Special Issue - New call

2024-10-07

Citizenship in the Digital Media Sphere

Coordinated by:

Eva Campos Domínguez (University of Valladolid)

Guillermo López García (University of Valencia)

The dispute between different political and social actors to dominate communication flows in the public sphere involves both the control of the agenda and the spaces in which this debate unfolds. This struggle is intensified by the current situation of content overabundance, especially distributed through electronic channels, and by public attention that often does not prioritize the quality of the information. The authors, whether professional or not, of these messages—verified, distorted, or deliberately false—compete for the same audiences (Bennett & Livingston, 2022). Digital platforms have enhanced the accessibility, visibility, and influence capacities of social, political, and institutional actors, both within the realm of political communication and beyond it. Meanwhile, traditional media, which have also established a presence in this hybrid environment (Chadwick, 2013), are partially losing their control over public opinion (Bennett & Iyengar, 2008). In this context, the strategic uses by political leaders—both those in power and in opposition—are shaped by new dynamics of public expression and social conversation. These involve multiple actors, effects, and communication processes, which determine the complexity of public opinion (López García, 2017).

Political communication must be consistent with the problems and social sensitivities that citizens need to be addressed or resolved. Public opinion cannot arise spontaneously (Grossi, 2007); it requires the role of opinion leadership from above—in the political and power domains—and from below—socially, through groups, movements, or associations. Traditionally, the media were responsible for selecting, highlighting, and directing attention toward certain topics, opinions, and controversies (and away from others), as well as promoting, supporting, framing, interpreting, and guiding certain concepts and symbols, which would then become subjects of conflict and negotiation in public discussion. However, with the rise of communicative capitalism (Dean, 2005), the centrality of social networks diversified this media function, moving towards a post-media public sphere (López García, 2022). This has led to a decrease in the mediating role of traditional broadcasters and transformed the roles of various social and political actors in communication.

In this context, the citizenry, once relegated to a predominantly passive role, assumes a multifaceted role that involves not only receiving but also generating, exchanging, and forwarding various types of information (Calvo & Campos, 2021). As a result of the disappearance of passive audiences, research perspectives introduce the citizenry into the digital media sphere. These transformations bring about various phenomena, such as mobilizations driven by expressions of anger and rage (Killen, 2023), which, through digital communication channels, legitimize experiences arising in peripheral public spheres, now with the capacity to reach a broad audience, as seen in the case of angry voters. On the opposite end, an increasingly large sector of the citizenry avoids news and exposes itself only to entertainment products, fostering political fandom and pop politics (Mazzoleni, 2019).

This issue aims to bring together research that compares traditional and emerging forms of leadership, strategies, and political agenda-setting in a world where public attention is highly contested and, at the same time, filtered by ideological factors. In recent years, social networks have consolidated as a crucial space for political information and discussion. The issue does not aim to focus solely on examining the connections between the agendas of different actors and the dominant role traditionally attributed to mass media, both conventional and digital. It also seeks to understand the processes involving the opposition of interests, social and political forces that manifest through their topics and dynamics in the public space. Furthermore, it is interested in the development of controversies in various spheres of social life (Palau & López-García, 2022). The intention is to generate a debate from this perspective that allows for the examination of interrelationships between these areas in the configuration of political communication.

Thematic Areas

The role of the public in the digital media sphere.
Participatory democracy and audience democracy.
Social activism in the digital age.
New opinion leaders and their impact on public discourse.
Theoretical approaches to citizen participation.
Construction of the public agenda in the digital environment.
Radicalization, extremism, and anti-democratic threats.
Challenges of media intermediation.
Social and political consequences of polarization.
Information confusion and the decline of journalism.

  • Deadline for submitting the paper: November 30, 2024
  • It is necessary to specify in the manuscript that it be addressed to this call in the submission.
  • Author Guidelines: http://analisi.cat/about/submissions#authorGuidelines
  • Articles could be in English and linked to funded research will be prioritised.
  • Questions could be addressed to: revista.analisi@uab.cat
  • The special issue will be published on June 2025