www.ccp-online.org | CCP 2 (2008): 3-21
P4P – Podcasting for Participation. How can digital Grassroots Media Support Sustainable Development?
Abstract: This paper discusses whether digital grassroots media, evolving within the Digital World, can be useful instruments to enforce Sustainable Development (SD). As a representative of such new means of communication the young phenomenon podcasting is tested for its potential to enforce SD. The paper focuses on one aspect that is central in many definitions of SD: participation. First, important concepts (i.e. civil society, deliberation and participation) are clarified, then podcasting is introduced and finally, the question how digital grassroots media can support SD is discussed. This is done by presenting three theses how podcasting can strengthen civil society, citizen deliberation and political participation and by opposing three corresponding anti-theses. In this vein a number of research questions, partly theoretical, partly empirical, is derived. These research questions can be understood as the foundation of a broader research program to examine the potential of digital grassroots media for SD.
Keywords: Sustainable Development, Civil Society, Deliberation, Participation, New Media, Podcasting
Contact:
Dennis Mocigemba,
Jacobs University Bremen,
JCLL, Media and Communication Sciences
E-Mail: d.mocigemba@iu-bremen.de