Between the lack of interest in opinion formation and the desire to change the world: the participation of citizens in the 'Banda Amplia' program of TV3 in Catalonia

Abstract

In the grasp of the media literacy studies, the concept of ‘participation’ has been able to

gather a more significant attention and focus. In this regard, we could underline the 2009

European Union’s recommendations where it is possible to observe how participation is defined by this political organism in a framework of an active democracy alongside the intention to contribute into a healthier intercultural dialogue. In the same year, the EAVI (European Association for Viewers’ Interests) has also published the Study for Assessment for Media Criteria Levels, as part of a research which understood participation as a social competence,  a  communicative  skill  in  the  top  of  the  Media  Literacy  Criteria  Levels’ pyramid.

Acknowledging the importance of participation in a active citizenship, as it was put forward by Sherry Arnstein (1969) and profoundly related to the digital media literacy requirements (Perez-Tornero, 2004), this research paper aims to draw the attention under the social representations of one group of participants in the audience discussion programme Banda Ampla, from the Catalan public television TV3, in Spain. Having in mind the motivations that have been able to conduct this group of citizens to participate live in the set, we have also been interested in evaluating the levels of adhesion in the participants to the technology possibilities to interact with media. In a fifty people sample, we will describe the production settings, through an ethnographic approach, based on a non- participation observation technique. In this inquiry we have also some data which allows us to think and question how media productions are actually opening the gates to let people participate in their productions, such as in this programme broadcasted on 13th January 2011