CIDoRa · Community, identity and diversity in German youth radio
Horizon Europe — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2023-07-01 → 2025-06-30
- EU contribution
- €215,534
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Community, identity and diversity in German youth radio
Professional media function as information providers and public watchdog in society, and how they present diversity has implications for social cohesion and for how young people perceive identity and encounter difference. Youth radio stations, which have become multimedia outlets that are increasingly interactive and collaborative in the digital age, are an important point of orientation for many young people living in ethnically and linguistically diverse spaces. Even though German broadcasters have statutory and moral obligations to promote social cohesion and to contribute to building a non-discriminatory society in Germany, the media’s representations of ethnic diversity are under frequent criticism. Little is known, however, about what a meaningful engagement with diversity means for journalists and how they try to create social cohesion through their work behind the scenes of media content production. Through linguistic ethnography (including observation of journalistic work processes and conducting interviews with journalists) at one of the largest youth radio stations in Germany, CIDoRa provides new insights into the translingual and transmodal (linguistic and other semiotic) practices of media content production to explore how journalists construct and negotiate a collective urban youth identity with their diverse audience and thereby try to create a sense of community. In this context, CIDoRa sheds light on possible issues that can lead to an unbalanced and negative portrayal of ethnic and linguistic diversity on youth radio to a) advance knowledge across academic disciplines on the collaborative translingual and transmodal practices that underlie representations of ethnic diversity on youth radio and b) foster a more meaningful engagement of journalists with diversity. By developing approaches for diversity-oriented communication, CIDoRa responds to timely social concerns around difference and voice in a mobile world fraught with deepening division.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
In times of increased mobility, urbanisation and sociocultural tensions, the way professional media as information providers and public watchdog present diversity has implications for social cohesion and for how young people perceive identity and society. Against this background, youth radio stations, which have become increasingly interactive and collaborative in the digital age, are an important point of orientation for many young people living in ethnically and linguistically diverse spaces, often struggling to fit in, and looking for reliable information and guidance. Despite German broadcasters' statutory and moral obligations to promote social cohesion and to contribute to building a non-discriminatory society in Germany, the media's representations of ethnic diversity have frequently been criticised. Little is known, however, about what a meaningful engagement with diversity means for journalists and how they try to create social cohesion through their work. Through linguistic ethnography at a German youth radio station and a critical discourse analysis of media messages, CIDoRa will provide new insights into the linguistic and semiotic practices of radio content production to explore how journalists construct and negotiate a collective urban youth identity with their diverse audience and thereby try to create a sense of community. In this context, my project will shed light on possible issues that can lead to an unbalanced and negative portrayal of ethnic and linguistic diversity on youth radio to foster a more meaningful engagement of journalists with diversity. By developing approaches for diversity-oriented communication, CIDoRa responds to timely social concerns around difference and voice in a mobile world fraught with deepening division. The results of my project will be disseminated through academic publications and outreach activities for journalists organised in collaboration with media stakeholders.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- UNIVERSITY OF LIMERICK · LimerickCoordinatorIreland
Links
- View on CORDIS
- DOI: 10.3030/101109963
- https://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/documents/downloadPublic?documentIds=080166e51d640073&appId=PPGMS
Data: CORDIS, © European Union