Diverse roles of alternative media in Hong Kong civil society: from public discourse initiation to social activism

This is an interdisciplinary article, integrating Political Science and Media Studies to examine the roles of alternative media (AM) in civil society. AM plays diverse, overlapping and interacting roles in civil society, namely (1) providing alternative information and to serve as (2) an alternative public sphere, (3) a platform for social activists and civil society organizations, (4) an initiator of public discourse and (5) an agent of civil society activism. This article explores the different roles such media plays by conducting a case study of In-media, an online AM in Hong Kong, through an evaluation of its functions in civil society and in the political arena.