ABSTRACT

In conjunction with the extensive growth of new media technologies, stadium debates and competing claims on civic resources are being increasingly played out in cyberspace. Using case material from Dunedin, New Zealand, we critically examine the deployment of popular video sharing websites like YouTube that allow dominant interest groups to articulate their ‘unfiltered’ ideological positions. We suggest that stadium proponents (in the private and public sectors) are utilizing new media technologies (e.g., websites, blogs, etc.) as part of highly orchestrated public-relations campaigns that are designed to create the impression of popular support and optimistic momentum for development. In bypassing traditional media and skirting oppositional viewpoints, we argue that these types of promotional strategies have profound implications for local democratic politics.