Rethinking Public Agenda in a Time of High-Choice Media Environment
Contemporary political communication is conditioned by an information environment characterised, on the one hand, by increased choice, and on the other by the fragmentation and multiplication of the ways of consuming information. This article introduces the notion of the ‘interrelated public agenda’...
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doaj-accbd216f6664a50870f6baf69d5a24d2020-11-25T04:00:32ZengCogitatioMedia and Communication2183-24392020-10-018461510.17645/mac.v8i4.31661651Rethinking Public Agenda in a Time of High-Choice Media EnvironmentSara Bentivegna0Giovanni Boccia Artieri1Department of Social Sciences and Economics, Sapienza University of Rome, ItalyDepartment of Communication Sciences, Humanities and International Studies, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, ItalyContemporary political communication is conditioned by an information environment characterised, on the one hand, by increased choice, and on the other by the fragmentation and multiplication of the ways of consuming information. This article introduces the notion of the ‘interrelated public agenda’ as a frame to study this context, taking into account elements of convergence and divergence from a single viewpoint, adopting a complex analysis model which proceeds along axes which make it possible to detect a continuum in which opposing forces are in a constant, problematic equilibrium. In this sense, we identified three dimensions which are helpful in describing public agenda interrelations. First, horizontality vs verticality, which contains the dynamics of power, and is generated in a context of political disintermediation, through the altered nature of the media system—in the complex relation between legacy media and web 2.0, and between social, institutional actors, and others. Second, personal vs aggregative, which stresses the need to take account of convergences and divergences between personal orientation towards certain issues and the aggregative pressure in different media spaces in which people feel at home: from information consumption via media diets of varying complexity to active participation in the production of content or in public discourse, offline and online. And finally, dynamic vs static, which points to the need to orient analysis towards the relation between media spaces rather than focusing on specific spaces, thus helping, importantly, to make up for the current dearth of research in comparison with studies of single platforms.https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/3166legacy mediamedia environmentpolitical communicationpublic agendapublic spheresocial media |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Sara Bentivegna Giovanni Boccia Artieri |
spellingShingle |
Sara Bentivegna Giovanni Boccia Artieri Rethinking Public Agenda in a Time of High-Choice Media Environment Media and Communication legacy media media environment political communication public agenda public sphere social media |
author_facet |
Sara Bentivegna Giovanni Boccia Artieri |
author_sort |
Sara Bentivegna |
title |
Rethinking Public Agenda in a Time of High-Choice Media Environment |
title_short |
Rethinking Public Agenda in a Time of High-Choice Media Environment |
title_full |
Rethinking Public Agenda in a Time of High-Choice Media Environment |
title_fullStr |
Rethinking Public Agenda in a Time of High-Choice Media Environment |
title_full_unstemmed |
Rethinking Public Agenda in a Time of High-Choice Media Environment |
title_sort |
rethinking public agenda in a time of high-choice media environment |
publisher |
Cogitatio |
series |
Media and Communication |
issn |
2183-2439 |
publishDate |
2020-10-01 |
description |
Contemporary political communication is conditioned by an information environment characterised, on the one hand, by increased choice, and on the other by the fragmentation and multiplication of the ways of consuming information. This article introduces the notion of the ‘interrelated public agenda’ as a frame to study this context, taking into account elements of convergence and divergence from a single viewpoint, adopting a complex analysis model which proceeds along axes which make it possible to detect a continuum in which opposing forces are in a constant, problematic equilibrium. In this sense, we identified three dimensions which are helpful in describing public agenda interrelations. First, horizontality vs verticality, which contains the dynamics of power, and is generated in a context of political disintermediation, through the altered nature of the media system—in the complex relation between legacy media and web 2.0, and between social, institutional actors, and others. Second, personal vs aggregative, which stresses the need to take account of convergences and divergences between personal orientation towards certain issues and the aggregative pressure in different media spaces in which people feel at home: from information consumption via media diets of varying complexity to active participation in the production of content or in public discourse, offline and online. And finally, dynamic vs static, which points to the need to orient analysis towards the relation between media spaces rather than focusing on specific spaces, thus helping, importantly, to make up for the current dearth of research in comparison with studies of single platforms. |
topic |
legacy media media environment political communication public agenda public sphere social media |
url |
https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/article/view/3166 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT sarabentivegna rethinkingpublicagendainatimeofhighchoicemediaenvironment AT giovannibocciaartieri rethinkingpublicagendainatimeofhighchoicemediaenvironment |
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