Media Policy Fetishism

Why do ordinary users have so little input into or interest in the formal decisionmaking processes that shape our media systems? This presentation suggests that we focus on the fetishism of the media policy process, understood as the loss of control over the decisionmaking arena and as the outso...

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Main Author: Des Freedman
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Paderborn University: Media Systems and Media Organisation Research Group 2015-03-01
Series:tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique
Online Access:https://www.triple-c.at/index.php/tripleC/article/view/674
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author Des Freedman
author_facet Des Freedman
author_sort Des Freedman
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description Why do ordinary users have so little input into or interest in the formal decisionmaking processes that shape our media systems? This presentation suggests that we focus on the fetishism of the media policy process, understood as the loss of control over the decisionmaking arena and as the outsourcing of political agency to external forces. It focuses on both the dimensions of ‘everyday fetishism’ (its capacity to naturalize commodification processes and to reify social life) as well as its relevance to media policy in particular. It reflects on how a fetishistic policy distorts key policy principles, restricts access to policymaking arenas and mystifies the process as a whole so that it becomes a ‘spectral’ activity from which ordinary citizens are largely excluded. Des Freedman invites us to consider ways in which publics can re-connect themselves to the policy process and, in doing so, to invigorate and democratize the struggles for media justice we face today. Acknowledgement: This podcast is an audio-recoding of a talk that took place in the University of Westminster's Communication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI)'s research seminar on March 11, 2015.
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spelling doaj.art-bf6ca797982149db99efa592c4402cbe2023-09-03T09:31:28ZengPaderborn University: Media Systems and Media Organisation Research GrouptripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique1726-670X1726-670X2015-03-0113110.31269/triplec.v13i1.674674Media Policy FetishismDes Freedman0Goldsmiths, University of LondonWhy do ordinary users have so little input into or interest in the formal decisionmaking processes that shape our media systems? This presentation suggests that we focus on the fetishism of the media policy process, understood as the loss of control over the decisionmaking arena and as the outsourcing of political agency to external forces. It focuses on both the dimensions of ‘everyday fetishism’ (its capacity to naturalize commodification processes and to reify social life) as well as its relevance to media policy in particular. It reflects on how a fetishistic policy distorts key policy principles, restricts access to policymaking arenas and mystifies the process as a whole so that it becomes a ‘spectral’ activity from which ordinary citizens are largely excluded. Des Freedman invites us to consider ways in which publics can re-connect themselves to the policy process and, in doing so, to invigorate and democratize the struggles for media justice we face today. Acknowledgement: This podcast is an audio-recoding of a talk that took place in the University of Westminster's Communication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI)'s research seminar on March 11, 2015.https://www.triple-c.at/index.php/tripleC/article/view/674
spellingShingle Des Freedman
Media Policy Fetishism
tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique
title Media Policy Fetishism
title_full Media Policy Fetishism
title_fullStr Media Policy Fetishism
title_full_unstemmed Media Policy Fetishism
title_short Media Policy Fetishism
title_sort media policy fetishism
url https://www.triple-c.at/index.php/tripleC/article/view/674
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