Roles, commitments and implications of the actors involved in public mediation communication through mass media and social networks

Abstract

Public mediation communication represents the outcome of initiatives undertaken by institutions and/or individual actors aimed at fostering social engagement and collective deliberation on issues such as conflicts, incidents, or public concerns, with the objective of managing and resolving them. This communicative practice involves the construction of messages related to the subject under mediation and their dissemination to various target audiences via specific communication platforms. The information exchange occurs within an open communicative environment, characterized by multiple interferences and shaped by both the pre-existing relational framework and its subsequent developments, as well as by the nature of the platform employed for dissemination. At present, the majority of public mediation campaigns are conducted either through audiovisual mass media platforms or social media networks, each offering distinct conditions and opportunities for constructing relational dynamics among actors and for establishing open communicative spaces.