The article draws firstly on theories that question the exclusionary nature of mass communicationin terms of the emancipatory potential of ‘new media’; of the democratization of communication;or even in terms of advancing alternative forms of communication. By probing specifically intovarious small-scale, decentralised media projects, issues concerning the social as well as thecultural context of their implementation; their creation, production and dissemination; theemployment of new technologies; and, instances of the very mediation process itself, across boththe production and reception process, are addressed. From the perspective of a non-essentialistaccount of such media projects, the paper draws finally on approaches that evaluate theseprojects on the grounds of their ‘lived experience’, in terms of their social actors, agents;acknowledging thus an overall framework of understanding the practice of such projects, asinstances of the constitution of citizenship.