Peter Dahlgren

In this broad-ranging text, Peter Dahlgren clarifies the underlying theoretical concepts of civil society and the public sphere, and relates these to a critical analysis of the practice of television as journalism, as information and as entertainment. He demonstrates the limits and the possibilities of the television medium and the formats of popular journalism. These issues are linked to the potential of the audience to interpret or resist messages, and to construct its own meanings. What does a realistic understanding of the functioning and the capabilities of television imply for citizenship and democracy in a mediated age?

Citizenship, Democracy and the Media

Television and the Public Sphere

Understanding the function and health of contemporary political systems requires an appreciation of the media's role in general, and of the most influential form of mass media in particular: television. In his broad-ranging text, Television and the Public Sphere, Peter Dahlgren both clarifies the underlying theoretical concepts of civil society and the public sphere and relates these to a critical analysis of the practice of television as journalism, as information, and as entertainment. Dahlgren demonstrates the limits and the possibilities of television and the formats of popular journalism and connects these to the audience's potential to interpret, resist, or construct its own meanings. What does a realistic understanding of television's functions and capabilities imply for people and democracy in a mediated age? Relating social and cultural theory of mediated societies to the actual realities of televised communication, Television and the Public Sphere is essential reading for scholars and students in media and communication studies, sociology, and politics of the media.

This book integrates four distinct topics: young people, citizenship, new media, and learning processes. When taken together, these four topics merge to define an arena of social and research attention that has become compelling in recent years. The general international concern expressed of declining democratic engagement and the role of citizenship today becomes all the more acute when it turns to younger people. At the same time, there is growing attention being paid to the potential of new media – especially internet and mobile telephony – to play a role in facilitating newer forms of political participation. It is clear that many of the present manifestations of ‘new politics’ in the extra parliamentarian domain, not only make sophisticated use of such media, but are indeed highly dependent on them. With an impressive array of contributors, this book will appeal to those interested in a number of spheres, including media and cultural studies, political science, pedagogy, and sociology.

Learning for Democratic Participation

Young Citizens and New Media

Annette Hill

Written with media students in mind, this accessible book provides both students and researchers with a new perspective on how to research engagement, not as a metric but as a marker of power relations. This book navigates the reader through a tighter analytical notion of engagement within an understanding of media, culture and democracy. Dahlgren and Hill offer a new definition of engagement as an energising internal force, and as such a powerful means to further human agency. From this definition, the book builds a generative theory of engagement as a nexus of relations we make and break with media on a daily basis, with examples from political activism, news and disinformation, and the global pandemic. Dahlgren and Hill identify five parameters of engagement in order to understand the relations we have with media across changing public and mediated spheres. This new perspective offers students and researchers pathways for investigating the meaning of media engagement as a resource for living. It will be particularly useful for undergraduate courses on media audiences and publics, political communication and democracy, media and cultural theory, journalism, and for media, communication and sociology studies more broadly.

Media Engagement

This book examines the media's role in shaping civic engagement and enhancing political engagement.

Citizens, Communication and Democracy

Media and Political Engagement

As democracy encounters difficulties, many citizens are turning to the domain of alternative politics and, in so doing, making considerable use of the new communication technologies. This volume analyses the various factors that shape such participation, and addresses such key topics as civic subjectivity, web intellectuals, and cosmopolitanism.

Peter Dahlgren

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