Digital Media

Anatomy of the Italian Web TV ecosystem. Current issues and future challenges.

by Valentina Bazzarin

Co-authored with Emiliano Trerè

The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the emergent Italian Web TV ecosystem. We begin by sketching a... more The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the emergent Italian Web TV ecosystem. We begin by sketching a summary of the Italian media scenario, focusing on three related aspects: the Rai-Mediaset duopoly, the Berlusconi anomaly and digital revolution of the TV system. We then switch to the Italian digital resistance scenario and describe some of the most interesting experiences developed in the Italian context. In the third part, we dissect and analyze the phenomenon of Italian Web TVs, exploring its roots, legal status, producers and audiences. We conclude by providing a reflection on Italian Web TVs as an ecosystem, both by pointing out some future challenges it will face within the Italian media scenario and by focusing on the role of active citizens and unprofessional producers in changing the scenario and in advocating pluralism and creativeness.

Exploring the Democratic Potential of Online Social Networking: The Scope and Limitations of e-Participation

by Panos Panagiotopoulos

In Communications of the Association for Information Systems 30 (16), 2012

Access to the article is without charge following the link below to aisnet.org

The availability and promise of social networking technologies with their perceived open philosophy has increasingly... more The availability and promise of social networking technologies with their perceived open philosophy has increasingly inspired citizens around the world to participate in political activity on the Web. Recent examples range from opposing public policies, such as government funding cuts, to organizing revolutionary social movements, such as those in the Middle East and North Africa. Although online spaces create remarkable opportunities for various forms of political action, there are concerns over the power of existing institutions to control and even censor such interaction spaces. The objective of this article is to draw together different insights on the online engagement phenomenon, highlighting both its potential and limitations as a mechanism for fostering democratic debate and influencing policy making. We examine recent examples from Europe, the Middle East and Latin America. Finally, we summarize the implications of our work and outline directions for further research.

Energy Patterns and Urbanisation

by Dermott McMeel

position paper presentation for Mobisys 2012 Workshop: Next generation mobile computing for dynamic personalised travel planning.

Transportation arteries have - by and large - emerged from what
Jeremy Rifkin [1] calls‚ ‘energy systems’ and the... more Transportation arteries have - by and large - emerged from what
Jeremy Rifkin [1] calls‚ ‘energy systems’ and the associated
nodes of energy production and consumption. He cites our
reliance on - and continued adherence to - patterns formed during the first industrial revolution. Whether we choose to meditate on the historical development of canals, railways or roads, the energies of production and consumption would seem to still largely inform transportation networks in the 21st Century. Public and private transportation systems appropriate these industrial arteries and we find habitation and commerce emerging as accretions round them. The information used by planning specialists to design transportation today continues to be informed by the energy patterns of production and consumption of habitation, commerce and industry. The primary foundations on which we continue to build and plan cities are these unquestioned historic pillars.

Beyond the Digital Panopticon-Users' Perceptions of Google

by Hope Ogbologugo

The theoretical concept of beyond the panopticon extends the conceptual boundaries of the panopticon to take into... more The theoretical concept of beyond the panopticon extends the conceptual boundaries of the panopticon to take into consideration new technological mechanisms of surveillance.
This study argues that Google carries out data surveillance
(dataveillance) on its users. However, users are not aware of Google’s dataveillance and therefore believe in a contrived form of privacy. The simplicity of its interface design, the speed at which results to queries are returned and the relevancy of these results has an effect on users which is beyond the panopticon; as opposed to the self-censorship exercised by individuals in the panopticon, users reveal more of themselves by conducting more searches.

‘Warning: Do Not Dig’: Negotiating the Visibility of Critical Infrastructures

by Nicole Starosielski

published in the 'Journal of Visual Culture' April 2012.

This article highlights the visual traces of undersea cables, technologies that carry the majority of transoceanic... more This article highlights the visual traces of undersea cables, technologies that carry the majority of transoceanic telecommunications traffic, in order to make visible the material systems that support an ‘immaterial’ internet. The author documents the cultural production of these traces, recording how infrastructural visibility must be negotiated at points where cables cross through public spaces, including beaches, highways, and state parks. By examining the cultural conflicts over cables in California and O‘ahu, the article shows how telecommunications companies reorganize visual space to protect the cable, using diverse media such as nautical charts and warning signs. The cultural specificity of these representations testifies to the ways in which global cable systems develop in relation to local spatial politics. The article seeks to broaden research on infrastructure’s invisibility, disruption, and sensationalization to include the ‘existing visibilities’ of undersea cables as they are constituted in everyday life and material environments.

Frictionless sharing and digital promiscuity

by Robert Payne

Conference presentation, Digital Legacies of the Avant-Garde, Paris, April 2012.

Justice wide open

by Judith Townend

Internet Newsletter for Lawyers, May/June 2012

The principle of open justice has been robustly developed in English law since the mid-17th century, but the courts... more The principle of open justice has been robustly developed in English law since the mid-17th century, but the courts service in England and Wales has yet to fully utilise online technology for the dissemination of courts information and legal knowledge.

Critical Media Literacy: A Pedagogy for New Literacies and Urban Youth

by Jeff Share

Mohammed Choudhury and Jeff Share, "Critical Media Literacy: A Pedagogy for New Literacies and Urban Youth." Voices from the Middle, Volume 19, Number 4, May 2012 by the National Council of Teachers of English.

Using new literacies critically can be an excellent pedagogy for motivating and empowering students who feel alienated... more Using new literacies critically can be an excellent pedagogy for motivating and empowering students who feel alienated from their school and society.  This article describes how one middle school teacher engaged his inner-city English language learners with critical media literacy as a way of making their learning more meaningful and motivating.  The students interviewed and photographed community members, analyzed portrayals in the media of themselves and their neighborhood, and created their own alternative representations of their concerns and findings.  Not only did the students increase their self-esteem and sense of pride in their community, they also demonstrated substantial academic gains in their English language development.

British pubs, decoder cards, and the future of intellectual property licensing in the European Union after Murphy.

by Anastasios Kaburakis

With Lindholm, J, and Rodenberg, R.

October 4, 2011 marked a new era in global sports media rights. On this day, the Grand Chamber of the European Court... more October 4, 2011 marked a new era in global sports media rights. On this day, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) delivered its judgment in FA Premier League et al. v. QC Leisure et al. & Murphy v. Media Protection Services Ltd (“Murphy”). Murphy decided upon the legality of a scheme whereby the holder of intellectual property rights to a sporting event licenses the right to broadcast the event on a national exclusivity basis.

An overview study of Twitter in the UK local government

by Panos Panagiotopoulos

Transforming Government workshop, Brunel University, London May 2012

Klout, la medición de la influencia digital

by Javier Serrano Puche

Published in 'Perspectivas del mundo de la comunicación', nº 68, enero-febrero de 2012, pp. 4-5.

Klout es una herramienta web que evalúa la influencia de una persona o marca a través de la monitorización de su uso... more Klout es una herramienta web que evalúa la influencia de una persona o marca a través de la monitorización de su uso de las redes sociales. Su éxito demuestra la creciente importancia de detectar quiénes son los líderes de opinión en el ámbito digital

Beyond copyright: reconsidering the author/publisher/reader relationship

by Francois van Schalkwyk

Published in LOGOS: The Journal of the World Book Community, 1998

Extrema turbulencia en los medios en 2011

by Ramón Salaverría

Salaverría, R. (2012) “Extrema turbulencia en los medios en 2011”, Anuario ThinkEPI, 6, 2012: 161-165.

[English]

Abstract: Review of developments, changes and trends in radio, television, and online and print... more [English]

Abstract: Review of developments, changes and trends in radio, television, and online and print media in 2011. The strong impact of the economic crisis is discussed: unfortunately many newspapers have had to reduce staff, and a large number of journalists have been dismissed. The consequences of the general transition from paper to digital, and the new internet developments that day by day gain more audience and attract advertising are described. Statistics are provided.
________

[Spanish]

Resumen: Revisión de las novedades, cambios y tendencias de la prensa impresa y online, la radio y la televisión en 2011. Fuerte impacto de la crisis económica: muchos periódicos han tenido que reducir sus plantillas por lo que hay que lamentar
un gran número de despidos de periodistas. Se describen las consecuencias de la general transición del papel a lo digital, y de nuevos desarrollos en internet que día a día ganan más audiencia y se llevan la publicidad. Se ofrecen estadísticas.

The Labour of Media Use: The Two Active Audiences

by Göran Bolin

published in Information, Communication & Society, online first (April 2012)

The ‘active audience’ has theoretically been conceptualized from two perspectives: in political economy, it is... more The ‘active audience’ has theoretically been conceptualized from two perspectives: in political economy, it is suggested that television audiences work for the networks while watching and that they contribute to the valorization process with their labour. Although contested, it has survived among media scholars, also feeding into the discussion on web surveillance techniques. The other conceptualization comes from reception theory, media ethnography and cultural studies, where the interpretive work by audiences is seen as productive and resulting in identities, taste cultures and social difference. This article relates these perspectives by considering audiences as involved in two production–consumptions circuits: (1) the viewer activities produce social difference (identities and cultural meaning) in a social and cultural economy, which is then (2) made the object of productive consumption as part of the activities of the media industries, the end product being economic profit. This article argues for the relevance of analysing these as separate circuits, with different kinds of labour at their centre, and that recent debates on the active audience often misrecognize the difference.

Free the spectrum!' Activist encounters with old and new media technology

by Christina Dunbar-Hester

This article contextualizes discourses surrounding new media technologies by examining activism around community... more This article contextualizes discourses surrounding new media technologies by examining activism around community media, using as a case study an activist group that has advocated for greater citizen access to low-power FM (LPFM) radio since the mid-1990s. It argues that the significance of new and emerging communication technologies can be grasped most effectively when emerging technologies are considered in a dynamic field that includes older technologies; emerging technologies are often viewed through the lens of patterns of use and interpretation of older technologies, at least initially.The article follows the activists’ assessments of not only FM radio but emerging internet-based technologies, including webstreaming and wi-fi networks. In practice, the activists circumspectly negotiate expanding their efforts to encompass community wi-fi networks, while trying to retain the vision, flavor and organizing strategies from their LPFM campaigns.

«Una tercera via… digital: noves tecnologies i creativitat a la Xina contemporània (A Third Way...Digitally: New Technologies and Creativity in Contemporary China)

by Xavier Ortells

The economic and social reform in China, which began at the start of the 1980s, has coincided with a global revolution... more The economic and social reform in China, which began at the start of the 1980s, has coincided with a global revolution in the creation and dissemination of content. As well as contributing to its opening to the exterior and its spectacular economic growth, new technologies in China have brought with them innovative possibilities for negotiating a very sensitive social and political context, characterised by restrictions on platforms for expression and content. Both new communication media and formats (blogs, chats, forums) and digital image creation technologies (3D, virtual reality, augmented reality) offer users, artists and researchers flexibility and encourage them to find new and creative ways of interacting with society. This article highlights the impact of these new platforms and technologies in terms of two aspects: on the one hand, the dovetailing of ICTs’ horizontality and flexibility with the speed of the processes of social and political change in contemporary China; and, on the other, the conditions and opportunities for social negotiation of history coming from governmental nationalism, which is occupied with an intense process of Late Imperial revisionism.

...if we were cavemen we'd be fine

by Owen Barden

This is a draft. The final, definitive version is forthcoming via Blackwell Synergy and the UKLA in Literacy: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/%28ISSN%291741-4369

This article is derived from a study of the use of Facebook as an educational resource by five dyslexic students at a... more This article is derived from a study of the use of Facebook as an educational resource by five dyslexic students at a Sixth Form College in north-west England. Through a project in which teacher-researcher and student-participants co-constructed a group Facebook page about the students’ scaffolded research into dyslexia, the study examined the educational affordances of a digitally-mediated social network. An innovative, flexible, experiential methodology combining action research and case study with an ethnographic approach was devised. This enabled the use of multiple mixed methods, capturing much of the rich complexity of the students’ online and offline interactions with each other and with digital media as they contributed to the group and co-constructed their group Facebook page. Social perspectives on dyslexia (Cooper, 2006; Herrington & Hunter-Carsch, 2001) and multiliteracies (Cope & Kalantzis, 2000; Gee, 1996; Street 1984 & 2003) were used to help interpret the students’ engagement with the social network and thereby deduce its educational potential. The research concludes that as a digitally mediated social network, Facebook engages the students in active, critical learning about and through literacies in a rich and complex semiotic domain (Gee, 2004, 2005 & 2007). Offline dialogue plays a crucial role. This learning is reciprocally shaped by the students' developing identities as both dyslexic students and able learners. The findings suggest that social media can have advantageous applications for literacy learning in the classroom. In prompting learning yet remaining unchanged by it, Facebook can be likened to a catalyst.

Ragionare con la mente estesa. Facebook, il pensiero e l’argomentazione

by Edoardo Acotto

Published on Alfabeta 2, july 2011

Per chi può permettersi un computer e un abbonamento a internet – e non sono ancora tutti, nemmeno nei paesi più... more Per chi può permettersi un computer e un abbonamento a internet – e non sono ancora tutti, nemmeno nei paesi più ricchi – l’esistenza odierna è parzialmente online. Sembra allora un compito arduo provare a indicare un senso globale delle interazioni tra i soggetti che popolano i social network, per la pervasività delle pratiche di vita online e per il continuo intreccio di attuale e virtuale.

Considero i social network in generale come una “tecnologia dell’intelletto” (Jack Goody a proposito della scrittura) e in particolare come un’esteriorizzazione della facoltà di ragionare: non solo luoghi virtuali ma veri e propri dispositivi cognitivi allargati, una protesi delle facoltà mentali innate e culturalmente implementate.

O fim do tamanho único: ao estilo e à linguagem do consumidor

by Marcelo Santos

Pensadores a exemplo de Andre Gorz (2005) falam sobre a existência, na contemporaneidade, de um capitalismo... more Pensadores a exemplo de Andre Gorz (2005) falam sobre a existência, na contemporaneidade, de um capitalismo pós-industrial, constituído a partir da valoração dos capitais imateriais, como o conhecimento. Do ponto de vista produtivo, uma das transformações geradas por essa nova forma de produção é a troca do modelo fordista (série padronizada) pelo toyotista (flexível e diversificado), isto é, de produtos uniformes, massivos, por produtos específicos, endereçados aos gostos e necessidades de cada consumidor. A palavra de ordem no mercado, hoje, é a customização: como diz Wiersema (1996:14), as mercadorias de “tamanho único” estão com os dias contados. Esse cenário abre as portas para a introdução de um novo estilo de vida (Simmel, 1995 [1903]), pois as negociações entre as culturas coletiva e individual são redimensionadas: o subjetivo passa a ter poder no processo produtivo, agregando “sua cara” àquilo que irá consumir; é o produto que espelhará o seu consumidor, e não mais o contrário. Neste artigo, de maneira introdutória, analisaremos essa questão sob a perspectiva semiótica, tentando compreender, do ponto de vista da linguagem, o que acontece quando cada pessoa passa a ter o poder de, em alguma medida, personalizar os seus objetos de consumo.

Wikileaks, Karl Marx and You

by Alistair Davidson

The free culture movement exists as a consequence of the internet’s political economy. Personal computers have... more The free culture movement exists as a consequence of the internet’s political economy. Personal computers have radically transformed the economic nature of information.