Participatory Media

The term “participatory media” signifies communication technologies and processes that embody ethical approaches to media production and distribution; these approaches are founded on inclusion and promote social justice and humanitarian ideals. Although the production process is central to defining media as participatory, their goals, technologies, organizational processes, and political-economic structures are also involved. Media systems function in similar ways to formal educational institutions, with the potential to instill hegemonic values or to encourage critical thinking. Praxis is a term used to describe the potential for research to inform action through the ability continually to articulate and answer critical questions.

Participatory media privilege an approach to human interaction that enhances the physical, social, political, economic, cultural, and spiritual well-being of all communities. Participatory communication engages in dialogue, leading to thoughtful action to facilitate our achievement of basic needs, as well as political and human rights. The broader political context has potential to facilitate as well as constrain participation. The economic context contributes as well through the allocation of resources to particular programs and institutions designed to foster the public good—or to limit social change, through redirecting resources away from public toward elite agendas. Following a Marxian model, some advocate participatory media to build collective resistance to overcome poverty. Freirean approaches build on this concern with economic deprivation to incorporate attention to issues of respect and dignity, raising political consciousness through dialogic communication.

Interest in participatory media emerges from a variety of approaches and strategies. Development communication approaches, which are often critiqued for promoting one-way government communication flows to citizens without response or dialogue, began in the 1970s to acknowledge at least rhetorically the need for more participatory strategies. Prominent critiques of the classic model also raised concerns about imposing Westernized models that benefited few while most continued to suffer and about focusing on individuals while neglecting structural motivations and constraints.

Thus, there emerged a growing recognition of the value of participatory strategies as more effective and more ethical than other social change strategies. As the term became more popular, however, the meaning of participation became more cloudy, used in a wide variety of ways to address many different agendas.