Luke Goode







News as conversation, citizens as gatekeepers: Where is digital news taking us?

This paper considers the implications of recent shifts in the digital news landscape for democracy and the public sphere. It discusses the role of participatory news platforms and the claims made about the new elevated role for citizens as participants in and even producers of news. The paper concludes by arguing that rhetoric suggesting a radical upheaval in power relations between citizens and professional news media risks obscuring the real benefits of new modes of audience engagement

Keywords: news, democracy, citizenship, internet, participatory media


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Note on the contributor

Luke Goode is a senior lecturer in the Department of Film, Television and Media Studies at the University of Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand. He is the author of Jürgen Habermas: Democracy and the public sphere (Pluto Press 2005) and co-editor with Nabeel Zuberi of two editions of Media studies in Aotearoa New Zealand (Pearson 2010, second edition). His teaching and research interests are mainly in the area of new media and he has published research on topics including citizen journalism, digital television, social media and cultural citizenship in the digital age. Contact details: Department of Film, Television and Media Studies, University of Auckland, New Zealand Aotearoa. Telelephone: +64 9 373 7599 ext 86030.