This thesis is about broadsheet coverage of the European Parliament (EP). More precisely, it studies the amount and content of news referring to the EP as well as the professional attitudes of their producers. The main purpose of the thesis is to explain variation in the press coverage. Thereby it combines political communication research with the European integration literature discussing the legitimacy of the EP. It argues that cross-country and inter-temporal variation cannot be explained by factors internal to news production alone. Instead, national parliamentary traditions impact profoundly on the way EU parliamentary affairs are reported. The thesis employs a mixed-methods research design. It conducts a quantitative content analysis of 18 broadsheets published in six European countries – Ireland, the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, Germany and Austria – over three time periods: one is a routine period of two years; the remaining two datasets are oriented at key issues and events over time. In total, 3956 newspaper articles are analysed. In addition, 18 in-depth interviews with the respective Brussels correspondents and a director at the EP Directorate-General for Communication complement the findings. While the EP receives regular coverage, the thesis finds that news are selected and presented according to the interest of the audience. Hence the domestic angle prevails in the news coverage and the EP’s own prominence and potential to generate conflict attract media attention more often when major issues are at stake. However, domestic relevance is not the only explanatory factor. While newsmakers also respond to varying levels of public support for EU membership, the thesis identifies national parliamentary traditions as a strong external driver of EP news coverage. Here, procedural characteristics and public expectations shape the amount and content of EP news as well as newsmakers’ attitudes – and more significantly so with the rising powers of the Parliament.

This thesis examines the practice of campaigning journalism, where a newspaper seeks political influence and claims to do so on behalf of its readers or a wider public. It is a production and content study of campaign journalism in the Scottish press, examining the journalists’ orientation to their readers, both in terms of social responsibility toward them in facilitating their citizenship, and in terms of accountability or answerability to them as their quasi-representatives. The study also analyses the newspapers’ representation of the substance and legitimacy of public opinion to politicians at the Scottish Parliament, in particular the governing Scottish Executive (now Scottish Government), and the framing of politicians’ obligation to respond to public demands as formulated by the newspapers. In short, it seeks to investigate newspapers’ democratic claims to be the voice of ‘the public’. Existing literature indicates that a key legitimation of campaigning journalism is that the newspaper is acting on behalf of a public or publics. However, it is not clear how these claims are substantiated. Existing mechanisms of accountability and normative conventions of responsibility are based on the liberal model of democracy, whereby the press are responsible for informing voters. In campaigning, the press instead adopt the language of representing group interests or protest politics that would fit with a corporatist or participatory model of democracy. These alternative models presuppose active or at least attentive publics, and newspapers’ interaction with and representation of them in this sense. This would fit with popular notions of Scottish political history as characterised by activism, and the aspirations of the Scottish Parliament. However, the campaigns instead addressed an imagined public that were conceived of as a market, and represented ‘the public’ as a passive and powerless aggregate of interests. Despite campaigning being taken up on behalf of disadvantaged groups, those affected were only given a voice to express their feelings as victims, and political advocacy was largely reserved to the newspaper rather than extended to associations and organisations in civic society. The neo-liberal assumption of private (not political) self-determination and freedom as the defence of property and other personal interests meant that affected individuals were portrayed as passive and vulnerable ‘victims’ whose freedom and agency were oppressed by criminal perpetrators. Where social welfare was addressed it was dissociated from taxation, and portrayed in terms of consumer preferences. Publics were otherwise addressed and portrayed as an aggregate mass of instrumental interests and fearful, defensive feelings, not as associative or discursive.

This thesis addresses the interface between producers of new media and their audiences/users as it manifests itself in production. It is based on a case study of NESTA Futurelab (a production-research laboratory in educational new media) conducted in its first year of existence, as its staff sought to define the endeavour —'what it is for' and, more importantly, 'whom it is for'. Drawing on science and technology studies (STS) and media theory, this study challenges models of the producer-user interface which endorse 'technical mediation' in proposing alternatives to its three components — the use bias, overstated co-design and the ontological divide between producers and users. In response to the use bias, the study of Futurelab demonstrates that the producers' perceptions of their audiences (both users and partners) determine from the outset decisions as to the organization's purpose, structure, methodology and outputs. Overstated co-design is countered by uncovering the producers' downplaying of direct user involvement and any pretension to scientific methodology through which they engage the users. This study stresses the more pervasive practice of mediation whereby they represent the absent users. This is further conceptualized through their portrayal as 'experience-based experts' — the producers claim the ability to contribute substantively to production by virtue of their social experience, while minimizing their technical competence. Lastly, the presumed ontological divide between producers and users is contested by illustrating that the spheres of production and reception overlap in the producers' experience, which is reactivated on an ad hoc basis in production. Through notions such as 'reflexivity', 'prior feedback', 'producer-user overlap', `mediated quasi-interaction' and 'experience-based expertise', the producer-user interface is thus inscribed in the continuity of producers' social experience rather than being seen as an interaction purposely and strategically instated at a discrete moment. The most notable instances of continuity are captured by the producers' playing of the synthetic role of producer-user, which rests on the claimed proximity between production and other relevant social situations.

Over the last decades, surveillance has transformed into a pervasive phenomenon woven into the fabric of socio-economic life. In this process, surveillance has itself undergone a structural transformation as its principal agents such as prison guards and CCTV operators have been replaced by algorithms and data-driven technologies. Contemporary surveillance then is embedded in, and expression of, a fundamental remaking of the world, where human decision-making is increasingly supplanted by computational mechanisms, and lived experience is mediated, and even constituted, by computation. This thesis is a sociological work with an emphasis on the role of communication at the intersection of computation and surveillance (‘computational surveillance’). Current debates have predominantly focussed on the systems and mechanisms of computational surveillance. Less emphasis has been placed on the lived experience of inhabiting a computed world, and specifically how people can query and act towards computational surveillance. This thesis makes both a theoretical and empirical contribution to this question. Through a framework rooted in the sociology of knowledge, the thesis develops a theory of agency towards computational surveillance. It outlines the changing conditions under which knowledge of social reality is constructed in a computational world and theorises modes of reclaiming these conditions for human agents. This theory informed, and its further development emerged out of the findings from a qualitative study of 40 young people in Germany and the UK about their everyday encounters with computational surveillance, which was conducted as part of the thesis. It highlights how participants obtain knowledge about invisible computational mechanisms through their everyday activities and documents practices through which they collaboratively frame computers as interlocutors that they act towards. Lastly, this thesis documents the tactics and strategies employed by participants to hide from, or manipulate computational surveillance, and how they adopt a logic akin to computers in this process.

This research investigates how the production and distribution of nationally produced television programmes, films and other audiovisual content can be promoted by regulation. The study identifies current regulatory tools to promote national content and differences in policy approaches. It also identifies new issues resulting from the substantial transformation the media environment has undergone in recent years. The audiovisual sector today is characterised by an abundance of television channels and telecommunication services and by ongoing digital convergence, all impacting on the effectiveness and rationale of content regulation. Focused on the UK, France and Brazil, this comparative research investigates the political, regulatory, socio-cultural, economic, technological and market changes of the communication services in the recent decades and how this has impacted on the provision of national audiovisual content. The starting point of the analysis are the 1980s, when broadcasting started to be gradually liberalised, and it concludes in the 2000s, when information technologies, telecommunications and broadcasting converge into interconnected, complementary and supplementary services. This research offers a three step method of analysis which contributes to a new understanding of the mechanisms and implications involved in the production and distribution of nationally produced content in digital times. In the first step, the various socio-cultural aims of communication services as enacted in legislation are analysed. The second step explores the consequent regulatory tools for the fulfilment of those objectives. The third step provides a market evaluation of the audiovisual industries, which broadcasters and other distribution platforms provide which kind of content, and also looks at audiences‟ viewing preferences to get a better understanding of what type of content should be supported through legislation. As outcomes, this research proposes to academics, policymakers and regulators a new definition for national content and a series of regulatory actions for fostering national audiovisual industries in times of digital convergence.

The past decade has witnessed a proliferation of internet use for socialising with dedicated websites such as Facebook, and also for maintaining relationships using computer mediated communication. Individuals can extend the boundary associated with traditional forms of communication, and use technology to meet strangers online to share interests, or maintain existing relationships remotely. One of the most significant functions of computer-mediated communication (CMC) is its contribution to the evolution of social communication. CMC is “communication that takes place between human beings via the instrumentality of computers” (Thurlow, Lengel, & Tomic, 2004). As a consequence of the convenience and flexibility that this channel provides, CMC can be effectively used to orchestrate a variety of communication situations. Furthermore, social networks sites are becoming the choice in which individuals are maintaining relationships or meeting new people. The potential distinctions between these relationships and their offline counterparts remain contradictory. Online relationships may face different challenges, such as anonymity, restricted interaction (Walther, 1992), and the lack of physical presence. For example, sharing activities online such as playing games or visiting Web sites together differs from offline activities, such as going to the movies or dining together. These observations question whether CMC relationships have any parallels with real world relationships. Dunbar (1992) structured real world relationship by strength of ties and formulated the social brain hypothesis (SBH). This work uses the SBH as an interpretive lens in analyzing CMC relationship ties. Thus, a major focus of this work is to investigate implications of the SBH (Dunbar, 1992) within the context of CMC usage. It is recognised that CMC allows for the maintenance of a large number of friendships. Thus potentially, the use of CMC could alter the SBH ratios. Within the main findings consistency with SBH was found. Furthermore, CMC has many parallels with real world communication methods. Face-to-face communications were strongly preferred for maintenance of strong ties. Also phone usage was analysed and identified as an indicator of strong tie relationships, for both local and distant communications. The findings also address questions on displaced communities communication habits and their use of CMC. The phone was found to be most popular media and culture had a strong influence on communication content. The research used a mixed method approach, combining data collection via questionnaires, semi structured interviews and a diary study completed by participants. Based on the findings, a framework is proposed categorising groups on their level of real world socialising and CMC use. There are four essential contributions impacting on current theory. The findings offer new knowledge within the research of CMC and relationship maintenance theory. In our understanding these exploratory questions have not yet been addressed and therefore the findings of this research project are significant in their contributions.

Compared with face-to-face communication, Facebook use may provide opportunities for greater interaction in a relatively uncensored environment. This research aimed to critically investigate how Saudi university students are using these opportunities. It employs a theoretical framework drawn from uses and gratifications theory, social penetration theory, and social role theory. A mixed methods approach was used over three sequential phases. The research began with a quantitative questionnaire completed by 372 Saudi university students to investigate the gratifications they obtained from using Facebook and to identify a typology of Facebook users. This was followed by thematic and quantitative content analyses of profiles of a sub-sample of 50 students to explore the status updates they generated and the types of information they disclosed. To investigate in greater depth the themes that emerged from the previous phases, a final qualitative interview was conducted with 20 of the students. The results revealed that, Saudi students used Facebook as a virtual space within which they engaged in several activities. It allowed for cross-cultural and cross-gender communication. Facebook also enabled them to be citizen journalists, sharing, discussing, and analysing current affairs. They as well used Facebook to defend their religious beliefs and advocate Islamic values. Saudi university students showed that they are willing to jeopardise the privacy of their personal information to maximise the rewards they obtain from using Facebook as long as these rewards outweigh the expected costs from such disclosure. Despite belonging to a gender-segregated society, analysis of gender differences conducted across all three research phases revealed that the gap between genders in their Facebook usage is narrower than in offline settings.

The submission consists of twenty-three outputs, spanning over three decades. These range from books and chapters to reports, journal articles and edited publications. The accompanying commentary aims to set the submitted work in context, demonstrate that it constitutes a coherent whole, and that it makes an independent and original contribution to knowledge and the advancement of the academic field of community media within the discipline of media studies. A number of overlapping contexts are summarised: the socio-historical setting in which the practice of electronic community media first emerged; the ‘personal/professional’ context in which reflection on practical experience led to developments in theory and policy analysis; the academic context of the development of British media studies where at first radio was marginalised and there was no discursive space for the notion of community media, then a later stage where a wider range of theoretical contexts brought community and alternative media into the academic frame. Three main sections discuss, respectively, the candidate’s contribution to the identification and categorisation of community media, the application to it of theoretical perspectives, and the development of policy analysis. All three areas, it is argued, were part of a wider strategy aimed at bringing recognition to the field and which involved activities outside the scope of the submission (advocacy, interventions in mainstream media) but which are part of the context of the submitted work. For that reason an appendix (B) lists all the candidate’s publications on the subject, while others list conference presentations and other relevant activities. In addition, the documentation includes a brief career summary and statements by co-authors.

Das Populäre und das Archiv sind zwei sich gegenseitig ausschließende Gegenstandsbereiche, wenn man ersteres mit den Kennzeichen Allgemeinverständlichkeit und Allgemeinzugänglichkeit bei gleichzeitiger affektiver Verankerung (Williams 1976) verbindet, und letzteres in erster Linie als Selektionspraxis und normative Wissensformation versteht (Foucault 1969, Derrida 1995). Mit Urs Stäheli (in Pompe, Scholz 2002) lässt sich hier ein Paradox aufzeigen: das allgemein Verständliche zu archivieren hieße, nur das, was schon überall vorhanden ist zu verdoppeln. Das Populäre der Archivordnung zu unterwerfen, hieße jedoch auf der anderen Seite, es zu ‚entpopularisieren’, den Zugang zu selegieren. In der jüngsten Vergangenheit nun werden wir mit fluktuierenden Archivstrukturen konfrontiert, die sich via Internet und Netzwerk-Konfigurationen als dynamisch veränderbares Bilderkonvolut und als selbstreflexive Medienpraxis präsentieren. Wikipedia und YouTube drängen sich heute als dominante Bildarchive auf, die als populäre Medienpraxis die archivarische Arbeit am Bild beständig weitertreiben und umbauen. Es wäre nun zu fragen, ob nicht gerade hier eine Archivpraxis bereitstünde, die das Populäre nicht in statuarischen Ordnungssystemen tot stellt, sondern Selektions- und Ordnungsprozesse als performative Praxis offen hält. Vielleicht wäre es möglich, hier das Bild eines ‚Archiv-Dunkels’ und einer offenen Oberfläche des Populären zu einem hybriden Konzept zu verschränken.

Auf die Tagung insgesamt zurückblickend, kann festgestellt werden, dass der begriffliche und methodische Austausch zwischen den Ansätzen und Disziplinen nicht nur nötig, sondern bereits rege im Gange ist. Der klassischen hermeneuti- schen Analyse, wie sie für die Linguistik weithin üblich ist, werden dabei vielfach sowohl quantitative Methoden als auch ethnografische Methoden zur Seite gestellt, um den Herausforderungen des verstehenden Nachvollzugs angemessen zu begegnen. Gerade was das Spannungsfeld zwischen Gesprächs- und Textlinguistik betrifft, zeichnete sich in Mannheim einmal mehr die nahtlose Übergängigkeit zwischen den vermeintlich kategorial verschiedenen Phänomenen ab. Das große Spektrum an Kommunikationsformen einerseits und der graduelle Interaktionsbegriff andererseits zeigten deutlich, wie Gespräche und Texte nicht kategorial verschiedene Gegenstände sind, sondern vielmehr dass Sprache in ihren ver- schiedenen Ausprägungen von denselben grundlegenden Prinzipien bestimmt ist. Zwei dieser Prinzipien sind mit Sicherheit die Unhintergehbarkeit der material fundierten Medialität sprachlicher Formen und die Unaustilgbarkeit ihrer interaktionalen Qualitäten.