Full Description
A synergy between academia and activism has long been a goal of both scholars and advocacy organizations in communications research. The essays in Communications Research in Action demonstrate, for the first time in one volume, how an effective partnership between the two can contribute to a more democratic public sphere by helping to break down the digital divide to allow greater access to critical technologies, democratizing the corporate ownership of the media industry, and offering myriad opportunities for varied articulation of individuals' ideas.
Essays spanning topics such as the effect of ownership concentration on children's television programming, the media's impact on community building, and the global consequences of communications research will not only be valuable to scholars, activists, and media policy makers but will also be instrumental in serving as a template for further exploration in collaboration.
Contents
Foreword Becky Lentz ix Acknowledgments xv Introduction Minna Aslama and Philip M. Napoli 1 PART I: explorations of movement actors: strategies, impacts, and needs 1. Digital Inclusion: Working Both Sides of the Equation Dorothy Kidd with Eloise Lee 11 2. Engaging in Scholar-Activist Communications in Canada Leslie Regan Shade 28 3. Toward a Taxonomy for Public Interest Communications Infrastructure Dharma Dailey and Alison Powell 45 PART II: media ownership: bridging research and regulation 4. Big Media, Little Kids: The Impact of Ownership Concentration on the Availability of Television Programming for Children Katharine E. Heintz and Christina Romano Glaubke 71 5. Minority Commercial Radio Ownership: Assessing FCC Licensing and Consolidation Policies Catherine J.K. Sandoval 88 6. Cross-Ownership, Markets, and Content on Local TV News Danilo Yanich 114 PART III: alternative and community media: discovering needs and opportunities 7. Measuring Community Radio's Impact: Lessons on Collaboration Graciela Leo'n Orozco 139 8. Youth Channel All-City: Mapping the Media Needs and Interests of Urban Youth Isabel Castellanos, Amy Bach, and Rachel Kulick 157 9. Mobile Voices: Projecting the Voices of Immigrant Workers by Appropriating Mobile Phones for Popular Communication The VozMob Project 177 10. Community Connect: A Network of Civic Spaces for Public Communication in North Dakota Lana F. Rakow and Diana Iulia Nastasia 197 PART IV: communications infrastructure: rethinking rights 11. Telecommunications Convergence and Consumer Rights in Brazil Estela Waksberg Guerrini, Diogo Moyses, and Daniela Batalha Trettel 221 12. Citizen Political Enfranchisement and Information Access: Telecommunications Services in Rural and Remote Areas Richard S. Wolff 240 13. Open Access in Africa: The Case of Mauritius Russell Southwood, Abiodun Jagun, and Willie Currie 257 14. Public FM Project: Supporting the Licensing of New Noncommercial FM Radio Stations for Student and Community Usage Todd Urick 271 PART V: assessment: creating support for scholar-activist collaboration 15. Cultures of Collaboration in Media Research Joe Karaganis 287 16. Engendering Scholar-Activist Collaborations: An Evaluator's Perspective Catherine Borgman-Arboleda 313 Conclusion: Bridging Gaps, Crossing Boundaries Minna Aslama and Philip M. Napoli 333 List of Contributors 337 Index 347
