Javnost - The Public, Vol. 13 - 2006, No. 2
Another Model of Communication's Possible Critical Experiences vs. the Market Tyranny
Along the lines of the alter-globalisation hope that has sprung forth in the social forums of Porto Alegre and Mumbai among others, the present article analyzes the underlying communicative experiences in four phenomena or specific situations: the Zapatista movement, the social reaction after the March 11 terrorist attacks in Madrid (2004), the incidents in Venezuela in 2002, and the proliferation of alternative sites on the internet. The author tries to demonstrate that in today’s society Another Model of Communication (AMC) is possible and that it may also be effective in its objectives. It is a model that radically questions the functions of each and every one of the elements that are part of the communication process as we know it today. The article maintains that taking control of the media is not necessary in order to implement this model. It even states that it would not be desirable for this to happen.
Many Voices, One Picture Photographic Coverage of Foreign News in Slovenian Daily Press (1980, 2004)
The paper addresses the issues of information dependency and one-way flow of information through an overview of changes in photographic (and textual) coverage of international news in Slovenian daily newspaper Delo. The question of the negative representation of developing countries is addressed against the background of the New World Information and Communication Order debate that serves as a normative framework of the study. Although international news agencies are shown to significantly delimit and frame the agenda of international news, author rejects the simplistic deterministic notion of dependency and emphasises the important role of “indigenous” gate keeping and editorial decisions in the production of published representations, which he sees as decisively shaped by collective identities (professional and national) of imagined community the newspaper serves to inform.
Constructing and Disseminating Subaltern Public Discourses in China
What is the democratic potential of the Internet? Using subaltern public spheres as the theoretical framework, the Internet is expected to empower the subordinated social groups and extend the inclusiveness of democracy. RearWindow to Movies is a Chinese online discussion group, which focuses on the topic of movies. I used this case to answer my research question: How does the online discussion group function as a subaltern public sphere? My research found that the online discussion group supported the concept of subaltern public spheres instead of a unitary public sphere. The online subaltern public sphere provided a safe discursive space for the subaltern public, who was movie fans from the underdeveloped middle class in China. The subaltern public used online spheres to exchange their opinions and critically debated on issues that they were interested in. They successfully constructed their own discourse, which is different from the market discourse and counteracts the domination of the state discourse. In addition, the impact of these discursive practices was disseminated into the offline world by various methods. On the one hand, RearWindow users took use of social resources including those from the commercial forces to show movies that could not be reached through the official channels. On the other hand, the interaction with mass media also helped making the subaltern discourses more and more audible. However, both methods have their own limitations, which might harm the subaltern public sphere as well.
Claiming Feminist Space in Korean Cyberterritory
This paper analyses two Korean feminist webzines. We use the two cases to investigate the conditions under which feminist online media can survive, express alternative and feminist voices, and build a feminist community. The research is based on interviews with people involved in the zines’ production, and on qualitative and quantitative analyses of the zines’ contents, with particular attention to spaces provided for audience interactions. We conclude that Dalara and Unninet play a significant role in enlarging the meaningful space for women in virtual world and helping to build a women’s network that is both technologically sophisticated and politicized but also comfortable and familiar. Readers apparently feel bound to one another, with mutual responsibilities and reciprocal duties. But Dalara and Unninet did not escape the constraints imposed on traditional women’s alternative media. Time, energy, and money – always limited resources – remain intractable issues even for online communities.