In search of the virtually unknown: Mediated membership and the Independent Media Center Movement.

摘要

The audiences of radical media are, to paraphrase Downing (2003), "virtually unknown." This study draws upon New Social Movement theory and critical media studies to establish a framework for understanding these media called "prefigurative media." Prefigurative media are based on the idea of prefigurative politics, a political stance that abjures a received ideology in favor of enacting a revolution of daily life in the current world. Previous scholarship has focused almost entirely on the production of these media; little attention has been paid to those who use them. In examining prefigurative media's consumers, this study offers the concept of "mediated members" who, for purposes of this study, are defined as people who participate with these networked radical and alternative media in some way beyond casual use. This study examines questions of how mediated members define and enact their relationships with prefigurative media.;The specific medium which this study focuses on is the Independent Media Center Movement (Indymedia). This worldwide network of websites collects and disseminates news from a radical, anti-authoritarian perspective and is organized at the level of local collectives rejecting hierarchical organization. It also encourages the individual users of its networked websites to make contributions through open-posting features. The methodology for this study is grounded theory, utilizing in-depth interviews with people who self-identify as mediated members. Rising out of the grounded theory, I propose a four part typology of mediated membership. I posit that the typology is based on and, for the most part is defined by the mediated members' knowledge of and proximity to the Indymedia: "remote members," "associated activists," and "occasional members". Further, my work asserts that, rather than viewing radical media as entities, a more accurate description with relation to their audiences is that of overlapping memberships; those who produce and use radical media sources employ them to further their interests and to make contact with like-minded individuals.