TMI: heavy lit review

Onto a book co-edited by Lance Bennett, who I also asked to be my faculty advisor this summer. He is, among many other things, the director of the Center for Communication and Civic Engagement at the University of Washington.

4) Bennett, Lance, and Entman, Robert, editors. "Mediated Politics: Communication in the Future of Democracy." 2001.
How do you interest people in political information? In William Gamson's chapter "Promoting Political Engagement," the three components of the collective action frame are:

• injustice
• identity
• agency

Taking action is not the same thing as learning about issues, but the motivation to do something (whether it is writing a letter to your representative or going to a website) could be similar. In the case of this website idea, I don't see how injustice or agency (believing it's possible to change policies) would fit in. Identity might have a role, though, because the website could allow you to explore your own positions/ideas and develop a fuller political identity. "Oh, I believe this because of these reasons [that I couldn't articulate before coming here]." Are there other, stronger reasons why someone would want to visit the site? Infotainment? Research resource for journalists and students? Partnerships with other, more established organizations such as think tanks (and serving as a convenience portal to more in-depth information or deliberative dialogues)? Settling bar bets? Others?