Experiences of Interaction and Participation in Media Communication in a Digital Environment

Digital technologies, it is claimed, provide enhanced opportunities for interactivity and participatory engagement in media communication for ordinary audience members. Whether arising simply from the enhanced functionality offered to media consumers, or through utilising the various channels available to audiences to talk back to media providers, it would appear that audiences are empowered in new ways, previously unavailable in the analogue era. This paper examines what use ordinary audience members make of such opportunities. Drawing on a comparative study of layperson participation in broadcast media in three European countries (Norway, Portugal and Ireland), this paper presents findings from the study of participative media experiences in Ireland. The project arises from the COST A20 Action (Impact of the Internet on Mass Media), and its working group Digital Radio Cultures in Europe (DRACE).