologies, their centrality in
ing of identity, in emphasising both individuality social, economic and political process enables us to
and diference on the one hand, and sameness and speak of having moved into a new social formation
commonality on the other. New media forms ofer – whether termed late capitalism, the knowledge
changing possibilities for both, while in some ields, society, or in some other conception. Empirically,
notably in visual formats and especially aural ones, we do not have enough understanding of the ways
we have only limited research and data on which in which people actually use digital media, and how
to draw. It is thus urgent to develop research that this varies in line with other and more familiar lines
investigates and understands changes in identity of diferentiation, some of which are opened up in
formation, not least through the emergence of Question 2.
new types of subculture associated with the media
themselves. Equally urgent is research that uncovers
the ways that social interaction itself is changing 2. How do key trends in markets and media
to generate new possibilities for association and industries impact on public knowledge and
identity formation – the very means of sociability public culture, and how does public policy
may be changing in ways as yet only imperfectly relate to market imperatives?
understood. Finally, research is needed that recog- he kinds of communication technologies available
nises and unpacks the emergence of new forms of to citizens, the price at which they are available, and
trans-cultural identity, understanding the complex the uses to which they may be put, are the result of
ways in which people relate to entities other than a complex interaction between the economic objec-
tives of the industrial organisations that produce the 4. How and in what ways are structural
commodities and services, and the policy objectives inequalities associated with demographic and
of governments and supra-national organisations economic variables not merely coincidental
that attempt to regulate the terrain in the interests with ‘digital divides’ but also both their cause
of social policy objectives. One primary concern and effect?
of industrial organisations is economic survival he widening availability and use of communica-
and this may lead them to privilege the provision tions technologies has opened up new means of
of certain services over others, or to adopt pricing receiving and disseminating communications for
policies that make access and utilisation diicult for many groups in society. However, the identiica-
certain sections of the populations. Governments tion of a ‘digital divide’ alerted us to the extent to
and supra-national organisations, on the other hand, which this was experienced variably by diferent
tend to be concerned with issues of equity in provi- groups. Much research has pursued this question
sion and access. hese two sets of priorities may be by deepening our understanding of the ‘digital
either complementary or antagonistic but the rela- divide’, not least by expanding its meaning so that
tions between the two are inevitable determinants we understand there to be multiple such divides.
of the technologies and services that citizens may Nonetheless, a persistent feature of such analysis
utilise. One of the central preoccupations of debates is that there are variations in access, use and expe-
over telecommunications services, for example, has rience that relate to familiar social and economic
38 long been the degree to which universal service is characteristics such as age, education, location, and
achieved and the costs and nature of the facilities income. hese characteristics persist in a way that
that are provided under this rubric. Elements in the suggests they are not transient but embedded in the
emerging new media landscape, for example the nature of communication technologies, and ind
debate over net neutrality, demonstrate that these their roots in enduring features of social inequality.
factors will continue to inluence profoundly the hus, age efects are cohort rather than generation
facilities that citizens may employ. efects – diferences will not disappear as widening
use becomes commonplace among populations now
3. What is the relationship between cultural youthful but maturing along with the technologies.
production and consumption, the nature and Equally, as communications goods and services are
role of audiences, and economic, social and commodities to be bought and sold in the market
cultural stratiication? place, people’s relation to that market place – their
he study of consumption has long been considered disposable income and household circumstances
a ield of economics that has been largely disre- – play a major role in their use and experience of
garded in favour of production and distribution. communication goods and services.
Consumption was seen as unproblematic because hese relationships have been little explored,
it was either considered to be based upon rational especially on a comparative and diachronic basis,
individuals buying goods to maximise their satis- and require once again the return of communi-
faction or seen as determined by production aims. cations and media research to some of the key
Digital media individualised cultural production concepts and concerns of their parent disciplines
and consumption. Focusing on the consumption in the social sciences. If we are to understand the
of culture rather than exclusively on production connection between structural inequalities and
points to the importance of diverse uses of mass- communication practices we need to re-import into
produced cultural goods and experiences in which communications research some of these classical
mass-produced commodities can be customised and concerns with structural inequalities.
‘localised’ rather than ‘globalised’. Investigating
new trends in cultural production and consump- 5. How and under what circumstances does
tion across the world is necessary to be able to build mediatisation hinder or contribute to new –
the future policies needed to promote creation and democratic or anti-democratic – forms of
access to knowledge. In addition to studies of inter- political participation?
pretative aspects of cultural consumption, the study Media research has given much attention in recent
of the relationship between cultural production and years to the concept and meaning of mediatisation.
consumption should take into account the wider he core of competing deinitions and approaches
social, economic and political context in which cul- is a focus on the extent to which the media have
tural products are being produced and consumed become central to political life, and indeed have
– globally, regionally and nationally as well as locally. become so important to the political institutions
and practices of a society that they are intrinsic to
them. In that sense, the term ‘saturation’ is oten 7. How do new uses of communication
associated with discussions of mediatisation, imply- technologies articulate with bodily experience,
ing that the media have advanced to a point where for example in the domains of healthcare,
major, especially political processes, are unthinkable education, art, gaming culture and fashion?
or even impossible without them. his process is he profusion of digital technologies enables con-
common in most European societies, with evidence sumers to transform and communicate their bodies
of increasing disengagement from traditional politi- across time and space (e.g. digital characters in a
cal processes, such as voting and party membership, virtual world that consumers can create and cus-
especially among the young, with only sketchy evi- tomise, such as avatars in ‘Second Life’), to ‘move’
dence that such engagement is migrating to newer beyond their physical location and to establish a
and diferent forms of political activity or commu- sense of shared presence among separate individu-
nication. als or members of a group (telepresence, for example,
Research is needed that takes forward some by cell phones or video conferencing), and even to
of these debates to understand the dynamics of ‘merge’ their bodies with technological tools (e.g.
democratic action and participation. We have sel- pacemakers). hese interactions reveal a complex
dom gone beyond the aggregate data of political negotiation occurring at the boundary between the
mobilisation and action to understand more fun- body and technology. hey challenge the formerly-
damentally how democracies may be changing, if prevailing assumptions in explaining consumers’
indeed they are, with the widespread adoption of construction of online identities suggesting that a 39
media both for political communication between simple dichotomy exists between the online self and

political actors and the governed and for political the physical self (i.e. whether the ‘virtual identities’
mobilisation among citizens and social and politi- are relection of the ‘real identities’ or constructed
cal groups. independently of them), and that a singular map-
ping of the individual self onto a single biological
6. How do changes in power relations relate body is possible. he ubiquity of digital technolo-
to the role of the media in destabilising gies and diversity of consumers’ interactions with
traditional deinitions of identity and promoting them erased clear boundaries between the body
new forms of agency? and technology, which raises basic questions about
It is frequently argued that the sheer range and what it means to communicate in the out-of-body
diversity of media provision, including fiction experience.
and entertainment as well as factual information,
make available an unprecedented variety of modes 8. What are the implications for privacy and
of expression and communication which may be the principles of democracy of the increasing
‘borrowed’ or deployed by recipients in constructing use of new media technologies to facilitate
their own identities. One formulation of this idea everyday social transactions?
suggests that the media have created the opportuni- Until recently, discussions of the right to privacy
ties for a postmodern lexibility, in which such is the largely ignored that privacy rights that are related
array of identities and modes of expression available to personal choice, association and expression are
that consumers are able to change and reconstruct necessary to democratic government but, with the
their identities endlessly, whether deliberately or advance of communication technologies, these
inadvertently. Ideas of this kind are oten richer and issues became particularly contentious. Changes
more widespread than solid empirical investigation in communication technology and its social uses
to assess their accuracy. he media themselves may shape, oten in controversial ways, the difusion of
deliver new sources of power over and above tra- power relationships in society. Public communica-
ditional resources based on wealth or position and tion legitimises human actions but it may also limit
rooted in newer forms of status, such as that aris- personal and organisational – physical, intellectual
ing from celebrity. How far this is true, and which and informational – privacy. Publicity not only
particular forms of communication production and makes things democratically visible, and thus sup-
consumption are involved in the ‘destabilisation’ or presses censorship, it can also impose visibility on
reformulation of identity, have been little explored. an individual’s actions and thus intrude on the indi-
vidual’s privacy. Although ‘disciplinary visibility’
represents the major threat to democratic commu-
nication, secret forms of privacy invasion infringe
the personal right to privacy even more danger-
ously. Contemporary systems of video surveillance,
monitoring and electronic remote sensing may 10. How will the demands of sustainability
develop into tyranny over private citizens and their and ecological considerations inluence the
normatively-assured privacy. Commercial corpora- development of media technologies and their
tions design, control and own large sections of the uses in the future?
internet’s architecture, which enables comprehen- On one hand, the demands of sustainability and eco-
sive control over internet access and web iltering, logical considerations refer to the critical ecological
and the ability to harvest information on users’ web footprint of ICT: the network society is based on the
browsing and downloading activities, instant mes- increasing use of scarce natural resources (strategic
saging, and e-mail activities. Website providers thus minerals, etc.) without proper recycling procedures;
make proits on users’ online activities by tracking, the use of ICT is very energy-dependent and energy-
accumulating and selling data on their lifestyles, intensive. On the other hand, digital information
interests and habits. In these conditions there is a and communication technologies are important
need to ind the ‘right’ balance between individu- in shaping sustainable solutions for the future of
als’ self-determination, public interest (especially in our planet, advancing education and the spread of
terms of public safety), and market demands. knowledge, building a green economy, and bridging
the digital divide. Social media, in particular, may
9. To what extent do different intellectual play an important role in democratising information
property regimes facilitate or impede different at all levels in our highly-interconnected world and
40 forms of creative agency? thus achieving the goals of sustainable development.
Intellectual property (patents, copyright, trade- ‘Media Ecology’ promotes the idea that information
marks) is often compared to physical property and communication technology, modes of informa-
rights but knowledge or ‘immaterial products’ are tion and codes of communication play a leading role
fundamentally diferent. Intellectual property can in human afairs by assigning media users speciic
be bought and sold, but should it be considered a roles, structuring what they see and say, and speci-
commodity like other goods that can be bought fying what they are permitted or expected to do.
and/or sold? Together with labour, land and money, his (sot) deterministic perspective of how media
which Polanyi (1944) described as ‘ictitious’ com- technologies may shape human demands of sus-
modities, intellectual property belongs to the world tainability should be supplemented by questioning
of commodities which are unsustainable within a the social conditions that help to shape the ways in
self-regulating market system and thus necessitates which the available communication technologies
speciic ‘protection’ and regulation. In contrast to will be used, and inluence the direction in which
Polanyi’s ‘ictitious commodities’, however, immate- they will be developed and changed.
rial intellectual products can only become proitable
commodities with government intervention. he 11. What are the prospects, problems and
technological developments of the digital age might potentials of European and other transnational
raise expectations that, in industries where the identities in a context of increasingly complex
basic production equipment is widely afordable, global media lows?
an increased cultural production by people work- In a situation of increasingly complex and multi-
ing outside the ‘creative industries’ will lead to a levelled global media lows, there is a need to better
more equitable distribution of economic assets understand social, cultural, political and economic
in the development of the creative economy. his, impacts that the social dynamics of transnational
however, is challenged by evidence that inequality groupings have on their members and on others.
and social exclusion persist. here may be greater hey are emerging as key players in globalisation
opportunities to become content creators but the processes, which are largely decentred from speciic
means of storage and mass distribution for proit national territories and take place in a global space,
are dominated by globalised companies. How the in contrast to transnationalisation processes, which
difering interests of the original creators, the inter- transcend one or more nation states but are still
mediaries (producers, publishers) and the end-users anchored in one or a limited number of them (such
(consumers, citizens) should be balanced globally as transnational corporations). Globalisation fosters
and regionally as well as nationally in this new envi- a re-organisation and re-negotiation of nationally-
ronment is still unclear. framed identities and creation of transnational
identities, supranational institutions and global
networks of interaction that facilitate international
cooperation and global governance, but it also faces
the growing emergence of multiple identities such as
ethnic, religious, linguistic, environmental and gen-
der identities. In order to understand the complexity
of these processes, it is essential to understand not
only what identities are but also from where those
identities are derived and how they relate to the ‘oth-
erness’ inherent in identity construction. How social
identities are shaped by transnational interaction
(e.g. changing the balance between transnational/
European, national and sub-national identiications)
is an important area of investigation.
12. In what ways can (critical) media literacy

serve to foster citizenship and enhance
cultural capital and thus promote democratic
engagement, empowerment and social and
cultural inclusivity?
Media literacy in its various constructions is
explored in the background working paper pre-
pared for this Forward Look which is available on 41
the ESF website (Erstad et al., 2012). At its core is a

description of the ways in which consumers are able
to understand the means by which the media work
to convey images, ideas and information so that
the consumer can respond critically and actively.
Equally, the term denotes the growing ability of
consumers to also be producers. In part, this is
enabled by the spread of so-called social media and
the phenomenon of citizen journalism. his begins
to delate decades of assumptions about the pro-
fessional capacity of mediators, and questions both
the need for and occupational ideologies of such
groups. On the other hand it can also be argued
that the power of professional communicators, for
example in the form of large media corporations,
has never been greater, so that far from empow-
ering, new technologies have been co-opted and
colonised by previously-existing concentrations of
power and control in fairly familiar forms. hese
forces are plainly in tension, and both are active at
one and the same time. Comparative research can
examine what factors take us in one direction or
another. In the background paper we examine the
varying approaches to the concept of media literacy,
and also the related but far from identical notion
of critical media literacy. Research should develop
to examine to what extent media literacy is indeed
critical, and thus empowering, rather than merely
functional, enabling use and consumption, but not
necessarily enlightenment or critique.
7.
Recommendations
l l l
42 1. Research approaches 1.2 Diachronic investigation

Time is the key variable in so many of the processes
1.1 Interdisciplinary investigation we have been describing. Investigating behaviour

Media studies is a ield rather than a discipline, even through the use of panel studies is expensive and,
though it has evolved its own infrastructure in the by deinition, time consuming. Results frequently
form of higher education programmes, scholarly only become cumulatively valuable as time goes
conferences, specialised journals, subject associa- on. Inevitably, for these reasons, such studies are
tions and so on. he advantage of such structures is rare, leaving us beret of substantial investigation
that they nurture deeper investigation into speciic exploring the dynamics of media production and
areas and foster the independence and sustainabil- consumption. Studies of content comparing ear-
ity of the ield. he danger is, of course, a degree lier with later periods are much more common, but
of intellectual myopia or amnesia that, at worst, the methodological reason for this is plain – old
leads to much ‘reinventing of the wheel’ or devel- newspapers do not forget or disappear (except in
opment of ideas which are artiicially constrained occasional library loods!). Despite popular fasci-
and deined. In taking the ield forward we would nation with the speed of change in the media ield,
press for an openness to the range of work in cog- whether the very rapid spread of so-called social
nate areas that, in the arts, humanities, and social media or fast-changing habits in the use of mobile
sciences especially (but not only), should be of value media, understanding such changes needs research
and pertinence to many of the questions raised in which attends to shits in behaviour over time. With
this document. his argues particularly for team- rapid technological change we desperately need dia-
work in which there is at least some participation chronic panel studies to distinguish cohort from
from beyond the closed world that media studies life-stage efects.
have occasionally become.
Recommendation 1.2
Recommendation 1.1 We recommend that funding bodies recognise the
In order to mitigate this inward-looking potential in need for long-term studies and do not succumb
media studies we recommend that: to the temptation to restrict their support to work
a. Universities and higher education authorities facil- which provides swift and even instant snapshots of
itate interdisciplinary investigation, scholarship communication behaviour. This requires some bold-
and training in relevant ields, and that the various ness and imagination on the part of funding bodies,
forms of research assessment at the very least do which should be willing to sustain such work even
not penalise such inter- or cross-disciplinary work. if provisional and periodic results are required. The
b. Funding bodies ensure that their programme and reward would be research of far greater profundity
committee structures do not discourage such and signiicance.
work, and provide researchers with clear guide-
lines where work that challenges traditional
disciplinary boundaries might best be directed.
1.3 Comparative investigation economic conditions. Understanding these complex
To understand what is happening in one place oten changes requires theoretical analysis, without which
requires comparison with another to make clear the data is simply a meaningless collection of facts – it
signiicance of what is being observed. Comparison is information rather than knowledge.
does not always mean of one country with another. Media research, which is but miniature com-
Much media production and consumption data is pared to the colossus that is market research, can
generated at national level, making cross-country too easily fall prey to the temptation to focus on
comparisons more readily accessible than other the easily researchable, while the diicult task of
forms of comparison. Re-analysis of Eurobarometer constructing theoretical frameworks is regarded as
data, for example, has become something of an a luxury or irrelevance. he topics we address in this
industry, and indeed such work furnishes valuable report all relect complex shits in behaviour and
insights. However, the diferences between rural social structure which can only be understood, and
and urban areas, rich and poor, young and old, can translated into operationally manageable research,
oten be made more comprehensible and signiicant through sound and complex theory construction.
if these distinctions are used across national bound-
aries, slicing the cake diferently to the normal way Recommendation 1.4
of doing it to reveal patterns and proiles otherwise a. It is vital that theory underpin the design of
masked. Two related recommendations follow from research calls and work programmes. Equally it
this observation. means that research funders should be aware of 43
and invite attention to the theoretical assumptions

Recommendation 1.3 in even the most pragmatic-seeming research.
Following from this observation we recommend that: b. Researchers should give central place to theory
a. Funding bodies within nation states support work when developing their research projects and plans.
which addresses comparisons other than those This requires action both by researchers and also
most readily and prominently available, usually at by research funding bodies, who should require
national level, for example the ones listed above. and expect a theoretical context and grounding in
This requires support for collaborations across any application, and whose programmes should be
national boundaries (see Recommendation 2.1). constructed with a theoretical as well as a policy
b. The designers of major work programmes within foundation.
Horizon 2020 recognise that research under-
pinning the future of Europe in job creation and Box 1
technological success in the communications ield An example of this approach may be found
will depend on imaginative support for work pro- in research into social network sites. Social
grammes investigating comparisons in experience network sites (SNS) became a major object of
and development across not just the regions and investigation in media studies both because
nation states of Europe, but across its divergent of their popularity and because of an unprec-
social and cultural communities. For example, a edented amount of automatically generated
focus on comparing nation states will not cap- data they provide. In traditional research,
ture one of the key features of communications data gathering was clearly separated from
development, namely the relative differential the process of communication as the object
engagement with communication changes of study. Internet interactions, links and pro-
between age cohorts and generations. This will iles, and cell phone uses represent an entirely
be a vital area for policy and research which has new mode of communication that combine
scarcely been addressed, and needs urgent inves- the timeliness of speaking and the endurance
tigation and analysis. of writing. Moreover, the digital(ised) com-
munications generate ‘surplus’ information
1.4 Theoretically-grounded research on users’ online activities that can be tracked
A familiar cliché has it that there is nothing so prac- down, explored and used by those not partici-
tical as a good theory. he danger inherent in much pating in interactions. Research datasets are
media research is that we measure what is measur- created as ‘footprints’ of personal information
able rather than what is important. All research is that participants leave online while commu-
rooted in theory, but oten this remains tacit and nicating, and make them (oten unwittingly)
assumed. he world we live in is changing fast, with available to others; they can be used to study
major alterations in the environment, in demogra- patterns of calling and receiving phone calls,
phy, in population movement, employment, and in •••
b. The relevant Directorates of the European
sending and receiving messages, downloading
Commission could offer valuable support for
and uploading iles, (un)friending and (un)lik-
subject association collaboration (there are so
ing on the individual and aggregate levels. his
far very few examples) around key themes (indi-
information is generated automatically by sot-
cated in Chapter 6); this support should include
ware enabling communication itself and, thus,
a programme of training workshops for young
cannot be prevented. his kind of surveillance
researchers in developing research programmes
coupled with the massive amounts of ‘big data’
incorporating essential cross-national collabora-
that are collected, analysed and used, not only
tion.
for research aims but also for commercial or
political purposes, raises serious ethical and
2.2 Research beyond the academy
legal issues both for research and the entire
democratic community. New modes of digital Media organisations undertake research to establish
communication thus challenge the belief that the size and requirements of their audiences. Such
it is possible clearly to separate methodology market research has a long history and represents a
from theory. It is vital that research funders, huge stockpile of invaluable data. Too oten research
interested in the potential and growth of such by such organisations and that by researchers within
networks and sites, recognise the fundamental the academy is undertaken in mutual ignorance. We
theoretical issues raised by the vast growth in do not underestimate the diiculties, even dan-
44
information about, for example, preferences gers, of dialogue. he pragmatic needs of market
research can sometimes run counter to the concep-
(Facebook), consumer demand (Google), con-

sumption (Apple), reading habits (Amazon), tual and analytical priorities of scholarly research.
and mobility (Microsoft) inherent in the In the literature the traditional distinction is drawn
emergence of so-called ‘big data’. he ques- between ‘administrative’ and ‘critical’ research, the
tions raised by such proposals have become former designed to provide immediately useful
major issues for discussion in the political and entirely utilitarian data to advance the needs
realm as well as for research and its support in of commercial sponsors, the latter deeply rooted
the current period, adding to the urgency of in critique and theory about the contextual, social,
addressing such topics appropriately. and cultural dynamics concerned. he distinction
has been much discussed, and we do not pretend
that the diferences are other than real and, on occa-
sion, potentially damaging. However, researchers
2. Research Infrastructure wish to be heard, and policy makers wish to make
sound proposals. Both require research that engages
2.1 Collaborative international research the expertise, resources, and access which partners
Research remains largely a national pursuit. within the academy and within the industries can
Although scholars meet internationally, the forma- respectively deliver. European media organisations
tion of international research collaborations and do not have a long track record in either facilitating
teams is less common than it might be. his is partly or funding research in this ield. On occasion their
because of the rising costs of association – travel, etc. perception of research as unhelpfully or ignorantly
– paradoxically inhibit collaboration when digital critical, or as irrelevant to the pragmatic concerns
communication should render such ‘real-life’ meet- of producers or industries, may be the cause of this –
ing less salient. It is also because of the competitive valid or not as these perceptions may be. To make a
dimension to research activity, each nation-state reality of this recommendation requires much more
being acutely conscious of the need to demonstrate dialogue across the boundary between academic
value-for-money in its support for research. and market research.
Recommendation 2.1 Recommendation 2.2

a. International subject associations, organisations a. We recommend that universities and research
such as the ESF and Science Europe, and the EU assessment exercises (such as the Research
should support collaborative activities that bring Excellence Framework in the UK) recognise the
together the talents and experience of scholars value in achieving such dialogue, so that the huge
from more than one country to ensure the suc- datasets held by business and industry comple-
cess and growth of international research that can ment the theoretical, but sometimes empirically
transcend either the scientiic or policy priorities under-nourished, work of academic researchers.
of a single nation. b. In most European countries industry-based
researchers are little, if at all, involved in the potential inclusion of media studies data in CESSDA
development of relevant disciplines; for example, on the agenda, and to examine strategies for the
in most countries, few are members of relevant collation, management and dissemination of data in
subject associations or attend their conventions this area, not least in the emerging regime of open
and conferences. Time, not money, is the obstacle, access publishing.
and we strongly advise commercial organisa-
tions to afford time for relevant staff to become
so engaged. Funding could issue from such pro- Box 2
grammes as the EU-funded COST programme Set up in December 1992, the European
Information and Communication Technologies Audiovisual Observatory based in Strasbourg
(ICT), which is rather focused on the technologi- is the only centre of its kind to gather and circu-
cal dimensions to its problem area despite its late information on the audiovisual industry in
declared emphasis on “treating the processing, Europe. he Observatory is a European public
transmission, storage, retrieval, management, service body with 39 Member States. It oper-
usage, and exchange of information and knowl- ates within the legal framework of the Council
edge, with emphasis on fundamental aspects”. of Europe. As its name suggests, it is concerned
only with the audio-visual industries, though
2.3 Data management and availability it does also these days address ‘new media’. Its
For the media and communications ield to develop use by researchers in the academy is very lim- 45
as is needed a Europe-wide research clearing house ited, but it does represent an ambitious and

would be invaluable, collating data and research laudable attempt to act as a clearing house and
outputs and accessible to the scholarly commu- data warehouse for the ield. Its holdings, how-
nity. Its value would be in the eiciencies gained ever, are in the main data sets on such subjects
by facilitating analysis of existing data rather than as audio-visual production, cinema audiences
unnecessarily generating new data, and in reduc- and so on, produced by national governments.
ing unnecessary duplication. In most EU countries 3 http://www.obs.coe.int/
there are data archives for research, including media
research, undertaken across the academy, usually
fostered and resourced by national research coun- 2.4 Training and internships
cils. At the European level, the Council of European While the ield is growing fast, research training
Social Science Data Archives (CESSDA) is a mul- opportunities are few. Doctoral and postdoctoral
tinational network of data archiving institutions training schools have been rare, though effec-
– an umbrella organisation for social science data tive and valuable when available. The ECREA
archives across Europe. Since the 1970s the mem- European Media and Communication Doctoral
bers have worked together to improve access to data Summer School is a good example (see Box 3). he
for researchers and students. CESSDA helps the European Science Foundation Research Networking
members to plan collection, management, deposi- Programme ‘Changing Media – Changing Europe’
tion and dissemination of research data. With its also provided opportunities for a small number
transformation into CESSDA European Research of young scholars. There are other such initia-
Infrastructure Consortium (CESSDA ERIC), it is tives, but support for such ventures is limited, and
developing into a pan-European social research the cultivation of a generation of internationally-
infrastructure. CESSDA ERIC is not expressly attuned young researchers is a major need for which
addressed to media and communications. However, resources are currently scarce. Among the many
it may play an important role in facilitating data advantages of such training activities would be the
collection and exchange in the ield of media stud- further development of necessary analytical skills
ies, particularly in complementing the work of – both quantitative and qualitative. he training
the European Audiovisual Observatory, another develops the leaders of tomorrow whose skills and
important resource for media and communications networks cascade down and become accessible to a
research (see Box 2). widening body of scholars.
Recommendation 2.3 Recommendation 2.4

We recommend an early meeting between a rep- It is recommended that training opportunities for
resentative body for media and communications doctoral and postdoctoral researchers in media
studies (for example ECREA or the Media Research and communication studies be expanded and dedi-
Network of the ESA) and CESSDA ERIC, to put the cated long-term inancial support mechanisms set
up. Such training should pay attention to the need to
enlarge research capacity and capabilities in inter-
national, collaborative, comparative and diachronic
research, as outlined above.
Box 3
he ECREA European Media and Communi-
cation Doctoral Summer School which started
in 1992 is now a joint project of 22 European
universities and the European Communication
Research and Education Association (ECREA).
Between 20 and 50 students in the mid-stage
of their PhD projects have participated
each year in the summer school in Grenoble
(1992–96), Madrid (1997), Lund (1998), Lon-
don (1999–2003), Tampere/Helsinki (2004),
Tartu (2005–2009), Ljubljana (2010–2012) and
46 Bremen (2013– ). In 2006, the Summer School
launched its own book series (he Research-
ing and Teaching Communication series) for

which an edited volume is produced, con-
taining a discussion of the summer school’s
pedagogical project, a series of student and
lecturer chapters and the PhD abstracts of all
participating PhD students.
3 http://www.comsummerschool.org/ and
http://www.researchingcommunication.eu/
Nico Carpentier, International Director of the

ECREA European Media and Communication
Doctoral Summer School.
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Annexes
49

Annex 1: Membership of the Scientiic Committee
and the Quality Reference Group
Scientiic Committee Quality Reference Group

Chairs Chair
• Professor Peter Golding • Dr Nina Kancewicz-Hoffman
Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, European Science Foundation, Humanities
United Kingdom and Social Sciences Unit, Strasbourg, France
• Professor Slavko Splichal
Members
Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana,
• Ms Anne Deltour
Slovenia
European Commission, Directorate General
Members for Information Society and Media Audiovisual
• Dr Claudia Alvares and Media Policies, Bruxelles, Belgium
School of Communication, Arts and Information • Dr Susanne Ding
Technologies, Lusofona University, Lisbon, Portugal European Commission – DG Education and Culture,
• Professor Gustavo Cardoso Unit D3 – MEDIA programme and media literacy,
ISCTE, DCTI, Lisboa, Portugal Brussels, Belgium
• Professor Peter Dahlgren • Professor Kirsten Drotner
50 Professor Emeritus, Department of Communication Institute for the Study of Culture – Media Studies,
and Media, Lund University, Sweden University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
• Professor Ola Erstad • Professor François Heinderyckx

Institute of Educational Research, University of Oslo, Information and Communication Sciences, University
Norway of Brussels, Belgium
• Professor Johan Fornäs • Professor Jan Jirák
Department of Media and Communication Studies, Media Studies Department, Faculty of
School of Culture and Communication, Sodertorn Social Sciences, Charles University, Prague,
University, Huddinge, Sweden Czech Republic
• Professor Hannu Nieminen • Dr Balázs Kiss
Department of Social Research/Media and Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Centre for Social
Communication Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, Sciences, Department for Political Behaviour,
University of Helsinki, Finland Institute for Political Science, Budapest, Hungary
• Professor Colin Sparks • Dr Angela Liberatore
Journalism and Mass Communication, School EC Commission, DG XII Research and Innovation,
of Communication, Hong Kong Baptist University, Brussels, Belgium
Hong Kong • Professor Ruta Petrauskaite
• Dr Charis Xinaris Centre of Computational Linguistics, Faculty
Department of Humanities, School of Humanities of Humanities, Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas,
and Social Sciences, European University – Lithuania
Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus • Professor Alain Peyraube
Centre National de la Recherche Scientiique (CNRS),
Centre de Recherches Linguistiques, Paris, France
• Professor Annabelle Sreberny-Mohammadi
School of Oriental & African Studies, University
of London, London, United Kingdom
• Ms Erika Widegren
The Permanent Platform of Atomium Culture,
Brussels, Belgium
Annex 2: Forward Look Activities and Participants
Scoping Workshop, Thematic Workshop 1 –

20–21 June 2011, Strasbourg (FR) ‘Political engagement in an
Chairs age of mediatisation: enablers
• Dr Eva Hoogland and constraints for democratic
European Science Foundation, Humanities developments’
and Social Sciences Unit, Strasbourg, France 16-17 June 2012, Lisbon (PT)
• Dr Nina Kancewicz-Hoffman
European Science Foundation, Humanities Co-Chairs
and Social Sciences Unit, Strasbourg, France • Dr Claudia Alvares
School of Communication, Arts and Information
Participants Technologies, Lusofona University, Lisbon, Portugal
• Dr Claudia Alvares • Professor Peter Dahlgren
School of Communication, Arts and Information Professor Emeritus, Department of Communication
Technologies, Lusofona University, Lisbon, Portugal and Media, Lund University, Sweden
• Professor Gustavo Cardoso
ISCTE, DCTI, Lisboa, Portugal Participants
• Professor Ola Erstad • Professor Inta Brikse 51
Institute of Educational Research, Department of Communication Studies,

University of Oslo, Norway University of Latvia, Riga, Latvia
• Professor Peter Golding • Dr Nico Carpentier
Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, SCOM, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium
United Kingdom • Professor Franca Faccioli
• Dr Nicholas W. Jankowski Facoltà di Scienze della Comunicazione,
Department of Communication, Radboud University, Università di Roma La Sapienza, Italy
Nijmegen, Netherlands • Dr Natalie Fenton
• Ms Simone Kimpeler Goldsmith’s College, University of London,
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der United Kingdom
angewandten Forschung e.V., Munich, Germany • Professor Joke Hermes
• Dr Carole Moquin-Pattey Media, Culture and Citizenship, Global City
Hogeschool INHolland, Voorzitter Research
European Science Foundation, Corporate Science
and Innovation Centre, INHolland University,
Strategy Development Unit, Strasbourg, France
Diemen, Netherlands
• Professor Ruta Petrauskaite
• Dr Eva Hoogland
Research Council of Lithuania, Kaunas, Lithuania
European Science Foundation, Humanities
• Ms Jana Schumacher
and Social Sciences Unit, Strasbourg, France
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Förderung der
• Professor Klaus Jensen
angewandten Forschung e.V., Munich, Germany
Department of Film and Media Studies, University
• Professor Colin Sparks
of Copenhagen, Denmark
Journalism and Mass Communication, School
• Professor Josiane Jouët
of Communication, Hong Kong Baptist University,
Institut Français de Presse – IFP,
Hong Kong
Université Panthéon-Assas, Paris, France
• Dr Balázs Kiss
Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Centre for Social
Slovenia Sciences, Department for Political Behaviour,
• Ms Shira Tabachnikoff Institute for Political Science, Budapest, Hungary
European Science Foundation, Communications Unit, • Dr Peter Lewis
Strasbourg, France Department of Applied Social Sciences, Faculty
• Dr Rifka Weehuizen of Social Sciences and Humanities, London
European Science Foundation, Humanities Metropolitan University, United Kingdom
and Social Sciences Unit, Strasbourg, France • Dr Brian Loader
• Ms Corinne Wininger Department of Sociology, University of York,
European Science Foundation, Humanities United Kingdom
and Social Sciences Unit, Strasbourg, France • Dr Inka Salovaara Moring
• Dr Charis Xinaris Institute of Estonian Language and Culture,
Department of Humanities, School of Humanities University of Tallinn, Estonia
and Social Sciences, European University – Cyprus, • Professor Maria João Silveirinha
Nicosia, Cyprus Centro de Investigacao Media e Jornalism,
Departamento de Filosoia, Faculty of Humanities,
University of Coimbra, Leiria, Portugal
Slovenia
Thematic Workshop 2 – Thematic Workshop 3 –

‘Creative economy or creative ‘Digital divides and their relation to
culture? Shaping and sharing class, gender, generation, ethnicity
of media content as a speciically and region’
economic or as a wider social 7–8 June 2012, Helsinki (FI)
resource’ Co-Chairs
18–19 June 2012, Lisbon (PT) • Professor Hannu Nieminen
Department of Social Research/Media and
Co-Chairs
Communication Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences,
• Professor Gustavo Cardoso
University of Helsinki, Finland
ISCTE, DCTI, Lisboa, Portugal
• Professor Colin Sparks
• Professor Ola Erstad
Journalism and Mass Communication, School
Institute of Educational Research,
of communication, Hong Kong Baptist University,
University of Oslo, Norway
Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong
Participants
52 Participants
• Professor Kirsten Drotner
• Professor Peter Golding
Institute for the Study of Culture – Media Studies,
Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne,

University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
United Kingdom
• Ms Rita Espanha
• Professor François Heinderyckx
CIES/ISCTE, ISCTE, University Institute of Lisbon,
Information and Communication Sciences,
Portugal
University of Brussels, Brussels, Belgium
• Professor Isabel Gil
• Dr Eva Hoogland
Research Center for Communication and Culture,
Faculty of Human Sciences, Catholic University
of Portugal, Lisbon, Portugal
• Dr Beata Klimkiewicz
• Professor Peter Golding
Institute of Journalism and Social Communication,
Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne,
Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland
United Kingdom
• Dr Eugène Loos
• Professor Jostein Gripsrud
Department of Communication Science,
Department of Media Studies, University of Bergen,
Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences,
Norway
University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Dr Maren Hartmann
• Dr Ursula Maier-Rabler
Faculty of Architecture, Media and Design,
Unit for Multimedia and New Communication
Berlin University of the Arts, Berlin, Germany
Technologies, Department of Communication,
• Dr Eva Hoogland
University of Salzburg, Austria
• Dr Maria Michalis
School of Media, Arts and Design, University
• Professor Jakob Linaa Jensen
of Westminster, London, United Kingdom
Department of Aesthetics and Communication –
• Dr Sarah Sintonen
Media Science, Aarhus University, Denmark
Department of Teacher Education,
• Professor Jackie Marsh
Faculty of Behavioural Sciences, University
Department of Educational Studies, School
of Helsinki, Finland
of Education, The University of Shefield,
• Professor Jan A.G.M. van Dijk
United Kingdom
University of Twente, Netherlands
• Professor Michael Palmer
• Dr Thierry Vedel
Centre for Research on Information and the Media
CNRS, CEVIPOF – Centre de recherches politiques
in Europe, Université III – Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris,
de Sciences Politiques, Paris, France
France
• Professor Emili Prado Pico
Image, Sound and Synthesis Research Group
(GRISS), Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona,
Bellaterra, Spain
• Dr Julian Sefton Green
Department of Media and Communications,
London School of Economics and Political Science,
United Kingdom
Thematic Workshop 4 – Synthesis Workshop,

‘Identity-formation: from Facebook 23 October 2012, Istanbul (TR)
networks to institutional forms Co-Chairs
of cultural heritage’ • Professor Peter Golding
17–18 May 2012, Nicosia (CY) Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne,
United Kingdom
Co-Chairs • Professor Slavko Splichal
• Professor Johan Fornäs Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana,
Department of Media and Communication Studies, Slovenia
School of Culture and Communication, Sodertorn
University, Huddinge, Sweden Participants
• Dr Charis Xinaris • Dr Claudia Alvares
Department of Humanities, School of Humanities School of Communication, Arts and Information
and Social Sciences, European University – Cyprus, Technologies, Lusofona University, Lisbon, Portugal
Nicosia, Cyprus • Professor Peter Dahlgren
Professor Emeritus, Department of Communication
Participants and Media, Lund University, Sweden 53
• Professor Daniël Biltereyst • Professor Ola Erstad

Vakgroep Communicatiewetenschappen, Institute of Educational Research, University of Oslo,
Communication Studies, Political and Social Norway
Sciences, Universiteit Gent, Belgium • Professor Johan Fornäs
• Dr Astrid Ensslin Department of Media and Communication Studies,
School of Creative Studies and Media, Bangor School of Culture and Communication, Sodertorn
University, Gwynedd, United Kingdom University, Huddinge, Sweden
• Professor Hillevi Ganetz • Dr Eva Hoogland
Gender Studies, Department of Ethnology, European Science Foundation, Humanities
History of Religions and Gender studies, Stockholm and Social Sciences Unit, Strasbourg, France
University, Sweden • Ms Sarah Moore
• Professor Kostas Gouliamos European Science Foundation, Humanities
Research and External Affairs, European University and Social Sciences Unit, Strasbourg, France
Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus • Professor Hannu Nieminen
• Dr Olga Guedes Bailey Department of Social Research/Media and
School of Arts and Humanities, Nottingham Trent Communication Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences,
University, Nottingham, United Kingdom University of Helsinki, Finland
• Dr Eva Hoogland • Ms Heather Owen
European Science Foundation, Humanities EditEnglish, Belper, United Kingdom
and Social Sciences Unit, Strasbourg, France • Professor Colin Sparks
• Dr Gregor Petric Journalism and Mass Communication, School
Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, of communication, Hong Kong Baptist University,
Slovenia Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong
• Dr Pille Pruulmann-Vengerfeldt • Dr Charis Xinaris
Department of Journalism and Communication, Department of Humanities, School of Humanities
Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tartu, and Social Sciences, European University –
Estonia Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
• Professor Katharine Sarikakis
Department of Communication Science, Faculty
of Social Sciences, University of Vienna, Austria
• Professor Süheyla Schroeder
Faculty of Communications, Bahçesehir University,
Istanbul, Turkey
Slovenia
• Professor Nada Svob-Dokic
Department for Culture and Communication, Institute
for International Relations (IMO), Zagreb, Croatia
• Ms Erika Widegren
Brussels, Belgium
Final Conference, • Professor Jan Jirák

24–25 January 2013, Ljubljana (SI) Media Studies Department, Faculty of Social
Sciences, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
Co-Chairs • Professor Josiane Jouët
• Professor Peter Golding Institut Français de Presse – IFP,
Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, Université Panthéon-Assas, Paris, France
United Kingdom • Dr Nina Kancewicz-Hoffman
• Professor Slavko Splichal European Science Foundation, Humanities
Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, and Social Sciences Unit, Strasbourg, France
Slovenia • Dr Balázs Kiss
Participants Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Centre for Social
• Dr Claudia Alvares Sciences, Department for Political Behaviour,
School of Communication, Arts and Information Institute for Political Science, Budapest, Hungary
Technologies, Lusofona University, Lisbon, Portugal • Dr Beata Klimkiewicz
• Dr Sveva Avveduto Institute of Journalism and Social Communication,
CNR, Research Unit on Human Resources and Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland
54
Knowledge Society, IRPPS (Institute for Research • Dr Edvard Kobal
on Population and Social Policies), Rome, Italy The Slovenian Science Foundation, Ljubljana,
• Mr Ross Biggam Slovenia

Association of Commercial Television in Europe, • Professor Friedrich Krotz
Brussels, Belgium ZeMKI, University of Bremen, Germany
• Professor Peter A. Bruck • Professor Sonia Livingstone
Research Studios Austria, Salzburg, Austria Department of Media and Communications,
• Professor Bertrand Cabedoche London School of Economics and Political Science,
UFR Langage, lettres et arts du spectacle, United Kingdom
information et communication (LLASIC) – • Professor Peter Ludes
Groupe de Recherche sur les Enjeux de Integrated Social Sciences, School of Humanities
la Communication, Département Sciences and Social Sciences, Jacobs University Bremen,
de l’information et de la communication, Germany
Université Stendhal-Grenoble 3, Echirolles, France • Dr Maria Michalis
• Dr Gérard Colavecchio School of Media, Arts and Design, University
Centre de liaison de l’enseignement et des médias of Westminster, London, United Kingdom
d’information (CLEMI), Paris, France • Dr Andrew Millington
• Professor Fausto Colombo EuroPAWS at Omni Communications,
Osservatorio sulla Comunicazione, Università London, United Kingdom
Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milano, Italy • Ms Sarah Moore
• Dr Franci Demsar European Science Foundation, Humanities
Slovenian Research Agency, Ljubljana, Slovenia and Social Sciences Unit, Strasbourg, France
• Professor Kirsten Drotner • Professor Hannu Nieminen
Institute for the Study of Culture – Media Studies, Department of Social Research/Media and
University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark, Communication Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences,
Odense, Denmark University of Helsinki, Finland
• Professor Leopoldina Fortunati • Dr Annika Nyberg Frankenhaeuser
Facoltà di Scienze della Formazione, European Broadcasting Union, Grand-Saconnex,
Universita degli Studi di Udine, Italy Switzerland
• Professor Christian Fuchs • Ms Céline Ottenwelter
Department of Informatics and Media Studies, European Science Foundation, Humanities
University of Uppsala, Sweden and Social Sciences Unit, Strasbourg, France
• Dr Michal Glowacki • Professor José Manuel Pérez Tornero
Department of Polish Media System, Gabinete de Comunicación y Educación,
Faculty of Journalism and Social Science, Departamento de Periodismo y Ciencias
University of Warsaw, Poland de la Comunicación, Universidad Autonoma
• Dr Maren Hartmann de Barcelona, Spain
Faculty of Architecture, Media and Design, • Dr Helena Popovic
Berlin University of the Arts, Berlin, Germany Croatian Communication Association, Zagreb,
• Professor François Heinderyckx Croatia
Information and Communication Sciences, • Ms Alison Preston
University of Brussels, Belgium Ofcom, London, United Kingdom
• Dr Eva Hoogland • Dr Marusa Pušnik
Science Europe, Brussels, Belgium Department of Media and Communication Studies,
University of Ljubliana, Slovenia
• Dr Sergio Sparviero
ICT&S – Center for Advanced Studies and Research
in ICTs and Society, Faculty of Communication
Science, University of Salzburg, Austria
• Professor Nurcay Turkoglu
ILAD-Communications Research Association
(ILAD-Iletisim Arastirmalari Dernegi), Istanbul, Turkey
• Mr Mathy Vanbuel
ATiT (Audiovisual Technologies, Informatics
& Telecommunications), Roosbeek, Belgium
• Dr Ausra Vinciuniene
Public Communications, Vytautas Magnus
University, Kaunas, Lithuania
• Mr Manfred Werfel
WAN-IFRA (World Association of Newspapers
and News Publishers.), Paris, France
• Ms Erika Widegren 55

Brussels, Belgium
• Dr Charis Xinaris
Department of Humanities, School of Humanities
and Social Sciences, European University –
Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus
• Professor Gillian Youngs
Art, Design and Media, University of Brighton,
United Kingdom
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ESF Forward Look

European Science Foundation

2. Political Participation in an Age of Mediatisation 11

3. What is the ‘Digital Divide’ and Why is it Important? 17

5. Identity Formation: From Facebook Groups to Institutional Forms of Cultural Heritage 30

Media in Europe: New Questions for Research and Policy

representative associations – was convened in early

Media in Europe: New Questions for Research and Policy

Media in Europe: New Questions for Research and Policy

Media in Europe: New Questions for Research and Policy

ing media literacy in order to formulate proposals

1. Professor Kirsten Drotner was the spiritus agens of the irst

Introduction example, Harvey, 2011). As Hay writes: 11

Media in Europe: New Questions for Research and Policy

Media in Europe: New Questions for Research and Policy

Media in Europe: New Questions for Research and Policy

empowerment, they can easily resort to anti-public

he term ‘digital divide’ is used to cover a broad 17

Media in Europe: New Questions for Research and Policy

Media in Europe: New Questions for Research and Policy

Media in Europe: New Questions for Research and Policy

The balance of public and private

particularly with regard to broadcasting. he rise

One of the most exciting promises of the new media

Media in Europe: New Questions for Research and Policy

Europe was, from a very early time, a cradle of crea-

Media in Europe: New Questions for Research and Policy

Media in Europe: New Questions for Research and Policy

he relevance of the above sections will be drawn

Media in Europe: New Questions for Research and Policy

Introduction: mediated identities

Identity formation can be broadly described as the

Media in Europe: New Questions for Research and Policy

tents from the established media (press, books,

Media in Europe: New Questions for Research and Policy

Media in Europe: New Questions for Research and Policy

Considering all of the above, it is of vital impor-

Media in Europe: New Questions for Research and Policy

Media in Europe: New Questions for Research and Policy

12. In what ways can (critical) media literacy

Media in Europe: New Questions for Research and Policy

42 1. Research approaches 1.2 Diachronic investigation

1.1 Interdisciplinary investigation we have been describing. Investigating behaviour

Media in Europe: New Questions for Research and Policy

(Facebook), consumer demand (Google), con-

Recommendation 2.1 Recommendation 2.2

Media in Europe: New Questions for Research and Policy

Recommendation 2.3 Recommendation 2.4

ing and Teaching Communication series) for

Nico Carpentier, International Director of the

Media in Europe: New Questions for Research and Policy

Media in Europe: New Questions for Research and Policy

Scientiic Committee Quality Reference Group

• Professor Ola Erstad • Professor François Heinderyckx

Scoping Workshop, Thematic Workshop 1 –

Institute of Educational Research, Department of Communication Studies,

Media in Europe: New Questions for Research and Policy

Thematic Workshop 2 – Thematic Workshop 3 –

Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne,