New Media & Society recent issues

Media use and relational closeness in long-term friendships: interpreting patterns of multimodality

Ledbetter, A. M. — 2008-07-31

Although most friendships use a variety of media to stay in touch, many studies have ignored the multimodality of social life. This study uses media niche theory to consider: changes in patterns of media use across time, which modalities tend to be used in association with other modalities; and the association between specific modalities and relational closeness. Data assessing modality usage and degree of friendship closeness were collected on best friendship pairs in 1987 and 2002. The results suggest that postal mail use has declined between 1987 and 2002, telephone contact has become a particularly potent predictor of relational closeness, and face-to-face contact is a less stable indicator of closeness. Intimacy and efficiency or convenience emerge as two potentially important constructs for understanding how modalities are used for maintaining relational closeness.

Mediating commons: rural Greece

Lagos, T. G. — 2008-07-31

Diffusion of innovation theorizes on how human beings adopt new communication technology, but it fails to take into account the institutional factors involved in the process. In this study involving new communicational technology use in a small Greek rural village, it is determined that the village cafe, as the central socializing element in the community, plays a powerful role in dissemination of new communicational devices, or what this article conceptualizes as `mediating commons'. Such mediating commons social institutions as the village cafe play a significant role in encouraging the adoption of new communication products; without such a mediating commons in a community, adoption rates may reduce significantly and lead to a spreading digital divide.

Free lunch? Cameroon's diaspora and online news publishing

Ndangam, L. N. — 2008-07-31

Using a case study of The Post newspaper in Cameroon, this article examines an alternative model through which a media organization located within the `have not' side of the digital divide is publishing online. A skills inadequacy in the newsroom and a relatively weak telecommunications infrastructure in the country have prompted the newspaper's online version to not only target a diasporic audience, but rely on the expertise and resources of this audience in the development and administration of its website. Illustrating this mode of collaboration between the diasporic audience and the newspaper and detailing its implications for news production and editorial decision-making, this article argues that this model of online news publishing, rarely evidenced in the literature, illustrates the nature and significance of transnational relationships in the diffusion and adoption of online publishing. It simultaneously reflects an alternative transnational practice through which African migrants engage with their home of origin.

The rhetorics and myths of anti-piracy campaigns: criminalization, moral pedagogy and capitalist property relations in the classroom

Yar, M. — 2008-07-31

This article deals with current attempts by copyright industries (music, motion pictures and computer software) to challenge and criminalize practices of piracy and copyright theft, especially in relation to internet usage. A number of anti-piracy campaigns, all aimed at schoolchildren, are critically examined. It is argued that their advocacy of copyright and their corresponding objections to piracy rest on a number of rhetorical strategies which encode capitalist and individualist conceptions of property, creativity and rights. These strategies are elucidated and examined so as to draw attention to their contingent, partial and mythical character. Alternative understandings of intellectual expression are mobilized so as to delineate a case for legitimizing, rather than demonizing, cultural copying practices.

Cooptation and cooperation: institutional exemplars of democratic internet technology

Pickard, V. W. — 2008-07-31

This article examines how online political groups are co-opting internet technology from commercial interests to amplify various cooperative processes. After formulating a framework for praxis-based democratic theories of technology, I select four internet-based groups as institutional exemplars for analysis: Democratic Underground, Free Republic, Indymedia, and Move On. These groups implement distinct types of democratic applications of internet technology and embody specific strands of democratic theory. I conclude by commenting on the direction of internet-based democratic practices, their political efficacy in terms of strategy and tactics, and how they figure within US political culture.

From the air to the ground: the internet in the 2004 US presidential campaign

Vaccari, C. — 2008-07-31

Political campaigns have learned how to take advantage of online tools not only to communicate their message, but also, and more importantly, to mobilize supporters and provide opportunities for e-volunteers to become engaged in the process. Among the most significant developments in the 2004 US presidential election were strategies and tools designed to facilitate the transition from online to off-line engagement, thus strengthening field operations in a campaign where the ground game proved to be a crucial asset. These topics are addressed through in-depth qualitative interviews with senior aides to the e-campaigns of George W. Bush and John F. Kerry. Online political communication professionals predict that in the future the internet will become an increasingly relevant tool in campaigns and that its functions will be adopted all through the campaign organization.

Book Review: Fernando Bermejo, The Internet Audience. Constitution and Measurement. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2007. x + 262 pp. ISBN 978--0--8204--7932--3, $32.95 (pbk)

Schroder, K. C. — 2008-07-31

Book Review: Tarleton Gillespie, Wired Shut: Copyright and the Shape of Digital Culture. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2007. viii + 395 pp. ISBN 0--262--07282--3, $29.95 (cloth)

Harvey, E. — 2008-07-31

Book Review: Cecilia Friend and Jane B. Singer, Online Journalism Ethics: Traditions and Transitions. Armonk, NY. M.E. Sharpe, 2007. xi + 245 pp. ISBN 978--0--7656--1574--9, $28.95 (pbk)

Atkinson, L. — 2008-07-31

Book Review: Andrew Keen, The Cult of the Amateur: How Today's Internet Is Killing Our Culture and Assaulting Our Economy. London and Boston, MA: Currency/Doubleday, 2007. 228 pp. ISBN 0--3855--2080--8, $22.95 (pbk)

Frenkel-Faran, A. — 2008-07-31

Book Review: James Lull, Culture-on-Demand: Communication in a Crisis World. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2007. xxiv + 222 pp. ISBN 1--4051--6065--9, $24.95 (pbk)

Falkheimer, J. — 2008-07-31

Editorial: mediatized stories: mediation perspectives on digital storytelling

Lundby, K. — 2008-05-19

Mediatization or mediation? Alternative understandings of the emergent space of digital storytelling

Couldry, N. — 2008-05-19

This article reviews the social potential of digital storytelling, and in particular its potential to contribute to the strengthening of democracy. Through answering this question, it seeks to test out the relative strengths and weaknesses of two competing concepts for grasping the wider consequences of media for the social world: the concept of mediatization and the concept of mediation. It is argued that mediatization (developed, for example, by Stig Hjarvard and Winfried Schulz) is stronger at addressing aspects of media textuality, suggesting that a unitary media-based logic is at work. In spite of its apparent vagueness, mediation (developed in particular by Roger Silverstone) provides more flexibility for thinking about the open-ended and dialectical social transformations which, as with the printed book, may come in time to be articulated with the new form of digital storytelling.

Taking risky opportunities in youthful content creation: teenagers' use of social networking sites for intimacy, privacy and self-expression

Livingstone, S. — 2008-05-19

The explosion in social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook, Bebo and Friendster is widely regarded as an exciting opportunity, especially for youth.Yet the public response tends to be one of puzzled dismay regarding a generation that, supposedly, has many friends but little sense of privacy and a narcissistic fascination with self-display. This article explores teenagers' practices of social networking in order to uncover the subtle connections between online opportunity and risk. While younger teenagers relish the opportunities to recreate continuously a highly-decorated, stylistically-elaborate identity, older teenagers favour a plain aesthetic that foregrounds their links to others, thus expressing a notion of identity lived through authentic relationships. The article further contrasts teenagers' graded conception of `friends' with the binary classification of social networking sites, this being one of several means by which online privacy is shaped and undermined by the affordances of these sites.

Localizing the internet beyond communities and networks

Postill, J. — 2008-05-19

As the numbers of internet users worldwide continue to grow, the internet is becoming `more local'. This article addresses the epistemological challenge posed by this global process of internet localization by examining some of the conceptual tools at the disposal of internet researchers. It argues that progress has been hampered by an overdependence on the problematic notions of community and network whose paradigmatic status has yet to be questioned by internet scholars. The article seeks to broaden the conceptual space of internet localization studies through a ground-up conceptualization exercise that draws inspiration from the field theories of both Pierre Bourdieu and the Manchester School of Anthropology, and is based on recent fieldwork in suburban Malaysia. This exploration demonstrates that a more nuanced understanding of the plural forms that residential sociality can take is needed in order to move beyond existing binaries such as `network sociality' versus `community sociality'.

Can filesharers be triggered by economic incentives? Results of an experiment

Quiring, O., Von Walter, B., Atterer, R. — 2008-05-19

Illegal filesharing on the internet leads to considerable financial losses for artists and copyright owners as well as producers and sellers of music. Thus far, measures to contain this phenomenon have been rather restrictive. However, there are still a considerable number of illegal systems, and users are able to decide quite freely between legal and illegal downloads because the latter are still difficult to sanction. Recent economic approaches account for the improved bargaining position of users. They are based on the idea of revenue-splitting between professional sellers and peers. In order to test such an innovative business model, the study reported in this article carried out an experiment with 100 undergraduate students, forming five small peer-to-peer networks. The networks were confronted with different economic conditions. The results indicate that even experienced filesharers hold favourable attitudes towards revenue-splitting. They seem to be willing to adjust their behaviour to different economic conditions.

The internet's impact on international knowledge

Beaudoin, C. E. — 2008-05-19

With data from a national telephone survey, the current study examines the comparative and synergistic influence of the internet on international knowledge. Independent and interactive media effects are considered in terms of four medium-specific measures of international news attention. Internet news attention had the most positive effect on international knowledge of any of the news measures. In terms of the other three news attention measures, the effects of newspapers and cable TV were positive, while that of network TV was non-significant. In addition, the interaction of internet news attention and network TV news attention positively predicted international knowledge. In contrast, the interaction of newspaper news attention and network TV news attention negatively predicted international knowledge. These findings indicate the positive comparative and synergistic influence that the internet can have on international knowledge development in the United States.

Voluntary adopters versus forced adopters: integrating the diffusion of innovation theory and the technology acceptance model to study intra-organizational adoption

Yuqiong Zhou, — 2008-05-19

This study extends diffusion research to the intra-organizational level and integrates the classic diffusion of innovation theory (DIT) with the relatively new technology acceptance model (TAM) to empirically explore Chinese journalists' adoption of the internet. It makes a theoretical contribution by proposing four adoption categories — voluntary adopters, forced adopters, resistant non-adopters, and dormant non-adopters — according to the voluntariness of organizational members' innovation decision-making. Based on data from a nationwide survey of 813 journalists in China, this study demonstrates that the DIT and TAM are respectively related to voluntary and forced adoption of the internet.Young, male journalists who perceive the internet positively (i.e., relative advantage and ease of use) and think it to be popular in society are most likely to be voluntary adopters. High-ranking journalists who believe the internet can enhance their job performance and who work in large and technologically sophisticated organizations are most likely to be forced adopters.

The Palestinian--Israeli peace process and transnational issue networks: the complicated place of the Israeli NGO

Rogers, R., Ben-David, A. — 2008-05-19

Israeli non-governmental organizations (NGOs) resisting the security fence and other Israeli security measures are in `virtual isolation' in networks dedicated to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and especially to the criticism of Israeli governmental policies and the construction of the security fence. The research reported is a hyperlink and term analysis of select issue networks on the web assembled around the security fence and other conflict issues. It shows that attempts by left-leaning Israeli NGO network actors to frame the issue in their own critical terms are ignored by networked transnational actors working in the Palestinian-Israeli issue space, even though it may be that both kinds of organizations campaign against it. The Israeli organizations, it was found, are largely in an issue space of their own making, distinct from the human rights frame that dominates the transnational networks. In putting forward the notion of the separation fence, theirs is also a particular local `peace process' approach to issue settlement, different not only from that of the dominant trans-national issue networks on the web, but also from official Israeli as well as certain Western governmental positions. The article concludes by finding that, according to the web, the local peace process is not a trans-national issue network affair.

Review Article: Bloggers and `produsers': Henry Jenkins, Fans, Bloggers and Gamers: Exploring Participatory Culture. New York and London: New York University Press, 2006. v + 277 pp. ISBN 0--8147--4285--8, $21.00 (pbk) Axel Bruns and Joanne Jacobs (eds), Uses of Blogs. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2006. vii + 267 pp. ISBN 0--8204--8124--6, $32.95 (pbk)

Efimova, L. — 2008-05-19

Book Review: Roger Silverstone, Media and Morality: On the Rise of the Mediapolis. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2007. Vii + 215 pp. ISBN 0--7456--3504--0, $25.95 (pbk)

Schofield Clark, L. — 2008-05-19

Book Review: Ken Hillis and Michael Petit with Nathan Scott Epley (eds), Everyday eBay: Culture, Collecting, and Desire. New York: Routledge, 2006. Vii + 313 pp. ISBN 0--415--97436--4, $24.95 (pbk)

Raban, D. R. — 2008-05-19

Book Review: Kate O'Riordan and David J. Phillips (eds), Queer Online: Media Technology and Sexuality. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2007. Xii + 244 pp. ISBN 978--0--8204--8626--0, $32.95 (pbk)

Hamming, J. — 2008-05-19

Public life and the internet: if you build a better website, will citizens become engaged?

Coleman, R., Lieber, P., Mendelson, A. L., Kurpius, D. D. — 2008-03-20

This study links uses and gratifications theory to a theory that addresses civic engagement and then applies it to create an electronic public sphere designed to encourage citizens to participate in civic life. An experimental website on the topic of the state budget was created and tested to assure maximum usability by citizens. It found that the site designed to conform to users' wants and needs in content, navigation and appearance did indeed foster positive attitudes toward civic engagement. Participants who saw the usable site were significantly more likely to have positive attitudes toward civic engagement than those who saw a site not designed for usability. The site features under the control of website creators, such as story content and site appearance, showed strong correlations with civic engagement attitudes.

`I have great desires to look beyond my world': trajectories of information and communication technology use among Ghanaians living abroad

Burrell, J., Anderson, K. — 2008-03-20

Using an ethnographic approach, this study sought to understand how the personal aspirations and social landscapes of Ghanaians living in London shaped their use of a constellation of new information and communication technologies (ICTs) such as camcorders, digital cameras, the internet and mobile phones. Two trajectories of ICT use were discovered among the individuals interviewed. One trajectory fit with the expected transnational practices of cultural continuity and `looking homeward'. This was evident in the way that ICTs such as camcorders supplemented or were incorporated into Ghanaian social events held in London. A second trajectory was evident when Ghanaians enrolled the internet in attempts to realize migratory aspirations, using it to explore the world, broadly searching for opportunities, information, contacts and new ideas. The use of the internet for these exploratory activities revealed how ICTs are relevant to the migration experience beyond attempts to maintain a connection with the homeland.

The aftermath of the ICT revolution? Media and communication technology preferences in Finland in 1999 and 2004

Rasanen, P. — 2008-03-20

It has been predicted that new information and communication technologies (ICTs) will be adopted for increasingly diversified purposes. In general, it has been argued that earlier forms of communication and mass media are being replaced by new ones. Before the early 1990s, however, neither mobile phones nor the internet were widely available to consumers. It is reasonable to ask whether the relatively recent implementation of ICT has shaped our daily practices already as much as many social scientists believe. Is it true that the new forms of technology are considered to be more important than the older ones? What differences can be observed between population groups? This article examines the perceptions of different mass media forms and communication technologies in Finland before and after the turn of the millennium. The data consist of two nationally representative postal surveys conducted in 1999 and 2004.

A net advantage? The internet, grassroots activism and American Middle-Eastern policy

Marmura, S. — 2008-03-20

The uses to which social movements and other grassroots actors put the internet have gained considerable attention from researchers. Often, the internet's role in helping some activists to attain their goals has been cited as evidence that internet technology offers greater benefits to marginal interests than to those already enjoying access to mainstream political and media institutions. This article investigates the possibility that activist networks striving to alter American state policies towards Israel and Palestine will enjoy relatively greater advantages from their use of the internet than those working to uphold the political status quo. Evidence suggests that while the internet has become indispensable for the social movement organizations under consideration, it is unlikely to help them overcome the most significant barriers to influencing government policies and/or public opinion.

Social networks and cellphone use in Russia: local consequences of global communication technology

Lonkila, M., Gladarev, B. — 2008-03-20

Despite the rapid expansion of cellphone use, academic research has paid little attention to mobile telecommunications in Russia. This article examines the adoption and use of cellphones among young Russian adults through social network data and qualitative interviews conducted in St Petersburg in 2003. The study describes the role of personal networks in the purchasing decision, depicts the practices and social rules of cellphone use and investigates the differences between cellphone and landline phone connections. The results are discussed with reference to social consequences such as the individualizing and controlling effects of cellphone use in post-Soviet Russia.

The digital divide and the theory of optimal slack

Newholm, T., Keeling, K., McGoldrick, P., Macaulay, L., Doherty, J. — 2008-03-20

The digital divide and exclusion from the knowledge society have become important subjects of government policy. This article compares online communities located in two UK housing estates. Both have relatively high levels of computer literacy but also significant numbers of novices and non-users. It is argued that one estate is achieving a higher level of inclusion because it combines teamwork with optimal levels of organizational slack. Further, this article discusses the optimal conditions for creating an information and communication technology (ICT) learning community and hence contribute to the debate on how best to overcome the digital divide. The possible implications of the findings are explored in terms of policy initiatives.

Modeling the impact of online cancer resources on supporters of cancer patients

Beaudoin, C. E., Tao, C.-C. — 2008-03-20

This article considers the impact of internet use and online social capital on the health outcomes of supporters of cancer patients. Structural equation modeling offers support for the following three-step model: internet use online social capital stress and depression. Specifically, asynchronous online communication and offline communication stimulated by online communication had direct positive paths to social interaction and social support which, in turn, were both predictive of healthier or lower levels of stress and depression. These findings support previous research, which has indicated positive associations between mass media use and social capital and between social capital and health outcomes. In contrast, internet information-seeking by information type had a negative direct path to social support and negative indirect paths to stress and depression, indicating that information-seeking online has a detrimental impact on social capital and the health indicators.

Review Article: News now: journalism in the online environment: Stephen Quinn, Convergent Journalism: the Fundamentals of Multimedia Reporting. New York: Peter Lang, 2005. 256 pp. ISBN 0820474525, $29.95 (pbk) Stuart Allan, Online News. Maidenhead: Open University Press, 2006. 208 pp. ISBN 0335221211, $40.95 (pbk) Xigen Li (ed.), Internet Newspapers: The Making of a Mainstream Medium. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2006. 320 pp. ISBN 0805854177, $34.50 (pbk)

Chung, D. S. — 2008-03-20

Book Review: Monica Murero and Ronald E. Rice (eds), The Internet and Health Care: Theory, Research and Practice. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2006. xxxv + 403 pp. ISBN 0805858156, $39.95 (pbk)

Holmes, B. — 2008-03-20

Book Review: Kirsten A. Foot and Steven M. Schneider, Web Campaigning. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2006. xix + 263 pp. ISBN 0262062585, $60.00 (hbk), $27.50 (pbk)

Haas, G. — 2008-03-20

Book Review: Mel Alexenberg, The Future of Art in a Digital Age: From Hellenistic to Hebraic Consciousness, Bristol: Intellect Books, 2006, xi + 187 pp. ISBN 1841501360. {pound}29.95 (hbk)

Dziekan, V. — 2008-03-20

Editorial

Jankowski, N. W., Jones, S., Park, D. W. — 2008-02-13

Getting connected: the social dynamics of urban telecommunications access and use in Khayelitsha, Cape Town

Skuse, A., Cousins, T. — 2008-02-13

This article examines urban telecommunications access and use by poor households in the township of Khayelitsha, Cape Town, South Africa. Analysis draws upon a broad range of quantitative and qualitative data and in doing so seeks to reveal the complexities of how this access and use underpins a wide range of social and economic processes critical to processes of social development. By way of example, the issue of informal urbanisation and housing tenure is addressed, as is the critical role that telecommunications play in facilitating and maintaining important social networks, both across Cape Town and beyond. Further, this article gives consideration to how telecommunications support and enhance livelihood opportunities, and the fact that they are embedded in existing modes of social communication and manifestations of social, cultural and symbolic capital.

Transformative democracy in the age of second modernity: cosmopolitanization, communicative agency and the reflexive subject

Hier, S. P. — 2008-02-13

While international scholarly momentum continues to build around Ulrich Beck's ideas on risk, politics and reflexivity, his commentary on transformative democracy is only beginning to attract scholarly interest. To better understand the theoretical and conceptual dynamics of transformative democracy in the age of second modernity, I use Mark Poster's work on digital media and the culture of under-determination to focus analytical attention on the socio-technical domains from which the democratic-cosmopolitan imperative should be expected to garner strength. I argue that Beck's largely structuralist cosmopolitanization thesis can be strengthened by a supplemental understanding of the material-communicative dimensions inherent to processes of individualization, reflexive modernization and sub-political mobilization. Introducing certain correctives to Beck's `cosmopolitan manifesto', I explore the complexities of second modern communicative agency and the constitution of the reflexive, socio-technical subject. My primary purpose is to develop theoretical and conceptual insights into the socio-technical aspects of transformative democracy in second modernity.

ICTs, domestication and language-games: a Wittgensteinian approach to media uses

Helle-Valle, J., Slettemeas, D. — 2008-02-13

This article acknowledges the vital role that the Domestication Research-perspective has in media research, but criticizes it for being analytically ambiguous in its use of the central term `domestication'. By way of a contrastive set of data from an ongoing research project, we argue for a dislocation of `domestication' from the domestic and the private. Instead, we wish to retain the meaning and use of the term to acts of domesticating, i.e. processes of `taming the wild'. By connecting our arguments to Wittgenstein's concept of the `language-game', we emphasize the practical aspect of language and meaning, and how ICTs become meaningful only as parts of practical-communicative contexts. We argue that this steering towards `domestication' as contextualization highlights the universal and fundamental process of enculturation. Such a turn frees the perspective from historical and cultural specificities and thereby accentuates its analytical potential in a post-national, globalized world.

Stealth soapboxes: political information efficacy, cynicism and uses of celebrity weblogs among readers

Sweetser, K. D., Lee Kaid, L. — 2008-02-13

This study tests the effects of personalized and `stealth' political discourse on weblogs (or blogs) and the repercussions on levels of political trust, information efficacy and political uses/gratifications. By surveying readers of three different blogs (N=1838), this study identified significant effects as a result of exposure to political statements on blogs. Indeed, there were differences in the levels of political cynicism depending on how political statements were communicated. Readers of non-political blogs were more confident in their level of political information and their ability to participate in politics. Finally, political uses/approaches and avoidances were examined, as were differences based on gender and age.

Muslim surfers on the internet: using the theory of planned behaviour to examine the factors influencing engagement in online religious activities

Ho, S. S., Lee, W., Shahiraa Sahul Hameed, — 2008-02-13

This study seeks to describe the types of religious activities Muslim surfers in Singapore engage in on the internet, and uses the theory of planned behaviour as a theoretical framework to examine how internet perception, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, internet self-efficacy, religiosity and other key demographic variables affect the use of the internet for religious purposes among Muslim surfers in Singapore. A total of 578 Muslim internet users aged 18 and above participated in a computer-assisted telephone interviewing survey in May 2004. We found that Muslim surfers tend to engage in online activities that were more related to personal religious concerns than those activities that were related to traditional institutional religion. Findings also indicate that perceived social pressure from the Muslim community, internet self-efficacy, and religiosity were positively related to engagement in online religious activities, while age was negatively related to engagement.

Muted voices in the legislative process: the role of scholarship in US Congressional efforts to protect children from internet pornography

Blevins, J. L., Anton, F. — 2008-02-13

This analysis brings a range of theoretical perspectives on the politics of the communications policy-making process to bear on US Congressional efforts to protect children from internet pornography. The examination of the Congressional information gathering hearings during the formulation of the Communications Decency Act, Child Online Protection Act and Children's internet Protection Act shows an excess reliance on anecdotal evidence and a lack of social scientific research in informing Congressional inquiries. The authors here argue that such incidental involvement of academic scholarship could be explained through the lenses of `symbolic politics' and `class power', which have important implications for communication scholars who wish to be more closely involved in the communication policy-making process during future debates.

Forums for citizen journalists? Adoption of user generated content initiatives by online news media

Thurman, N. — 2008-02-13

The mainstream online news media face accusations of being slow to respond to so-called `grassroots' or `citizen journalism', which uses the world wide web, and in particular blogs and wikis, to publish and promote independent news-related content. This article argues that the adaptation of established news websites to the increasing demand from readers for space to express their views is driven as much by local organizational and technical conditions as it is by any attachment to traditional editorial practices. The article uses qualitative research interviews with the editors and managing editors of nine major British news websites to reveal the debates journalists are having about their changing roles, the challenges of meeting commercial expectations and legal obligations, and the innovations taking place in online newsrooms. It provides journalism and interactive media scholars with case studies on the changes taking place in journalism's relationship with its consumers.

Review Article: Girlfriend in a comma: romancing on the internet

Champagne, E. — 2008-02-13

Book Review: Michael D. Ayers (ed.), Cybersounds: Essays on Virtual Music Culture. New York: Peter Lang Press, 2006. 282 pp. ISBN: 082047861, $32.95 pbk

Baoill, A. O. — 2008-02-13

Book Review: Charlotte Hess and Elinor Ostrom (eds), Understanding Knowledge as a Commons: From Theory to Practice, Cambridge MA: MIT Press, 2007. 367 pp. ISBN 0262083574, $36.00 (hbk)

Whitworth, A. — 2008-02-13