Strategically communicating climate crisis: How ecovillages and cohousing pursue structural change in the built environment

Climate crisis, fuelled by dominant social, political and economic structures, causes a rift in the Earth’s metabolism. In the built environment, where people live and work, social-ecological communities, such as ecovillages and cohousing, model and pursue alternative, interconnected relations with nature. This study examines five social-ecological communities in the Pacific Northwest of the United States and their use of strategic communication to pursue structural change. Long interviews identified three themes and eight sub-themes through which community members influence the mainstream that surrounds them and enrich their own membership and infrastructure. This study demonstrates that postmodern approaches to strategic communication active on the local level, while in tension with modernist approaches, provide an effective means to respond to climate crisis in the built environment.

Civic activism for community access television in the US state of Maine

For almost five decades Public, Educational and Governmental (PEG) TV has been a staple of US community media, providing a forum for the cablecast of locally made content and the expression of viewpoints unheard and unseen on commercial television. But PEG TV faces existential and other threats in the face of a neo-liberal attrition of non-commercial public arenas, policy deregulation and changes to the media marketplace. In this article, the volunteer-driven advocacy campaign on behalf of PEG TV launched in Maine after one of the cable corporations operating in this state sought to disenfranchise community access television by ‘slamming’ its channels is explored. How the campaign was able to mobilize and win support for its cause, leading to an eventual victory in Maine’s state legislature, is examined. This instance served as an important illustration of a media policy advocacy effort that targeted a US state’s law, rather than federal or local law, as is more commonly the case.

What killed Indymedia? Lessons from the IMC experience of Australia

This article presents the reflections of the former activists who started and led the initial years of the ‘anti-capitalist’ struggle of Indymedia, as an alternative media platform in Australia. Through the interview analysis, the challenges experienced by the collective have been clustered into four themes: decentralization of the network; open publishing; social and political context; and the rise of commercial social media. The inquisitive process presented provides an understanding on the downturn of Indymedia and what this has left to contemporary online networks. In the end, additional reflections are offered that not only provide significant insights into both the rise and fall of the Indymedia network in Australia, but are also crucial for considering the opportunities and threats for online activist movements in the new social media landscape.

Ideological parlances on right-wing media in Britain and Finland

One of the main themes of alternative right-wing media is a strong anti-immigrant approach, which has allegedly intensified a radical and polarized world-view throughout Europe and the United States. In this article, by comparing two right-wing news sites, I examine whether commonalities in their reporting can be discerned at a transnational level. The focus is on the US-based Breitbart London and the Finnish-language MV-lehti, both founded in 2014. The comparative study approaches the research data by utilizing the method of discourse narratology to examine the similarities and differences between the two in terms of their ideological parlances. The results show that there are indisputable commonalities, with parlances that seek to undermine liberal democracy as an outspoken opponent to strengthen the homogeneous battlefront. Accordingly, right-wing news sites in Europe adhere to the shared ideology, leaning on a strong confrontation between western and Islamic countries.

Addressing platform capitalism: The legacy of Indymedia and online participatory democracy

The rise of platform capitalism has meant great challenges for activists and social movements. The very idea of the internet as a tool for democratization, as embodied by the radical participatory network Indymedia, is being brought into question. As we adjust to the changing social and technological realities amid the COVID-19 pandemic, there are increasingly concerns over the influence and power of the tech oligopolies of platform capitalism. This article reviews literature on and around platform capitalism, and examines emerging issues in relation to the author’s experience as an Indymedia activist. Critically reflecting on these experiences and interviews in 2020 with other Indymedia activists, this article describes the rise and decline of this radical, participatory media network in Australia. In doing so the article examines the legacy of Indymedia and what lessons may be learnt for present and future activists seeking radical change.

Media Cultures in Latin America: Key Concepts and New Debates, A. C. Pertierra and J. F. Salazar (eds) (2020)

Review of: Media Cultures in Latin America: Key Concepts and New Debates, A. C. Pertierra and J. F. Salazar (eds) (2020) New York: Routledge, 208 pp., ISBN 978-1-138-35395-4, h/bk, US$112.00 ISBN 978-0-429-42512-7, e-book, US$34.27

Six ways alt-left media legitimatize their criticism of mainstream media: An analysis of The Canary and Evolve Politics (2015–19)

In recent years, new alternative left-wing media sites in the United Kingdom – labelled alt-left media – have become popular sources of news. They often focus their attention on the ‘MSM’, an acronym used to pejoratively represent ‘mainstream media’. But there has been limited academic attention about how these new alternative media report mainstream media and critique professional journalism. Drawing on a highly focused dataset of 158 stories from a sample of 1284 articles, this study examined two alt-left media sites in the United Kingdom, The Canary and Evolve Politics, from 2015 to 2019, and identified six specific ways they legitimized their criticism of mainstream media. This involved the constant surveillance of mainstream media reporting, questioning editorial judgements with close textual analysis and drawing on authoritative sources to substantiate claims. It is argued that more research is needed to understand how alternative media are delegitimizing the value of professional journalism.

Media Cultures in Latin America: Key Concepts and New Debates, A. C. Pertierra and J. F. Salazar (eds) (2020)

Review of: Media Cultures in Latin America: Key Concepts and New Debates, A. C. Pertierra and J. F. Salazar (eds) (2020) New York: Routledge, 208 pp., ISBN 978-1-138-35395-4, h/bk, US$112.00 ISBN 978-0-429-42512-7, e-book, US$34.27

Making Waves behind Bars: The Prison Radio Association, Charlotte Bedford (2018)

Review of: Making Waves behind Bars: The Prison Radio Association, Charlotte Bedford (2018) Bristol: Bristol University Press, University of Bristol, 195 pp., ISBN 978-1-52920-336-3, h/bk, £36.00 ISBN 978-1-52920-343-1, ePUB, £7.19 ISBN 978-1-52920-336-3, Kindle, £8.50