The rise of a new media ecosystem: exploring 15M’s educommunicative legacy for radical democracy

ABSTRACT

This article explores the influence that the educommunicative dimension of the 15M Movement has had on the creation and consolidation of a new ecosystem of independent media. To this end, we rely on a document analysis of the movement’s minutes and manifestos and on the review of the editorial principles and educational activities of a sample of independent media. We also draw on ten in-depth interviews with key journalists and activists who actively participated in the 15M. We argue that the movement’s media activism had a clear educommunicative orientation that strengthened pre-existing media activism, opening windows of opportunity for media innovation. This contributed to the rise of a new media ecosystem of independent media characterised by three key elements: (1) synergies and mutual support; (2) the key role of the community of subscribers and users; and (3) an educational agency with a public service orientation. Finally, we illustrate that this new media ecosystem displays a clear educommunicative orientation. This orientation is rooted in the imaginary and practices of the 15M and is based on the revitalised civic role of journalism and on the value of information for radical democracy. This article advances social movement studies by engaging a dialogue between an educommunicative perspective and a media ecology lens. It articulates the relevance of media as educational agents and explores the impact of a social movement in the creation and shaping of a new media ecosystem.

KEYWORDS:

• 15M
• social movements
• educommunication
• independent media
• media ecologies
• radical democracy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. The first manifesto was published firstly in a Facebook group’s page, but it may be read from here: https://bit.ly/3GJMadK

2. Such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Bank, among others.

3. The first manifesto from the tent-city of Puerta del Sol: https://bit.ly/3ma6tcF

4. Claimings of the platform Democracia Real ¡Ya!: https://bit.ly/31Vu7Tr

5. List of the most frequent proposals made by several 15M collectives: https://bit.ly/3yyo1nB

6. The seventeen media outlets came together following the news that the government was studying measures to support the media in the midst of the pandemic crisis. The independent media thus published a manifesto for fear of not being included in these government measures. See: Ctxt (02/04/2020): https://bit.ly/3m9PPKl

7. The Independent media platform includes the following media: La Marea, El Salto, Ctxt, Carne Cruda, Público, Alternativas Económicas, Pikara, Mongolia, Crític, Nueva Tribuna, Praza, Nortes, Cataluyna Plural, Cuarto Poder and Luzes.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ángel Barbas

Ángel Barbas Lecturer at the Dpto. de Teoría de la Educación y Pedagogía Social of the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED) of Madrid, Spain. His research interests include educational dimension of social movements, activist media practices and media as socio-educational agents. He has been awarded research fellowships in the UNED, The University of Texas at Austin and the RMIT University. He’s a co-founder of the Red de Investigación en Comunicación Comunitaria, Alternativa y Participativa (RICCAP).

Emiliano Treré

Emiliano Treré is Reader in Data Agency and Media Ecologies in the School of Journalism, Media and Culture (JOMEC) at Cardiff University, UK. His research interests include digital activism, algorithmic agency, and disconnection studies. He’s co-director of the Data Justice Lab and co-founder of the ‘Big Data from the South’ Initiative. His monograph Hybrid Media Activism (Routledge, 2019) won the Outstanding Book Award of the Activism, Communication and Social Justice Interest Group of the International Communication Association.