Media communities

This book analyzes the different ways in which media are being used for community building and it also critically interrogates the concept of community itself. The authors do that from a variety of different perspectives, ranging from fundamental philosophical questions regarding community, to the role of journalism, the possibilities of community building on a local, national and global level, online media communities as means of empowerment for marginalized groups, the representation of communities in the media, and the formation of learning communities. Although there is a clear dominance in focusing on the chances and possibilities opened up by the Internet, the role of more traditional media like magazines, radio and television is being examined as well. Both sides, the media representations with the identity positions they offer as well as the interpretations and meaning Productions that take place by the users of the media, are taken into account to cover the full range of media as cultural tools of connectivity. Not only are the authors situated in different cultural contexts (within Africa, Australia, North-America, and Europe), they also write from different disciplinary backgrounds which comprise of art, philosophy, education, media and communication studies, geography, journalism, economics and English. The first impulse for this book came from a Conference on media communities that was organized by the editors in April 2004 in Innsbruck, Austria. Some of the presentations held at the Conference were reworked into print versions.