ECREA16-Abstract_book

93 / 658

91
Friday, November 111 8 : 0 0 – 1 9 : 3 0
PP 479 How Much Participation Is Necessary and What Does It Actually Imply? Community Television’s Struggle with Normative Values
and Everyday Realities
M. Gruenangerl1
1 University of Salzburg, Communication Studies, Salzburg, Austria
This paper presents research findings questioning media’s potential social impact with focus on organizations that (by legal definition) are constituted as
community television. It can often be observed in common concepts of alternative media/democratic communication that democratic pretentions strongly
serve as theoretical foundations: "On the right to transmit, the basic principle of democracy is that since all are full members of the society, all have the right
to speak as they wish or find. This is not only an individual right, but a social need, since democracy depends on the active participation and the free con‑
tribution of all its members. The right to receive is complementary to this: it is the means of participation and of common discussion." (Williams 1976:89)
Starting point, hence, is the assumption that those democratic pretentions have both a descriptive character (empirically observable in the reality of CTV-or‑
ganizations) and a normative character based on underlying ideals and values (harder to observe and necessary to be theoretically guided). CTV-organiza‑
tions use both – formal and value-driven dimensions – to develop their self-image in the context of particular structural frameworks, practical constraints
and relationship dynamics. Actors within such organizations interpret, negotiate and transfer these dimensions into concrete actions in an interactive pro‑
cess of sense-making that – in terms of RaymondWilliams (1980) – is only accessible through communication.This presentation examines the logics of par‑
ticipation (Hamilton 2015:23–25) as a crucial but also problematic element of CTV’s normative definition. Participation (as basic role definition between
professionals and non-professionals) has not only become a buzzword in the overall discussions of media/technological change but also lost its uniqueness
as characteristic of alternative/community media showing strong signs of disruption and discontinuity in particular in the discussion of value-driven di‑
mensions. Moreover, its realization in everyday practice can be rather superficial and not as idealistically far-reaching as it might have been promised. In
many ways the attempt of realizing participatory elements cannot only be a sophisticated challenge but even be impeded by considerations on structural
cohesion of the organization, legal or financial liabilities as well as the sustainability of the action itself. The analysis presented here applies the approach
of qualitative heuristic methodology (cf. Kleining 1994, Krotz 2005) understood as explorative research strategy for finding unknown structures by focussing
on similarities. The research process itself interlocks data collection and analysis extensively following a dialogical principle. The international comparative
approach including case studies from CTV-organizations of five countries enables a broad discussion, reflection and re-evaluation of normative concepts and
their descriptive counter-parts in everyday communication practices. Hamilton, James F. (2015): What’s left? Towards a historicised critique of alternative
media and community media. In: The Routledge Companion to Alternative and Community Media. London . Kleining, Gerhard (1994):
Qualitativ-heuristische Sozialforschung: Schriften zu Theorie und Praxis. . Krotz, Friedrich (2005): Neue Theorien entwickeln. Köln:Halem.
Williams, Raymond (1976): Communication Systems. In: McGuigan, Jim (ed)(2014): Raymond Williams on Culture & Society. London/Thousand Oaks/New
Delhi . Williams, Raymond (1980): Means of Communication as Means of Production. In: McGuigan, Jim.