Participatory media, public powerless

Posted by Last minute news 10 January, 2008

“Does the media become any better when it becomes more participatory?” ( “They improve the means something when they become more themselves?”). With this question of Professor Stephen Coleman, of the University of Leeds, started last Monday the conference “Broadcast News and the Active Citizen”, a conference that gathered in the heart of England to outstanding professionals and researchers from the media.

Peter Horrocks, editor of the BBC, said that journalists take seriously the reactions of their audiences, but acknowledged the difficulty of analyzing thousands of contributions, calms the daily that readers sent to the webs of BBC. His speech, published in full in the blog of the editors of the British chain, opened with a revealing anecdote: After the assassination of Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto, the BBC decided to close the forum commented that the death of former prime minister of Pakistan . Horrocks feared that the popular support they received several anti-Islamic comments could be understood as part of the editorial opinion of one’s own life. In order not to alienate part of their audience, the BBC chose to close the forum.

Paradoxically, instead of making the most pluralistic, open participation to the readers can turn into containers extremist views, unrepresentative of their own hearing. Perhaps because those readers with more motivation to publicly express their views often find, mostly at the poles of the political spectrum. Perhaps the example is somewhat extreme (Islam is a sensitive issue which could raise passions in a historical context such as this, in the terrorist massacres being committed in the name of Islam). But the moral dilemma for the journalist is there: Is it legitimate to close a forum for readers when the views expressed may be offensive? Is it not dangerous for democracy itself to silence these views? What value it should give input from readers when, according to the account itself Horrocks-less than one percent of the audience for the BBC’s website helps with your comments?

From the academic side stressed the Nick Couldry intervention, a professor at Goldsmiths College, University of London. Presented a summary of their research on the connection with the public, forgive the repetition, public affairs. Published in book form, the report concludes that the majority of citizens maintains a connection to the public, and that this connection is maintained primarily through the consumption of media. The majority of the population say they are quite concerned about certain public affairs, but said not knowing how to act to address these problems. Almost all the people consulted said they do have places to talk about politics. However, it did not find a way to establish a link between talk and action.

The media, therefore, do not seem to be the link between information and action that most impotent demand. But perhaps this is not its function. Or does it?

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