Media Activism and the Academy, Three Cases: Media Democracy Day, Open Media, and NewsWatch Canada

Abstract

In Canada, there is a relatively strong tradition of activist scholarship in media and communication studies. However, very little research has been undertaken on how working in the university may contextualize the ways in which academic workers participate in activist media projects. Focusing on three such projects – Media Democracy Day, Open Media, and NewsWatch Canada – this article draws upon elements of political economy and Bourdieu’s field theory to consider how the different characters of the academic and activist fields work to enable and constrain the abilities of faculty to engage with them.