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Book SynopsisIn The Politics of the Internet: Political Claims-making in Cyberspace and Its Effect on Modern Political Activism, R.J. Maratea examines the Internet's effect on political claims-making and protest action to show how online technology is helping to shape popular opinion about political issues. The Internet hosts a vast collection of interconnected public cyber-arenas where political claims are continuously disseminated to audiences and social reality is in a perpetual state of negotiation. Unlike more static forms of print and television communication, cyber-arenas can be expanded to carry a nearly infinite amount of claims in a variety of multimedia formats, which can be rapidly disseminated to global audiences for relatively little cost. The corresponding rise of citizen journalism and emergent forms of cyber-activism seemingly reflect how the Internet is revolutionizing the ways claimants attract audiences, acquire resources, and mobilize support, as well as the ways that mainstrea
Trade ReviewR. J. Maratea’s book answers many significant questions about the nature, impact, and future of political claims-making in our mediated era of digital communication. This is the next step in understanding contested—and constructed—cyberspace from the vantage of citizen journalism to WikiLeaks to hybrid social movements (e.g., the Tea Party), and illuminates how political institutional players, such as the National Rifle Association, fire up their constituents. -- David L. Altheide, Arizona State University
How does the Internet affect the ways social problems emerge and evolve? Cyber-optimists insist we're living in a completely new world, where all claims have a chance to be heard. But The Politics of the Internet takes a hard look at the evidence and finds that old media and established advocates remain key actors in determining which issues command public attention. -- Joel Best, The University of Delaware
This thoughtful, accessible and engaging book examines the complex intersections of media technology, politics, power, and social action. Maratea’s innovative conceptualization of the Internet as a cyber-arena provides important insights into how new media technologies may be changing the landscape of political activism by fundamentally restructuring how we create, receive, and act upon political communications in the digital age. -- Brian Monahan, Marywood University, author of The Shock of the News
Table of ContentsList of Figures and Tables……………………………………………….……000 Preface………………………………………………………………………...000 Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………...000 Part OneTheoretical Background 1.The Internet as a Vehicle for Social Change………………………………….000 2.Constructing Reality in Cyberspace…………………………………………..000 Part TwoEmergent Political Claims-Making 3.Power to the People? Citizen Journalism in Cyberspace…………..………….000 4.Subverting Old Government with New Media: Understanding the WikiLeaks Effect………………………………………………………………000 Part Three Institutionalized Political Claims-Making 5.Connecting the Web to the Street: Hybrid Social Movements and Online Advocacy Networks……………………………………………………………000 6.From Back Rooms to Cyber-Lobbies: How the National Rifle Association Uses the Internet to Mobilize Support…………………………………………000 7.All the News That’s Fit to Post: Big Media and the Shift to Online Coverage……………………………………………………………………….000 8.Conclusion: Old Wine in New Bottles?..............................................................000 Methodology Appendix………………………………………………………..000 References……………………………………………………………………...000 Index……………………………………………………………………………000
