Political Communication, Citizen Journalism and Cyber-Societies: A Faster Way towards Democracy?

Year 2017, Volume: 8 Issue: 2, 125 - 142, 30.12.2017

Ekmel Geçer

Abstract

Having a quick look at the literature
review, it is possible to state that political communication, citizen
journalism, and democracy concepts have usually been used in collaboration with
each other especially after the long and sometimes complex new media theories
take the core place in the debates. While some scholars, within the context of
citizen journalism and political relation, highlights the role of social media
and other new media courses in democratisation and more active political
participation, some other debates that although the new media technologies give
political communication campaigns a better, cheaper and more interactive
formation, it seems quite difficult to extend this “good formation” to a
greater democracy as the complexity of cultural attitudes, socio-political
structure of a society and historical dynamics do not let new media channels
and their active practise by the citizens to have the same influence at any
locations.

Therefore, this article, based on an
extensive literature review, while giving insights regarding the long
deliberation at the background of citizen journalism and political
communication it aims to examine (a) the role of social media and other new
media courses in political communication, (b) the influence of citizen
journalism in democratisation, (c) the new and traditional way of news
production regarding political communication and (d) lastly, questioning the
reality of the recently emerged “we’re all journalists now”  expression, aims to understand if civic
contribution, through citizen journalism, into political communication breaks
the taboos between politics and the society and so shortens the long way
towards democratisation.

Keywords

Citizen journalism, democracy, political communication, public sphere, new media

References

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