RTV Theory and Practice - Special Issue

‘Communlcation et Democracie', and Keynote speeches and working groups papers were devoted to related notions . Since then a working group of the lAMCR has been formed entitled 'Democratization of Communication', and has met at IAMCR conferences in Prague in 1984, in New Delhi in 1986, and in Barcelona in 1988. These meetings have provided a platform for exchanging experiences anđ perspectives, and searching for commonalty in conceptions and actions . Although there is perhaps Justification for association between the phrase đemocratization of communication and this scholarly working group , the roots of the notion extend far beyond the concerns of academicians . DUring the past decades social activists affiliated with movements and organizations in diverse parts of the world have signaled the importance of a transformation of communication structures allowing more democratic involvement as a necessary condition for democratic development of society. The 19605, particularly in North America and Western Europe , marked the арех of concern for democratic communication structures . Action groups and social movements began establishing their own media - newsletters , newspapers , and later radio and television stations - in order to maintain an internal bond with their own members , and to ехргезз themselves to the world at large (see e .g .Downing , 1980) . It was during the late 1960 sand early 1970s when the first serious attempts were mađe to theorize on these development. Enzensberger (1970) is well-known in this regard, particularly for his formulation of the term 'emancipatory media use- 1 which encompassed elements such as exchange in roles between senders anđ receivers , auđience involvement in the communication process , anđ mobilization and mvolvement of other persons in movement activities . Enzensberger was , of course , not the first enunciated such principles - Brecht said similar things at the advent of radio in the 19305. Other individuals and institutions built on this pioneering activity . The Council of Europe devoted much епегду to documenting many of the alternative audio-visual media activities happening around the Continent during the 19705; the National Film Board did much the same for Canada , and various organizations in the United States - in particular , the National Feđeration of Local Cable Programmers - provided an organizational basis for informing , training anđ theorizing about aspects of democratization of communication . Two of the eariy hallmarks in this effort to conceptualize elements of the phrase were pubhcation of Frances Berngan's (1977 ) book on access to the media and Josiane Jouet's ( 1977 ) report of a conference on participation anđ the media . Both

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