Weaving the World Wide Web. Creation, Co-option and Collusion in News Making in the New Media Environment: Media and Change Series

The multiplication of new media platforms and increasingly dynamic media consumption on the part of end-users has important implications for the mechanisms through which political actors seek to influence public opinion and public awareness about particular political projects.  As this talk will argue, one important, but often overlooked outcome of these trends has been the emergence of a new industry of organizations that offer digital political advocacy goods and services designed to shape new media conversations online. This talk will explore this nascent industry of information warrior$, paying particular attention to their tactics and business models.

Amelia Arsenault is an Assistant Professor of Communication at Georgia State University.  She is a visiting scholar at Central European University jointly appointed by the Institute for Advanced Studies and the Center for Media, Data, and Society. While in Budapest, she is working on a book project that explores the nascent industry of digital “information warriors,” who provide contract services to political actors seeking to influence the online media agenda. Her scholarly work has appeared in the International Journal of Communication, International Sociology, The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, and Information, Communication, and Society. She is the co-managing editor of the Media Industries Journal. Her co-edited book “The Connective Mindshift” (with Rhonda Zaharna and Ali Fischer) on the subject of networked public diplomacy was released in May 2013. She holds a B.A. in Film and History from Dartmouth College and an MSc in Global Media and Communication from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a PhD from the University of Southern California, Annenberg School.  Prior to her academic career, she spent several years as the film coordinator for the Zimbabwe International Film Festival Trust, a non-profit visual literacy organization in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Twitter: @Amelia263