New forms of participatory journalism have emerged expressed in an explosion in the number of blogs and citizens’ journalism websites that started to challenge the monopoly and hegemony of mainstream media on, what I call, news production assembly lines, and to challenge the ability of the big media conglomerates to set the global news agendas deterministically as has been the case for many years in the past.

These changes are creating more opportunities for broader participation from marginalized and colonized communities around the world. More space is available for these communities to report on unreported, misreported, or underreported news in their localities.

Since mass media, especially the news media, has always been used in the process of the reproduction of oppressive socioeconomic and sociopolitical orders by serving the interest of the elites in society, the disenfranchised people around the world must utilize these changes in media landscapes and platforms to participate more in the news production assembly lines. What is needed is what I dare to call a new ‘Mediagogy of the Oppressed’

This paper discusses how this ‘Mediagogy’ is based on a comprehensive understanding of the new media landscapes and the intricate mesh of interconnected platforms that can be accessible. It should be an integral part of empowerment strategies for the oppressed by offering new venues to participate more effectively in the development process of their communities. This will help marginalized communities to take control of how they are portrayed in the media; to move away from negative imagery of helplessness or victimization into the positive image of people who are struggling to take mastery of their lives and who are endeavoring to change the oppressive structures that marginalized them in the first place. To move from passive receptors of media and news content to active participants in generating media and news.

Conference Title

ASIA MEDIA SUMMIT 2008

Conference Country

Malaysia

Conference Date

May 27, 2008 - May 28, 2008

Conference Sponsor

AIBD

Additional Info

Conference Website