Community and connection in regional Australia and Canada: regional media as a catalyst for social captial development
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(Published version)
Date
2011
Authors
Bowd, K.
Chia, J.
Richards, I.
Editors
Henderson, D.
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Conference paper
Citation
Proceedings of the 2011 Australian and New Zealand communication association conference - communication on the edge, 2011 / Henderson, D. (ed./s), pp.1-14
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Australian and New Zealand Communication Association Conference (ANZCA) (6 Jul 2011 - 8 Jul 2011 : Hamilton, New Zealand)
Abstract
Community is a term that is widely used but which presents definitional challenges. Its use in contexts from academic discourse through politics to everyday usage suggests a wide variety of interpretations and understandings, to the extent that some scholars have argued it should be abandoned. Nonetheless, the fact that it is so widely used suggests it is a term with resonance for many people, and that, as Kenny (1999) suggests, it should be used with caution rather than abandoned. As part of a wider study of communication and social capital in regional Australia and Canada, participants including journalists and community leaders were asked about their understandings of community, and about relationships between community and local media in their area. The responses suggest that local media help to build and maintain community, and through this to support the benefits often associated with social capital. Community, location and the kinds of human relationships indicative of social capital are closely linked, and are reinforced by local media through their focus on local news and information and on the concerns and interests of residents. And social media are extending this connection by providing an additional means through which people are able to communicate and participate and organisations exchange and share viewpoints and ideas with stakeholders and broader communities.
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Copyright 2011 the authors; the conference proceedings are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Australian License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/au/