Media reform plays an increasingly important role in the struggle for social justice. As battles are fought over the future of investigative journalism, media ownership, spectrum management, speech rights, broadband access, network neutrality, the surveillance apparatus, and digital literacy, what effective strategies can be used in the pursuit of effective media reform?
Prepared by thirty-three scholars and activists from more than twenty-five countries, Strategies for Media Reform focuses on theorizing media democratization and evaluating specific projects for media reform. This edited collection of articles offers readers the opportunity to reflect on the prospects for and challenges facing campaigns for media reform and gathers significant examples of theory, advocacy, and activism from multinational perspectives.
"Part One: Introduction Preface Robert W. McChesney 1. Media Reform: An Overview Des Freedman and Jonathan A. Obar 2. Media Policy Literacy: A Foundation for Media Reform Becky Lentz Part Two: Internet Activism For Media Reform 3. Activating the Fifth Estate: Bill C-30 and the Digitally-Mediated Public Watchdog Jonathan A. Obar and Leslie Regan Shade 4. WikiLeaks and 'Indirect' Media Reform Christian Christensen 5. Mobilizing for Net Rights: The Charter of Human Rights and Principles for the Internet M. I. Franklin INTERNET ACTIVISM: Commentary From Media Reform Organizations 6. ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION: The Largest Internet Protest in History Isn't the Important Part: Lessons from the SOPA Fight Rainey Reitman 7. FREE PRESS: Internet Freedom from the Outside-in: Upending Big-Money Politics to Win Better Media Policy Craig Aaron and Timothy Karr 8. NEW AMERICA FOUNDATION: A Victory for Digital Justice (Your Tax Dollars at Work) Joshua Breitbart 9. OPENMEDIA.CA: Working Toward an Open Connected Future David Christopher Part Three: The Power of the Media Reform Movement 10. A Perfect Storm for Media Reform: Activist Strategies and Socio-political Circumstances behind Telecommunication Reforms in Mexico Alejandro Abraham-Hamanoiel 11. Between Philosophy and Action: The Story of the Media Reform Coalition Benedetta Brevini and Justin Schlosberg 12. Media Reform Movements in Taiwan Hsin-yi Sandy Tsai and Shih-Hung Lo 13. Organizing for Media Reform in Canada: The Cases of Media Democracy Day, OpenMedia.ca, and Reimagine CBC Kathleen Cross and David Skinner THE POWER OF THE MEDIA REFORM MOVEMENT: Commentary from Media Reform Organizations 14. PROMETHEUS RADIO PROJECT: Winning A Big Fight For Little Radio Stations: The Battle Over Low Power FM in the US Hannah Sassaman and Pete Tridish 15. PROMETHEUS RADIO PROJECT: 90 per cent Community, 10 per cent Radio: Media Reform, Radio Justice, and the Proliferation of Low Power FM Sanjay Jolly 16. MEDIA FOUNDATION FOR WEST AFRICA: A Case Study of Media Reform Initiatives in West Africa Kwame Karikari Part Four: Media Reform as Democratic Reform 17. Waves of Struggle: The History and Future of American Media Reform Victor Pickard 18. Policy Hacking: Citizen-Based Policymaking and Media Reform Arne Hintz 19. Reforming or Conforming? The Contribution of Communication Studies to Media Policy in Switzerland Manuel Puppis and Matthias Kunzler 20. ""... please grant success to the journey on which I have come': successful and unsuccessful media reform strategies in Israel Noam Tirosh and Amit Schejter 21. Legislating for a More Participatory Media System: Reform Strategies in South America Cheryl Martens Oliver Reina and Ernesto Vivares 22. Public Service Broadcasting in Egypt: Strategies for Media Reform Rasha Abdulla 23. Impunity, Inclusion and Implementation: Media Reform Challenges in Thailand, Burnma/Myanmar and the Philippines Lisa Brooten MEDIA REFORM AS DEMOCRATIC REFORM: Commentary from Media Reform Organizations 24. DOHA CENTRE FOR MEDIA FREEDOM: Media reform through capacity building: Media and Information Literacy and Journalist Training Peter Townson 25. CULTURAL SURVIVAL (GUATEMALA): Organization and Mission Mark Camp 26. OPEN SOCIETY FOUNDATIONS: Media Reform in Mexico: Civil Society Making Law Marius Dragomir"
Jonathan A. Obar (Author) Jonathan Obar is Assistant Professor of Communication at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Canada. Cheryl Martens (Author) Cheryl Martens is Senior Lecturer in the Media School at Bournemouth University, UK and, Research Lecturer at la Universidad de las Américas, Quito. Robert W. McChesney (Author) Robert W. McChesney is Professor of Communication at the University of Illinois Center for Global Studies.
Reviews for Strategies for Media Reform: International Perspectives
Uniquely informed activist-researcher evaluations of very current media and Internet reform initiatives, especially of the U.S. scenario, but spanning Canada, Mexico, Burma, Thailand, the Philippines, Taiwan, Egypt, Israel, West African states, Argentina, Venezuela and Switzerland. A treasure trove for media change, including notable think-pieces, and lessons learned from both failures and achievements. -- -John D.H. Downing * editor of Encyclopedia of Social Movement Media *
