THE INTERNET AS A NEW CIVIC FORM THE HYBRIDISATION OF POPULAR AND CIVIC WEB USES IN FRANCE JOSIANE JOUËT 72 - Abstract The article argues that, beyond the boundaries of activ- Josiane Jouët is Professor in ists and concerned citizens, the massive appropriation of the Institut Français de Presse the Internet techniques of self-publication and the social (IFP) and researcher in the modes of interactions on the web, lead to the extension of Centre for Interdisciplinary the public sphere to the rank-and-fi le. It takes the position Research and Analysis of that civic culture is not homogeneous and that it is shaped the Media (CARISM) at the by diff erent social practices that we examine through three University of Paris II; e-mail: sets of digital public spheres. First, the rise of “free speech” [email protected]. in professional journalistic practices on media websites expands to readers’ voices (in forums, online surveys, read- ers’ comments), while citizens’ engagement in amateur grassroots journalism challenges both the professional 59 1, pp. (2009), No. Vol.16 practices and the ethics of journalism. Second, the lively political blogosphere demonstrates how personal opinions on public matters fi nd their legitimacy in the interactive di- alogue in and across networks and lead to the emergence of rank-and-fi le opinion leaders, while also presenting vari- ous pitfalls, such as the redundancy of a limited number of viewpoints. Third, the social and leisurely Internet usage of ordinary citizens leads them to confront political and public issues in a casual and random manner, which in turn leads them to discuss these matters occasionally in online or face-to-face settings. This trend is reinforced by the in- novative creation of user-generated content, mixing text, sound, and video formats that are widely circulated on the web. The rise of new forms of political and social critique on the Internet and the sharing of common experiences in the electronic space results in novel mean of public engagement and contributes to the shaping of a new civic and social form. 59 As soon as the Internet reached the mainstream and became an integral part of the everyday lives of millions of people in developed countries, some essay- ists suggested that it had the potential to increase the participation of citizens in public aff airs and political ma ers, and that it could even help alleviate the crisis of representative democracy where ordinary people are disconnected from public aff airs. This dream has not come true, since the uses of ICTs do not merely stem from the availability of communication devices, but are also the product of many complex social, political, cultural, and economic factors (Jouët 2000). If the Internet has not become the ideal electronic agora that some expected it to be, it nevertheless contributes more and more to the revival of the democratic debate in our societies. Political web communities based on online peer cooperation have proliferated and are well covered by research. Moreover, the horizontal communication process on the Internet has allowed the inclusion, beyond the boundaries of activist practices, of all willing lay citizens, in a participatory e-debate of public issues. Furthermore, the civic practices of ordinary web users in seeking information and occasionally shar- ing comments, including on the social networking sites, demonstrate the extension of the electronic public sphere to the majority. Even though the democratisation of the public sphere on the Internet remains a limited phenomenon due to the digital divide and to the fact that many users disregard such practices, this phenomenon is important enough to have shaped a new civic culture based on digital expression and the spread of interactive peer-to-peer networks. This new form of social and political critique refl ects a broadening of the pub- lic debate that is no longer restricted to the elite. This article delves into the role that the Internet plays in all social strata. It takes the position that civic culture is embedded in the daily life practices of citizens and that it covers a broad range of activities, from information seeking to discussion and engagement in public ma ers. This defi nition of civic culture is not based on a set of political and social a itudes, as suggested in Almond and Verba’s seminal work (1963, 1989), but rather on a pragmatic approach where civic culture is shaped by social and communica- tion practices. Today, a new civic culture is being moulded by the appropriation of modern electronic interactive devices and by the practices of networking and self-publishing. My argument is that a hybridisation occurs between the popular communication uses of the Internet and its civic uses. Civic culture covers diff erent levels of engagement, from activism to occasional interest in public aff airs. The digi- tal civic culture is a dynamic phenomenon that refl ects the multitude and diversity of social and political interactions on the web, although it is also innovative since it combines numerous textual, audio, and video resources. Internet practices reshape the expression of civic culture in a new techno-cultural format that infi ltrates the public and political spheres. This paper focuses on three sets of Internet practices that embody the transfor- mation of civic culture: the reliance on the Internet for “free speech” journalism, the political blogosphere, and the digital engagement of ordinary citizens in public issues. The analysis is illustrated by empirical studies from France that are repre- sentative of similar trends occurring in many democratic countries. The Revival of “Opinion Journalism” The development of the Internet has challenged the role of media in the public space and brought a revolution in media organisations. Professional journalism is 60 undergoing a major change as the Internet leads to new modes of production and diff usion of news. Electronic mainstream media (newspapers, magazines, radio, and television) no longer consist of the mere diff usion of paper or broadcast news 61 on the web as in the Internet’s early days. Electronic news formats, including those for print media, have all been enriched with sound and video content, while media websites promote audience participation in forums, online surveys, comments, and blogs. Concurrently, amateur journalism is developing and challenging the professional practices and the ethics of journalism. This world-wide phenomenon has a tremendous impact on professional practices. Multimedia journalism is highly demanding but, at the same time, the Internet has also brought a wind of liberalism and has expanded the forums for the expression of journalists. In France, this evolution is particularly meaningful because electronic media might foster the revival of what was called “opinion journalism” as “free speech,” which was a tradition of the French press up to the Second World War (Albert 2008). Newspapers were then affi liated to strong political trends and journalists could o en express their own opinions. In the last decades, professional norms have been enforced, notably emphasising the strict exposure of facts and the respect of a balanced viewpoint of contradictory opinions. French journalism has become more conventional and, if news media can still be identi- fi ed by their orientation along the le to right wing political spectrum, they rarely take overt political stands except in the editors’ columns, and journalists are told to comment on news in an “objective” manner and not to express their opinions. More recently, the growth of audiovisual media has led to a dramatisation of the news and to the emphasis on the emotional dimension of events, thereby leaving even less room for journalists to comment on events and expose viewpoints. Under these circumstances, the potential of the Internet off ers an opportunity for re-open- ing the channel to the expression of journalists, although electronic journalism based on a dialogic pa ern with the readers nonetheless diff ers from the “opinion journalism” of the past. On the web, journalists benefi t from more space for news and they can publish the full text of interviews, provide more in-depth background to events and com- ment on the news. Several French professional journalists run blogs on their media site and the concept of authorship remains strong in the journalistic blogosphere, as some well-known editorialists’ blogs have become a reference quoted in diff er- ent media. For less-known journalists, blogs are not subjected as much to control by the newsroom hierarchy than articles in conventional media. It is not rare that information that is supposed to be off the record is then published in reporters’ blogs, which make political sources more and more reticent to deliver tips. Not only can journalists deliver more political-oriented comments, but they can also write in a more subjective manner. In this way, electronic formats of news are less formal; for instance, journalists may evoke the atmosphere of the events they cover and mention their modes of gathering news. Some journalists even adopt a more subjective and literary form and, in these cases, electronic journalism may then appear as another version of the new journalism of the sixties. The web off ers space to alleviate some constraints of media production and it makes journalists develop new professional practices as they are more and more encouraged to enter into a relationship with their audience: they are urged to answer questions from their readers and to participate in the e-debates around current events on their media’s website. [A] link should be made with public journalism defended in the 80’s and 90’s. We can observe the same principles: the media in order to win back public confi dence, must consult audiences to decide which subjects are important … to move from public journalism to citizen journalism a line had to be crossed: the boundary between professional and amateur was blurred by the direct participation of audiences in production of content.