Gegenöffentlichkeit als Gefühl? Alternative Medien und Public Dissent als Wille und Vorstellung ihrer Nutzer:innen
摘要
In the name of the audience turn, there has been a growing interest in audiences in recent years. News, journalism, and information are no longer defined solely in terms of supply structures or normative definitions, but rather through the interpretations and uses made by users. Especially in hybrid media and information environments, with a multitude of choices and an increasing personalization of media content, the consideration of audiences is gaining in importance.
While this audience turn is already established for traditional journalistic offerings, there are only a few studies that consider the role of alternative media as potential communication and action arenas for counter-publics from the perspective of users. However, alternative media have gained importance in our digitalized media landscape and serve heterogeneous target groups. The relationship between alternative media and traditional news is complex. On the one hand, they are seen as a complement, in the sense of a mouthpiece for marginalized and alternative perspectives. On the other hand, they are also seen as a challenge to traditional and normative journalistic practices. This is exemplified by the association of alternative media with the spread of disinformation, conspiracy narratives and political extremism.
This article emphasizes the potential for expanding the audience to include the perspective of users of alternative media. The central question is how these users interpret news and information and whether they classify alternative media and their content as counter-designs to the established mainstream media and information landscape. The study shows how users of alternative media actively search for divergent perspectives (counter-publicity as will) and expect to find them in and through alternative media (counter-publicity as imagination). To achieve this objective, the article builds upon the first two waves of a qualitative long-term panel study on the use and usage patterns of 33 users of system-critical alternative media. A methodological triangulation of media diaries, media repertoire cards and qualitative (online) interviews provides a variety of insights into this process of (alternative) news negotiation.
The results demonstrate that the negotiation of news and newsness is a complex and life-world process. News or newsness is primarily negotiated on the levels of content, media type and emotional effect (in various combinations and constellations). Alternative media serve both as a supplement and as a corrective for media consumers who are dissatisfied with the content, type, and emotional effect of information in postulated mainstream media. The motives and practices of users have a decisive influence on whether and to what extent alternative media are perceived as an expression of public dissent and counter-publicity. If alternative media are employed as supplements to the existing media landscape, users engage with news from a diverse range of perspectives. Conversely, if alternative media are used as exclusive functional equivalents to established mainstream media, individuals can create their own alternative news and life realities, which in turn necessitate an alternative understanding of journalism, as well as the distinction between public and counter public. In essence, the negotiation of news and newsness can be conceptualized as a continuum, shaped not only by a multitude of factors (content, media type and impact), but also as an individualized and highly emotional and affect-driven process that encompasses the balancing of numerous other categories, including alternative and mainstream, as well as public and counter-public.