Societal Challenges and Media Ecosystem: Reshaping Media into Societal Media

After the emergence of so-called “social media”, media ecosystem has drastically changed. Not only traditional media such as television but also major social media platforms are attracting huge popular attention. And, we are also witnessing a brand-new version of media politics. However, in this era of societal challenges caused by political-economic turmoil and various kinds of disasters, we have to focus on the potential of media ecosystem which includes full-range of public communication media from local to international scale. Because we have to utilize the technology and innovation of media to advocate public issues and liaise between actors who are trying to cope with them. In this presentation, I will show the result of newly conducted survey research on media support to NPOs in Japan and discuss how the diversity of media can be helpful to people’s efforts to make things better. For example, in a prefecture which was hit by destructive earthquakes and tsunami in 2011, local, community-based newspapers and radio stations have quite frequently reported activities of respondent NPOs in their communities. And a half of respondent NPOs have shown their willingness to use newly developed online platforms such as crowdfunding and volunteer recruitment websites which support pro bono projects and groups. This result suggests that it is important to recognize the societal role of those media and widen our perception of media beyond “mass” and “social” media. In this presentation, I will underline the importance of reshaping media — not only in our perception but also in our usage of media technology — into societal media which support a multitude of people who tackle societal challenges in our societies.