Special Section: Media Industries and Engagement: Introduction

The aim of this special section is to critically analyse the complex issues at work
in understanding the theories, processes and practices of engagement as it
relates to media industries. There is a need to open up the notion of engagement
as a concept that captures subjective and shifting relations with media. In such
a way, this section focuses on media engagement within the industry as multifaceted,
working across political and public spheres, policy and industry sectors,
audiences and popular culture. Articles debate the meaning of engagement as
an object of measurement in policy research, and audience information systems,
where ratings data and social media analytics attempt to measure and secure
engagement for audiences and consumers of cross media content. Alongside a
notion of engagement as quantitative data, there is also a sense of engagement
as a subjective and slippery term and articles in this special section also debate
the meaning of engagement as signifying personal and collective relations with
policy and social issues, or cultural artefacts and events. Thus, policy and industry
discourses of engagement as a measurement of interest intersect with, and at
times counteract, wider debates about engagement within social media, political
activism and popular culture