Democratic Media Activism Through the Lens of Social Movement Theory

This 23-page article, published in the journal Media, Culture & Society, considers democratic media activism, in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States, with a twofold focus. First, it explores the emergence of democratic media activism (DMA) through social movement theory. Second, it explores
whether media activism points to new directions
for social movement theory.


Social movement theory cited in the article includes resource mobilisation formulations and the new social movement theories of Melucci, Habermas, Cohen and Arato, and Fraser and is the lens for analysis of DMA - characterised in this article as a force of media democratisation, including efforts to change media messages, practices, institutions and policies in a direction that enhances democratic values, as well as equal participation in public discourse and societal decision-making.

Authors distinguish media activists by their social sources - nested circles with their professional (journalistic) affiliation at the centre, surrounded by their social groups or movements trying to further political projects through the media. The outside circle, surrounding those two, consists of sectors concerned with media impact, e.g., parents concerned with media impact on children, and religious groups concerned with ethical journalism. Media activists are also differentiated by their varied sites and strategies of intervention. Specifically, the face of DMA can appear as varied as the World
Association for Christian Communication, for example, working in the
international peace and social justice ecumenical movement, or IndyMedia, the global network of websites
dedicated to open, alternative journalism that grew out of the 1999 protests
against the World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial meeting in Seattle.

Considering the range of media activism, social movement theory contributes two paradigms to the analysis process: the resource mobilisation approach (RMT) and the mainly
European-based theories of new social movements (NSMs) analysing how and why new movements form - in short, NSMs theory looking at macro-social transformations creating new contexts of collective -identity formation, and RMT looking at shared interests and social organisation underlying movement practice.


In its application, RMT considers dependency - how movements depend on media for accessing an audience and media depends on movements for copy - resulting in the distinction of conventional activism, which uses media towards a political goal, and media activism, in which media recognition is an end in itself. RTM scholars study the repertoire of collective action, including strikes, demonstrations, ‘media events’, and culture jamming, which are tactical innovations of activists geared to:

1. Influence media content and practices;
2. Advocate for media policy/regulation reform;
3. Build an independent and participatory media; and
4. Change the relationship of audience and media.

The authors ask whether these four components constitute a movement, or are components being taken up by established movements.


In searching further for the answer, the use of the RMT lens suggests that, historically, as media became commodified in commercial communications industries, grievances about non-democratic mass communication resulted in activism, which was subsequently fed by technological innovations such as the internet and camcorders, among others, which have increased activist opportunity. However, despite greater access through less expensive technology, the authors point to the paradox of movement finances - well-financed social
movements help finance conventional media by using them to promote thier agendas, while projects for media democracy are chronically under financed. The authors use both of these points to suggest that DMA is serving other movements rather than becoming its own movement.


NMS theorists present a variety of perspectives - some involving the conceptualisation of social movements as related to identity, interdependence, boundary expansion, and relational connectivity - suggesting characteristics of a social movement. The authors turn to critical theory, which describes the world through contrasting macro-structures and meaning or a world of systems and a world of relationship ("lifeworld"). They state that some theorists view social movements as expanding " emancipatory practices" to expand the world of meaning into the world of macro-structures.


Using the NMS lens, authors suggest an analysis that media activism might be viewed as emancipatory practice to expand a "counter-public," representing a subaltern voice counter to what one particular theorist suggests is "unjust participatory privileges enjoyed by members of dominant social groups." In short, the NMS lens provides a context for a social organisation in which media activism might function as the element or movement that expands possibilities for participation. However, authors reiterate that it is embedded in other activist causes, and lacks a clear collective identity because, aiming to be participatory, it is about constructing connections rather than identity.

In conclusion, these theories, according to the authors, suggest that, rather than taking the form of a "movement-for-itself," media activism may be "destined to be a boundary-transgressing nodal point for other movements, articulating a coherent project for radical democracy."