We Are Civic Media

This book of essays is transforming how I think about my qualitative research work, which I considered a means to an end before, but now I'm reconsidering as both the means and the neverending if that makes sense. Designing and making research, sharing it publicly through storytelling, iterating upon it inclusively with communities is the change work. It's also one way of describing Civic Media.

These ideas are still firming up in my mind. Or maybe they're always supposed to remain loose to some degree, shifting and evolving as people change. In schools, or any public or social institution, we're not used to this. The scientific method lends itself to a kind of rigidity, the value of which I'm not discounting, but it has a cultural impact within these institutions in which data is considered as the bedrock of all decision-making. But things change. They have been forever. Yet American schools have virtually remained the same for the past 100 some odd years based on non-communal research studies done by theorists and antiquated psychologists who were all white men.

I'm using schools as an example because it's where I do most of my data-gathering. But I've wanted to change that for a while. I want my work world to grow behind public education. I want it to include other social goods, such as food, art, and media. I want to design research projects in my community using the principles of narrative change methodologies, research by making, participatory research, and liberatory design to tell stories, create civic media and artifacts, and help institutions, organizations, and even cities make better design decisions, whether designing programs, or a building, or a street, or a business park. It could be anything.

This book has re/contextualized my work up until now and made me feel a part of the media space – something I've longed for, but felt removed from – because it's made me realize that with just a few additional steps, work I'm already doing could be a full-fledged Civic Media project. This book feels like the perfect creative home for me, replete with examples of how my skills and interests in writing and audio storytelling, qualitative data-gathering and research, people and inclusion, web design and publishing, photography, interviewing, and project design and management converge. And there is a lot more I can add to this list.

Many of these are emerging or "good enough" skills I have that would be shameful (IMO) if they had to stand alone. (Maybe I'm being too hard on myself.) But together, they shine. And I'm always looking for convergence because that's where novel exciting work lies – at the points of intersection between who you were and who you want to become, what you know and what you want to learn, and simply the progression of skills, times, and ideas. I think these gaps are called liminal spaces. I also like to think of them as "intertidal zones" where there is submersion and recession, invisible change, and the eventual revelation of new streams and pathways. It may make no sense what I'm saying, but this is what is happening to me.

This book categorizes essays into four sections:

• Movement and Community
• Journeys and Reflections
• Design and Care
• Claiming and Reclaiming

I'm taking extensive notes on each essay, and I want to extract some of these highlights and marginalia here because this book is perhaps the most prescient read and relevant to my work-future in a way other books I've read recently simply are not. All books change the way I think and leave an impression, sure. But I'm reading this book as a guide and textbook and truly want to remember, and apply the ideas stored within it, so I need to put in this extra labor.

(December 29th) So far I've read the extensive Editor's Introduction and seven essays in the Movement and Community section. Here are my notes:

Editor's Introduction

Civic media creators "push back on accepted definitions and approaches to media and change." (p. 3)

The "intermingling of storytelling with community, social mobilization, and imagination is what we call civic media." (p. 3)

"Although the techno-utopianism of the past envisioned that media technologies would level the playing field, the concentration of attention, power, wealth, and assets has created dystopian dynamics... Severely limited competition and regulation mean that these companies – and all their inbuilt technological and oeprational biases – face little pressure to better serve all people, especially those from diverse and marginalized communities." (p. 3)

"From mainstream media that ignores, misunderstands, and mischaracterizes the experiences of so many communities to social platforms whose quest for attention and revenue rewards performance and polarization rather than usefulness and connection, our media and technology infrastructures are serving people and society poorly." (p. 3)

"Our current moment is formidable but also has a few hopeful and disruptive elements. In a world of incredibly powerful technologies and ever more urgent social issues, finding a voice and listening to each other might seem impossible. And yet, against all odds, this period has been significantly defined by emergent and sustained grassroots movements, independent media, and labor organizing, driven by creative individuals and groups working to spread the stories, visions, strategies, and dreams that are often overlooked in the dominant narratives... At a time when things seem especially grim – both in spite and because of it – our desire to connect, create, and act is playing a pivotal role in shaping societal narratives, influencing policymaking, and empowering communities." (p. 3)

"Every act of genuine creation is an act of resistance that takes us one step closer to rewriting the narratives about ourselves, our lives, and our present." (p. 3)

"Civic media practice has a vision for the future, recognizes the present, and pays active attention to the past (and ancestors in particular). Its power is the journey and the convening of minds, bodies, and tools – creating stories – with an intention to drive progress." (p. 3)

"Civic media isn't a thing, but a who, how, and why. It is embodied by the organizers, the content creators, the artists, the storytellers, and the people in our homes and communities who craft and make media... a growing network of multifaceted, multidisciplinary, and generally uncategorizable thinkers and practitioners who are leading and redefining how we think and approach civic media as they center people and communities and their stories that connect and mobilize around issues of shared concern and urge us to focus on participation and relationships." (p. 3)

"Features such as interconnection, authenticity, trust, and the reciprocity motive offer a refreshing contrast to media driven by unfettered capitalism and political self-interest and their shared potential to subvert community and democracy... paying attention to those who make and engage with civic media is not just important; it is imperative to advancing equity, justice, and ultimately democracy." (p. 3)

Civic media "engages artists, creators, storytellers, organizers, and others working at the intersections of media, technology, culture, and social change." (p. 5)

"Ever attentive to balancing commitments and exploration, we engage in conversations and activities that might not seem directly related to our work, with the understanding that these experiences will yield valuable insights and benefits in the long run." (p. 5)

"Civic media is creating media with the intention of causing people to take action somewhere in their lives to make themselves or the communities that they exist in better than how they found them." – Amber J. Phillips (p. 6)

"The rise of social media invited us to imagine the democratizing potential of using civic media for civic engagement. Many were captivated by the promise of what could be, with scholars of civic media describing the ways digital tools could bring together communities, foster dialogue, and even facilitate social change... The very tools that we hoped might help level the playing field were in fact being used to perpetuate the racial, socioeconomic, and other biases that sustain structural inequity." (p. 6-7)

"These insights, and many others, collectively bring into focus an understanding of civic media in which individuals and communities share experiences, nurture connections, and tap personal experiences and narratives to drive social change." (p. 9)

"There is a shared sense that there is no urgent need to define rigid boundaries around the field, and indeed that a strength of the field is its fluidity and creativity. Still, an emphasis on engaging a community or a public, combined with imagining how that community or public can change conditions for the better, seems to underscore almost all the fellows' work." (p. 11)

What do we mean by "Civic"? – Civic media creators take a participatory approach to the "civic" or urgent social justice issues they face and the limiting, often oppressive, institutional, corporate, and organizational structures they navigate. They demonstrate new approaches to the creative process, socializing their work and engaging others in exploration and refinement of their ideas in powerful ways. These practices prioritize trust and connection. In the words of community organizer, media producer, archivist, curator, and educator Martha Diaz, "Civic media is about how we activate the community."