数字媒体与疫情省思:基于传播政治经济学的考察

Reflection on Digital Media and Pandemic:A General Review from the Perspective of Political Economy of Communication

全球肆虐的新冠疫情持续透露出各国基于阶层、种族、社会性别、技术、市场经济、国家等维度所体现的牢固坚韧的不平等鸿沟,信息技术和网络平台因疫情而深度参与了形塑社会政治、经济、文化结构。本文聚焦平台资本扩张与数字媒体的当代发展,主要综述西方传播政治经济学者在新冠疫情这一“例外事件”下围绕网络平台和资本主义所展开的批判性探讨,围绕全球环境传播危机、数据监控与隐私保护、虚假信息与阴谋论、在线工作与网络生产等四方面批判传播研究议题,检视西方传播政治经济学者自疫情暴发以来的研究成果,以此反思资本主导的发展模式所塑造的平台资本主义和数字媒体传播系统对社会各个层面的影响,并追问批判传播研究如何回应当前资本主导的平台媒体对社会整体价值观带来的挑战。

The global pandemic of COVID-19 has revealed the significant unequal gap between countries in terms of class,race,gender,technology,market economy and states.The information technology and digital platforms have been deeply involved in shaping the social,political,economic and cultural structures of human beings.Focusing on the expansion of platform capital and the development of digital media,the article reviews a series of critical discussions of scholars of political economy of communication in the west around digital platforms and western capitalism in the situation of COVID-19.With an emphasis on subjects of global environment crisis related to communication,surveillance and privacy protection,disinformation and conspiracy theories,and online production and living,the article examines the research results of western scholars in political economy of communication since the outbreak of the pandemic,reflects on the impact of the platform capitalism and digital media communication system shaped by the capital-driven development model on all levels of society,and asks how critical communication studies should respond to the challenges brought by the current capital-driven platform media to the overall values of society.