"The article aims to provide a more historically grounded approach to the relationship between communication and participation, by distinguishing different waves of media democratization. The article first discusses the concept of participation and some of its complexities, and then sketches a serie
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s of intense moments of participation in and through the media in (mainly the second half) the 20th and the 21st century. At the same time, care is taken not to organize a linear-historical narrative, keeping in mind that the history of the democratization of Western societies and their media spheres is characterized by a series of continuities and discontinuities, dead ends and sedimented practices. Despite these ever-present fluctuations, the article argues that we can still see that structures, cultural resources and subjective dispositions have over time been geared more towards participation and equality, also within the media sphere." (Abstract)
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"Concentrated and usually conservative media are characteristic of Latin American countries, and at the same time these structures undermine meaningful democracy. Given the political influence of large media conglomerates, even most center-left governments are reluctant to limit the power of influen
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tial companies. Argentina, however, passed a new comprehensive media law in 2009 designed to democratize the media sector. This article traces the origins of the law and analyzes the strategies of the actors involved, with the focus resting on the roles of social movements and large media companies. The article then presents the main features of the new regulation that social movements now take as a model case for other countries. I argue that the new law originates from an unusually participatory legislative process and furthers the democratization of communication. The passage of this law is explained through the associational capabilities of the movement, the potent framing of media regulation as a matter of democracy and the changing mediaÞstate dynamics that disrupted the long-standing mutually supporting ties between the dominant Clarín Group and the government." (Abstract)
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"A UNESCO report headed by Sean MacBride of Ireland in which representatives from Canada, Chile, Columbia, Egypt, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Tunisia, the U.S., the U.S.S.R., Yugoslavia and Zaire were mandated "to study the totality of Communication problems in modern
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society" in order to formulate "a more just and more efficient world information and communication order," keeping in mind particularly the differences among nations in culture and resources. The result of this hard, if not impossible, charge to reconcile divergent viewpoints represents a compromise which can wholly please none of the three worlds, but it does offer a wide-ranging investigation with varying viewpoints. Appendixes include a list of international organizations active in communications, and there are, in addition, a list of about 100 available background papers. Index. For a discussion of the report giving some of its strengths and weaknesses see 'Communication in the Eighties: A Reader on the "MacBride Report"', edited by Cees J. Hamelink. A 244-page paperback abridgement, 'Many Voices, One World', was published in 1984 by UNESCO." (Eleanor Blum, Frances G. Wilhoit: Mass media bibliography. 3rd ed. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1990 Nr. 210)
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