Redesigning Civic Media
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Edinburgh
Department Name: College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sci
Abstract
A flourishing, balanced, and active media is the cornerstone of our contemporary political system. Within Europe, this role is most reliably performed by Public Service Media (PSM), and in the UK this function is performed by the BBC. However, the media climate is broad, and we have seen a substantial decline in quality of information, public media literacy, nuance of debate, and agonism (the positive facets of political disagreement) all of which dramatically influence participation. Whilst it is true that new forms of media have enabled specific types of engagement (e.g., online petitions, surveys and new spaces for collective activity), these are often relatively shallow and highly polarised and have paved the way for susceptibility to misinformation at scale. We need only look to past year to see how global threats to our human security require empathy, seeing beyond individualism, and development of virtual spaces for collective and collaborative response.
PSM in particular plays a core role in upholding democratic values and rights including "the fundamental right to freedom of expression and information" (article 10, European Convention on Human Rights). It strives to provide access to verified and balanced information and promotes values core to contemporary democratic political systems (democracy, diversity, fairness, and social cohesion). One aspect of this is participation, through the provision for "different groups in society with an opportunity to receive and impart information, to express themselves and to exchange ideas" (Council of Europe, 2016). Such work is complex and requires PSM to balance values such as independence from the influence of power, ensuring appropriate funding infrastructure, ensuring veracity through high editorial standards (ibid) and the ability to adapt to and stay relevant within a dynamic socio-technical climate.
This latter point has rapidly become one of the core issues facing PSM, within which interaction design has become an ever more critical translator of values. Fierce competition within the attention economy, the rise of misinformation and the proliferation of dark design have become core influences in public opinion and strongly influence the nature of participation, by design. All these factors coalesce to create a climate within which PSM is both critically needed but also tightly limited.
In the current climate of disinformation, public judgement is filtered through a network of complex design patterns, opaque algorithmic rankings, and direct misinformation, and all of this is designed in ways to appear seamless and legitimate to the user. This trend sits in direct opposition to the tenets of PSM, which seek to present balanced and verified information. This research applies Design as a lens to explore new models of civic media and participation in order to promote public good.
Research Question:
(1) How can Public Service Media be leveraged to create new models of public participation, by design? Secondary questions include (2) how can PSM balance their public service responsibilities within the current climate of media and public values (3) what new models of participation might the BBC employ, and (4) how might these be designed into the existing PSB infrastructure?
PSM in particular plays a core role in upholding democratic values and rights including "the fundamental right to freedom of expression and information" (article 10, European Convention on Human Rights). It strives to provide access to verified and balanced information and promotes values core to contemporary democratic political systems (democracy, diversity, fairness, and social cohesion). One aspect of this is participation, through the provision for "different groups in society with an opportunity to receive and impart information, to express themselves and to exchange ideas" (Council of Europe, 2016). Such work is complex and requires PSM to balance values such as independence from the influence of power, ensuring appropriate funding infrastructure, ensuring veracity through high editorial standards (ibid) and the ability to adapt to and stay relevant within a dynamic socio-technical climate.
This latter point has rapidly become one of the core issues facing PSM, within which interaction design has become an ever more critical translator of values. Fierce competition within the attention economy, the rise of misinformation and the proliferation of dark design have become core influences in public opinion and strongly influence the nature of participation, by design. All these factors coalesce to create a climate within which PSM is both critically needed but also tightly limited.
In the current climate of disinformation, public judgement is filtered through a network of complex design patterns, opaque algorithmic rankings, and direct misinformation, and all of this is designed in ways to appear seamless and legitimate to the user. This trend sits in direct opposition to the tenets of PSM, which seek to present balanced and verified information. This research applies Design as a lens to explore new models of civic media and participation in order to promote public good.
Research Question:
(1) How can Public Service Media be leveraged to create new models of public participation, by design? Secondary questions include (2) how can PSM balance their public service responsibilities within the current climate of media and public values (3) what new models of participation might the BBC employ, and (4) how might these be designed into the existing PSB infrastructure?
People |
ORCID iD |
| Ewa Luger (Primary Supervisor) | |
| Anna Rezk (Student) |