A Justice-Based Approach for New Media Policy

Abstract

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Political ‘apptivism’ in the Middle East: The case of iNakba

“…To compound Palestinians’ national conflict within the Israeli state, for those living within state boundaries, a consistent economic and educational divide has either simply persisted, or has been actively fostered, between themselves and Jewish Israelis (Schejter and Tirosh, 2016). Second only to the educational system, government efforts have been largely directed toward enlisting the electronic media into socializing tools for the hegemonic state (Jamal, 2009).…”

“…Many individuals integrate the use of apps into their everyday lives; some even organize their lives around them and the data and information that they can access and collect (Fagerjord, 2012; Frizzo-Barker and Chow-White, 2012). In many ways, apps embody contemporary media’s unique characteristics, namely, interactivity, mobility, abundance, and multimediality (Schejter and Tirosh, 2016). While apps’ integration into everyday life has been noted, both policymakers and political activists are also increasingly aware of apps’ inherent abilities to mediate knowledge and to advance ideological causes thereby.…”

“…The iNakba, according to its official description, 1 allows users to locate Palestinian villages and to learn about their silenced history. As iNakba extensively employs attributes and affordances that are unique to apps (Schejter and Tirosh, 2016), we contend that it approximates an ideal type in Weberian terms. Therefore, we suggest it as a suitable example to demonstrate users’ perceptions of the functionality of political apps.…”

Freedom Without Idealization: Non-Ideal Approaches to Freedom of Communication

“…As a distinctive perspective on human rights and freedoms, the capabilities approach has received attention in several fields of social sciences, including welfare economics, social policy, development studies, and some contributions in media and communication studies (e.g. Couldry 2010; Garnham, 1997: Gelber, 2012Kleine, 2013;Schejter & Tirosh, 2016). However, as a broader framework of thinking about freedom of communication and media, the approach arguably remains underdeveloped in communication studies (Hesmondhalgh 2017).…”

Moving Beyond Self-Castigation: Let’s Reinvigorate Communication Policy Research Now!

“…Researchers also draw inspiration from critical regionalism (Ali, 2017), political philosophy (Schejter & Tirosh, 2016), media history (Pickard, 2015;Zajácz, 2012), gender (Gallagher, 2011) and post-colonial studies (Alhassan & Chakravartty, 2011). Advancing theoretically inevitably requires moving off the beaten paths and exploring new avenues from which insights may be gained.…”