Presentation at Communities in the Digital Age at Canterbury Christchurch University on 11th June 2013

1. Citizen Media: Theorising Practice
Prof. David
McGillivray
@dgmcgillivray

2. event context provides a catalyst for
community engagement & participation
with digital technologies (e.g. Celebration
2.0)
http://johnpopham.wordpress.com/2011/1
2/16/introducing-celebration-2-0/)

3. The Context
The Olympic Games is a media platform with
an assumed dominant narrative; the IOC,
Games organizers, sponsors and athletic
federations attempt to defend the narrative
against counter narratives… (Horne &
Whannel, 2010, p762)

5. The proposition
Small, alternative or citizen media offers
space for the digitally empowered citizen
to break stories, become media makers
and storytellers of the now

6. The Project
#citizenrelay used a hybrid media
environment, including blogs and social
media, to mobilise, organise and discuss
issues pertaining the Olympic Torch Relay

9. Networks and
connectedness
Adoption of decentralized & distributed
structure, where heterogeneous actors could
network and amplify their messages through a
shared communication platform

13. (hyper) locality
A commitment to a more bottom-up, place-
specific & rooted agenda to support citizen media
makers in each locality

17. Immediacy
Speed, of communication and
representation enabled challenges to
established narrative control and
management

21. Empowerment & participation
mass media and institutional gatekeepers are
being circumvented by citizen reporters and
commentators who provide first-hand, real-
time coverage and non-hegemonic
interpretations (Bakardjieva, et al, 2012),

22. Yet, fears of atomised existence, stilted
sociability & digital divide between the techno
intelligentsia and the digitally excluded.
Phenomenon of being alone together, creating,
analysing and performing lives through the
medium of technology (Turkle, 2011)

23. CO-CREATED MODEL OF DELIVERY

25. digital infrastructures offer citizens
new channels for speaking and acting
together and thus lower the
threshold for involvement
(Bakardjieva et al, 2012: i)

28. Digital commonwealth
2014: Event narrative can provoke and
capture wider discussions relating to
social and political discourse.
Focus on developing techniques and skill-
based training support that can be offered
to those most in need
Capacity building: Strengthen and grow
relationships established during
#citizenrelay to create network of
‘community media hubs’ across Scotland
and school reporting infrastructure

29. Concluding thoughts
ample space within the saturated established media landscape for
citizen-owned and led initiatives, based on the philosophy of a low
threshold for involvement using everyday digital technologies, effective
coordination and amplification of key messages
event context acts as catalyst for participatory media practices and
embedding digital media literacies across diverse community
populations
in more complex media environment, citizen media need not simply
oppose the established media but instead co-exist, occupying at
different times each other’s traditional spaces and using similar
newsgathering and distribution techniques

30. http://www.citizenrelay.net
www.davidmcgillivray.net
Co-producer @jennifermjones