Alternative and Activist New Media provides a rich and accessible overview of the ways in which activists, artists, and citizen groups around the world use new media and information technologies to gain visibility and voice, present alternative or marginal views, share their own DIY information systems and content, and otherwise resist, talk back to, or confront dominant media culture. Today, a lively and contentious cycle of capture, cooptation, and subversion of information, content, and system design marks the relationship between the mainstream ‘center’ and the interactive, participatory ‘edges’ of media culture. Five principal forms of alternative and activist new media projects are introduced, including the characteristics that make them different from more conventional media forms and content. The book traces the historical roots of these projects in alternative media, social movements, and activist art, including analyses of key case studies and links to relevant electronic resources. Alternative and Activist New Media will be a useful addition to any course on new media and society, and essential for readers interested in new media activism.

This study of alternative and activist media provides an introduction to alternative media theories, audiences and practices. It brings diverse voices and concepts from outside the commercial media world to the fore, enriching and challenging mass media. Illustrated with historical and current examples, from both a UK and international perspective, it also includes carefully constructed exercises and discussion topics based on case studies and available texts.Topics include the place of alternative media in a mass-media world; a history of alternative and activist media; media participation and consumption by marginalised audiences; the use of pirate and community radio, video and television by community and minority groups; fanzines and other small publishing ventures by individuals; the use of alternative media for explorations in design; the blurring of boundaries between alternative and mass media; and new technology and its possibilities for alternative media.

This volume examines the rising role that alternative media play in contemporary mainstream political communication. The book focuses on three primary sites where such media have established growing influence in recent years: political parties, mainstream political news, and participatory media that allow for engagement.

Over the last four decades, new modes of communication have redefined people’s engagement with media: media audiences are now also makers, influencers, followers, gamers, trolls, and data subjects. This turbulent social and technological context has created new opportunities for expression and activism around the world. In this fully revised second edition, Leah Lievrouw considers the shift toward algorithmic media for political and cultural activism online – where data capture and big data analytics are not just tools for managing and moving people or information, but are themselves sites of creativity, connection, and contention. The book examines a range of events and developments: anti-facial recognition projects; open-source intelligence in citizen journalism; and new apps based on encryption and DIY local networks that support movements such as Occupy and Black Lives Matter. Alternative and Activist New Media charts the theoretical roots of contemporary internet-driven movements and provides a framework for understanding the changing face of protest in the age of algorithmic media. ​This timely new edition will be a useful addition to any course on digital activism and new media and society.​

This book offers an overview of global alternative media activity, before moving on to provide information about alternative media production and how to get involved in it.

This groundbreaking collection advances understanding of the concept of media practices by critically interrogating its relevance for the study of citizen and activist media. Media as practice has emerged as a powerful approach to understanding the media’s significance in contemporary society. Bringing together contributions from leading scholars in sociology, media and communication, social movement and critical data studies, this book stimulates dialogue across previously separate traditions of research on citizen and activist media practices and stakes out future directions for research in this burgeoning interdisciplinary field. Framed by a foreword by Nick Couldry and a substantial introductory chapter by the editors, contributions to the volume trace the roots and appropriations of the concept of media practice in Latin American communication theory; reflect on the relationship between activist agency and technological affordances; explore the relevance of the media practice approach for the study of media activism, including activism that takes media as its central object of struggle; and demonstrate the significance of the media practice approach for understanding processes of mediatization and datafication. Offering both a comprehensive introduction to scholarship on citizen media and practice and a cutting-edge exploration of a novel theoretical framework, the book is ideal for students and experienced scholars alike.

The book covers qualitative approaches that can be utilized by students and scholars in their research endeavors concerning social activism in contemporary society. Specifically, the book illustrates different strategies for using qualitative methods to observe activism within organizations, networks, events, and alternative media.