Media Participation: A Legitimizing Mechanism of Mass Democracy Export

@article{citeulike:2091091, abstract = {This article reconsiders civic involvement and citizen empowerment in the light of interactive media and elaborates the concept of media participation. Departing from conventional notions of political activity which downplay the participatory opportunities inherent in communication media, the authors argue that since 1992 new media formats have made accessible to citizens a political system that had become highly orchestrated, professionalized and exclusionary. A typology of active, passive and inactive political involvement is presented to accurately distinguish civic involvement from political disengagement and to categorize the types of empowerment and rewards - both material and symbolic - that different modes of civic activity afford. Even if only symbolically empowering, civic engagement through new media serves as an important legitimizing mechanism of mass democracy. 10.1177/1461444801003003006}, author = {Bucy, Erik P. and Gregson, Kimberly S.}, citeulike-article-id = {2091091}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1461444801003003006}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://nms.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/3/3/357}, day = {1}, doi = {10.1177/1461444801003003006}, journal = {New Media Society}, month = {September}, number = {3}, pages = {357--380}, posted-at = {2009-04-17 04:39:57}, priority = {2}, title = {Media Participation: A Legitimizing Mechanism of Mass Democracy}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1461444801003003006}, volume = {3}, year = {2001} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:2091091 L3 - citeulike-article-id:2091091 N2 - This article reconsiders civic involvement and citizen empowerment in the light of interactive media and elaborates the concept of media participation. Departing from conventional notions of political activity which downplay the participatory opportunities inherent in communication media, the authors argue that since 1992 new media formats have made accessible to citizens a political system that had become highly orchestrated, professionalized and exclusionary. A typology of active, passive and inactive political involvement is presented to accurately distinguish civic involvement from political disengagement and to categorize the types of empowerment and rewards - both material and symbolic - that different modes of civic activity afford. Even if only symbolically empowering, civic engagement through new media serves as an important legitimizing mechanism of mass democracy. 10.1177/1461444801003003006 IS - 3 JF - New Media Society EP - 380 TI - Media Participation: A Legitimizing Mechanism of Mass Democracy VL - 3 SP - 357 AU - Bucy, Erik AU - Gregson, Kimberly PY - 2001/09/01/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1461444801003003006 ER -