Electronic democracy and the new citizenship

The Processes of Adopting Multimedia and Interactivity in Three Online Newsrooms

“…The second issue concerning user representation is related to research on interactivity that has suggested that users in online environments may want to express their opinions, read those of their peers, and engage in dialogue about issues of their interest as much as they want to consume content generated by journalists, and this research has also speculated about the potential effects of this transformation for the media landscape (Friedland, 1996;Jankowski & van Selm, 2000;McAdams, 1995;Schultz, 2000). As I did with scholarship about gatekeeping, I will turn this argument upside down: Instead of seeing user-authored content as an effect of technological change, I will ask whether news workers' vision of their audience as either consumers or also coproducers shapes the adoption of multimedia and interactivity in online newsrooms.…”

Organisational change in Western European Environmental Groups: A framework for analysis

“…Mediated policy-making acquires, then, a specific 'populistic' tone, as the media tend to present themselves as allies for citizens' protests. This is not restricted to the 'referendum model' of media democracy, with its live polling of opinions, but also applies to recent experiments in internet democracy [Friedland, 1996;Wheeler, 1996], promoting public debate on political and social issues.…”

Effects of Internet Use on College Students' Political Efficacy

“…Gore's comment typifies the belief held by many politicians and researchers that citizen participation will be enhanced by the expansion of the marketplace of ideas through the Internet. 8 For example, Starobin 5 proclaims that the Internet has the potential power to allow citizens to participate directly in political activity, and they suggest that this will bring a return to Jacksonian style democracy. Browning 2 predicts that the Internet will remedy declining voter turnout by making it possible to vote via computer.…”

“…The sum of individual opinion will be easily collected by electronic polling and electronic voting, making direct democracy a feasible possibility for the future. 6,8 Furthermore, universal access to informa-tion might offer alternative channels for lobbying and campaigning. 3 There are, however, three shortcomings to this viewpoint.…”