Media Consumption and Public Engagement: Beyond the Presumption of Attention (Consumption and Public Life)

Cover......Page 1
Contents......Page 8
List of Tables......Page 11
List of Figures......Page 12
Preface......Page 14
Part I Theoretical Foundations......Page 16
Introduction......Page 18
The idea of ‘public connection’......Page 20
Public connection: the conceptual and empirical background......Page 23
Accounts of the crisis of democracy......Page 27
The current UK and international context......Page 31
Conclusion......Page 35
Why media consumption?......Page 38
The plurality of media......Page 39
‘The media’ – legitimate object of blame?......Page 41
Mediating a shared frame of attention......Page 43
From the collective to the public......Page 45
The traditional centrality of the news......Page 47
Engaging with media in late modernity......Page 49
New and emerging sites of mediated public connection......Page 52
Conclusion......Page 55
Overall design......Page 57
Research precedents......Page 58
Diary methodology......Page 60
Issues of interpretation......Page 65
The Public Connection Survey......Page 70
Comparing the diary and survey data......Page 71
Conclusion......Page 72
Part II The Public Connection Project......Page 74
Diary phase......Page 76
Survey phase......Page 78
Introduction......Page 80
Modelling individual diarists’ public connection......Page 81
The dynamics of mediated public connection......Page 91
Underlying orientations......Page 96
Public/private......Page 98
An alternative definition of the ‘public’ world?......Page 99
Conclusion......Page 102
The nature of our evidence......Page 103
Patterns of media use......Page 112
Quality of media use......Page 113
Media use and wider routine......Page 118
Critical media use and media literacy......Page 120
Conclusion......Page 124
Values......Page 126
The duty to keep up with the news......Page 128
Talk......Page 129
Action......Page 136
Conclusion......Page 142
Henry......Page 145
Josh......Page 147
Andrea......Page 148
Kylie......Page 150
Beccy......Page 151
Samantha......Page 153
Bill......Page 155
Sheila......Page 157
Shared concerns......Page 159
Conclusion......Page 160
Introduction......Page 162
Declining public participation......Page 163
Linking media consumption to public participation......Page 168
Mediating participation......Page 172
Relating political participation and public connection......Page 175
Contextualising participation......Page 181
Conclusion......Page 185
Part III Conclusion......Page 192
9 Conclusion: The Future of Public Connection......Page 194
Review of our findings......Page 195
The Public Connection Survey......Page 200
Where do we go from here?......Page 203
Conclusion......Page 209
IA: The Public Connection Diarists......Page 211
IB: Regional Profiles......Page 214
IC: Interview and Focus Group Schedules......Page 218
ID: Technical Note on Timeline Construction......Page 227
IIA: Survey questions......Page 230
IIB: Demographic Breakdown of Survey Population......Page 234
References......Page 236
D......Page 254
E......Page 255
L......Page 257
M......Page 258
O......Page 259
P......Page 260
S......Page 261
Y......Page 262