Media Ethnography: The Challenges of Breaking Disciplinary Boundaries - Special Issue of Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture

Call for Papers: Scholars from a wide range of academic disciplines have embraced ethnography as a way to understand media as artifacts, experiences and practices. Whilst this trend has contributed significantly to the study of media, culture and society, researchers that adopt or are inspired by ethnographic approaches to the study of media face the challenges of producing knowledge on both the margins and intersections of clearly demarcated disciplines. What are the constraints and opportunities created by media ethnography’s inherent hybridity? How can researchers effectively locate the field, especially given the rise of multi sited and digital ethnographies? What range of research methods is appropriate? To what extent can media ethnography be thought of and practiced as an independent field? What is distinctive about the knowledge that is produced through an engagement with media ethnography? Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture invites submissions from international and multidisciplinary perspectives that explore some of the key debates around media ethnography and/or draw on media ethnography (or studies inspired by it) to produce original empirical research. In keeping with the aims of WPCC, we welcome submissions from new and emerging scholars. Possible topics include but are not limited to: * Challenges and opportunities, strengths and weaknesses of media ethnography * Ethical concerns in media ethnography * Media ethnography, social activism and social change * Sensory ethnography and anthropology of the senses * Media ethnography, power and authority * Media ethnography, presence, non-presence, digital ethnography and the concept of “the field” * We particularly encourage the submission of original empirical studies of media which draw on ethnographic approache

Multiplatform Public Service Broadcasting: The Economic and Cultural Role of UK Digital and TV Independents

In this report, produced as part of a two-year Arts & Humanities Research Council project (AH-H0185622-2) on ‘multiplatform public service broadcasting’, focusing on factual/specialist factual as a case study, we detail the role independent production companies play in PSB. We set out how PSB informs the production cultures of independent companies, the tensions that are experienced between profit and public service and the impact multiplatform commissioning and production practices have had on the sector

Daya Kishan Thussu

Daya Thussu is a well-known name in the field of international communication. Originally from India but based in the United Kingdom since 1988, Thussu has challenged the dominance of Western perspectives in Media Studies. In this interview, he addresses the need to internationalize Media Studies, devoting more attention to the "rest of the world" and especially to China and India, or "Chindia". The author also talks about his optimistic views in relation to the BRICS and discusses the ways in which the concept of soft power could be expanded, using Brazil as an example

Daya Kishan Thussu

Nesta entrevista, Thussu fala sobre como os Estudos de Mídia e Comunicação podem se tornar mais internacionalizados, da importância dos estudos comparativos e do seu otimismo com relação ao que os BRICS podem oferecer como alternativa a Washington e ao mundo ocidental. Por último, aborda o conceito de soft power  sob uma perspectiva “não americanizada”, tema que tem permeado seu trabalho mais recente. O autor também fala do potencial do Brasil em soft power, argumentando que além de ter uma imagem simpática no cenário internacional, o país também tem sido levado a sério.Daya Thussu is a well-known name in the field of international communication. Originally from India but based in the United Kingdom since 1988, Thussu has challenged the dominance of Western perspectives in Media Studies. In this interview, he addresses the need to internationalize Media Studies, devoting more attention to the "rest of the world" and especially to China and India, or "Chindia". The author also talks about his optimistic views in relation to the BRICS and discusses the ways in which the concept of soft power could be expanded, using Brazil as an example

Comunidade na Cidade: Mídias comunitárias como infraestruturas comunicacionais urbanas

Este artigo é construído em três etapas: a primeira é predominantemente conceitual e as outras duas são fundamentadas em pesquisa etnográfica (offline e online). Em um primeiro momento, discute-se o conceito de “comunidade”, situando-o nos debates sobre mídia e cidade. Dessa forma, mesmo reconhecendo que as mídias digitais permitem que os cidadãos adotem dinâmicas de localidade mais fluidas, o objetivo é demonstrar que as comunidades urbanas continuam ocupando um lugar de destaque nos debates sobre cidades mediadas. Em seguida, este estudo aborda o lugar que as práticas midiáticas ocupam na constituição de comunidades como as favelas, analisando um estudo de caso, o da escuta da rádio de poste em um bairro popular em Salvador. Finalmente, o artigo revela como ativistas de favelas no Rio de Janeiro utilizam as redes sociais como infraestruturas comunicacionais urbanas, exercendo um papel fundamental nas vivências e sobrevivências da Maré. Dessa forma, o artigo analisa as maneiras como iniciativas comunitárias offline e online representam recursos simbólicos e materiais aplicados a vidas cotidianas estruturadas pela desigualdade

The Stepping into Visibility Model: reflecting on consequences of social media visibility – a Global South perspective

This article discusses activists’ need to reflect on how achieving social media visibility might translate into vulnerability. In order to provide activists with a tool for this reflection, the Stepping into Visibility Model has been developed and applied to two case studies: (a) an activist group in a Brazilian favela using social media for protection against police brutality and (b) a Kenyan photographer, affiliated to an art-ivist (artistic and activist) collective, producing images of Nairobi at night to tackle social anxiety issues. The research draws from sociological insights on the concept of ‘visibility’ and adopts a case study methodology combined with ethnographic approaches. By adopting a Global South perspective, it discusses counter surveillance efforts in ways that go beyond techno-legal solutionism (Dencik et al, 2016) and in periods outside that of big-scale protests (McCosker, 2015). By devising this model, we hope to offer a contribution on how marginalised communities can be better informed when they encounter unintended negative visibility

O SILÊNCIO NÃO É A MELHOR ARMA: MISOGINIA E VIOLÊNCIA CONTRA AS MULHERES NO GAME LEAGUE OF LEGENDS

O objetivo deste artigo é dar voz a um público que vem sendo marginalizado no universo dos games: as mulheres. Analisamos de que maneiras um ambiente sexista estaria contribuindo para invisibilizar a participação das mulheres na indústria dos games e no cotidiano das mulheres que jogam? Para investigar essa questão, selecionamos um jogo, o League of Legends (LoL), distribuído pela Riot Games. As perspectivas teóricas percorrem discussões sobre o papel do marketing, das representações de personagens femininas e da predominância de um “boys club”, que contribuem para a exclusão das mulheres. Com base em observações etnográficas e em entrevistas com jogadoras, argumentamos que as empresas desenvolvedoras de games precisam exercer um papel mais incisivo no combate às práticas misóginas

South-to-South dialogues between Brazilian and Kenyan artivists: decolonial and intersectional feminist perspectives

In this article, we analyze experiences in which Brazilian and Kenyan artivists (artists who are activists) used animation to challenge colonial hierarchies that devalue Global Southern knowledges, histories, and stories. We draw from ethnographic observations, in-depth interviews, and artivists’ experiences in two animation workshops: (a) Portrait of Marielle, produced with Kenyan artivists in Nairobi; (b) Homage to Wangarĩ Maathai, produced with Brazilian artivists in Salvador. We ask: how can artivist creative practices be used as tools for global movement building, contesting the colonial legacy of fragmented relationships between Global South peoples? We evoke decolonial and standpoint intersectional feminist perspectives to propose an understanding of artivism that considers the specificities of Global South contexts, connecting it to two axes: (a) establishing dialogical spaces and (b) mobilizing memories and histories. Our understanding of South-to-South artivist dialogues results from the ways in which notions of “pluriversality,” “incompleteness” and “humility,” which stem from Latin American and African scholarship are intertwined. When marginalized groups exchange “situated knowledges” and express themselves through artivism from “intersectional standpoints” or “lugares de fala,” this can have a binding nature, creating transformative connections between Global South peoples

Direito ao Som: paisagens e resistências sonoras do funk na favela da Maré // The right to make a sound: the soundscapes of favela da Maré and the sonic resistance of funk music

Neste artigo, pretendemos encontrar os pontos de interseção entre a comunicação e os direitos humanos, incorporando perspectivas dos estudos de som e cultura auditiva. Através de um estudo de suas paisagens sonoras, exploramos as experiências cotidianas de uma favela do Rio de Janeiro, a Maré, dedicando atenção a um sentido que é, muitas vezes, negligenciado: a audição. Para isso, adotamos uma abordagem etnográfica, com a realização de passeios sonoros e observações participantes. Ao escutar as paisagens sonoras da Maré, descobrimos que a rua se configura como o espaço mais adequado para trocas reais e simbólicas, permitindo que os moradores aprofundem seus sentimentos de pertencimento a essa comunidade. Talvez por serem tão representativos, os sons da Maré e, dentre eles, o funk vêm sofrendo tentativas sistemáticas de silenciamento. Elas demonstram o caráter autoritário de algumas intervenções que vem sendo realizadas nas favelas, como a militarização e a pacificação. Mesmo com essa repressão sonora, as ruas da Maré continuam a ser ocupadas com suas festas e sons. A comunidade funkeira continua ecoando suas vozes e ritmos nas paisagens sonoras, resistindo em seu espaço comum