The responsibility of knowledge. Critique and Social Relevance in Research on Communication and Culture

This special issue stems from the debate that has been developed within the Cost Action ISO906 Transforming Audiences Transforming Societies (TATS) around the policy implications of scientific knowledge produced in the field of audience research. One of the main objectives of the research activities of the TATS Cost Action is to produce rigorous empirical knowledge on the more challenging topics of current mediascapes, as media participation, determining trustworthiness, vulnerable or gullible audience segments, which is also beneficial to all these stakeholders. This purpose has been achieved through the development of a multi-faceted debate ‒ comprising both theoretical conceptualizations and dialogical exchanges with stakeholders ‒ on the kind and value of the contributions that academia as a critical and semi-autonomous field can make to external societal arenas, like civil society, institutions and areas of production.