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3 books match the query 'Broadcasting policy'

cover of Broadcasting, Voice, and Accountability: A Public Interest Approach to Policy, Law, and Regulation

Broadcasting, Voice, and Accountability

A Public Interest Approach to Policy, Law, and Regulation

Steve Buckley, Kreszentia Duer, Toby Mendel, and Seán Ó Siochrú

University of Michigan Press, 2008

Participatory development and government accountability depend in part on the existence of media that provide broad access to information from varied sources and that equip and encourage people to raise and debate issues and develop public opinion. Conducive policies, laws, and regulations are essential for media to develop that are independent and widely accessible and that enable the expression of diverse perspectives and sources of information. Broadcasting, Voice, and Accountability presents a framework to inform analysis of existing policies and support the development of a vigorous media sector, with a particular emphasis on broadcasting. It focuses on broadcasting because that is the medium with the greatest potential to reach and involve society at large, including the most disadvantaged and illiterate segments of society in developing countries. Information on good practices in broadcasting policy is in demand in countries of every region—particularly in countries that are opening their economies, democratizing, and decentralizing public service delivery.
This book provides development practitioners with a wide overview of the key policy and regulatory issues involved in supporting freedom of information and expression and enabling development of a pluralistic, independent, and robust broadcasting sector. Policy, regulation, capacity, and institutional development are important development levers that shape the ownership, content, and social impacts of broadcasting systems. The guide shows the importance of enabling a mix of ownership and uses, commonly classified in terms of commercial, public service, and community broadcasting, that serves the public interest. With the guidance of this book, broadcasting policy and regulation can be tackled as a mainstream development topic, with important consequences for government transparency, government accountability, and enabling disadvantaged constituencies to voice their concerns and press for action.
This book is the World Bank's first publication presenting good practices from around the world in media and broadcasting policy and regulation and complements existing work in governance, public sector reform, and access to information. It is a useful tool for policymakers, reform managers, development practitioners, and students alike.
"Most books on the state of broadcasting in the third world tend either to lament the lack of governance, accountability and competence, or to speak down to their readers. This book is part of a new generation that acknowledges ability and a willingness to move forward into the twenty-first century with integrity and imagination. It is not patronizing, and it is certainly not boring. It focuses on really useful approaches to setting up, sustaining, and governing broadcasting systems across the world. This is an excellent book whose combination of sound scholarship and intelligent advice will be welcomed by policymakers and broadcasters alike. It is relevant, interesting, and a jolly good read."
---Ruth Teer-Tomaselli, UNESCO Chair in Communication for Southern Africa, Culture, Communication and Media Studies, University of KwaZulu-Natal

digitalculturebooks is an imprint of the University of Michigan Press and the Scholarly Publishing Office of the University of Michigan Library dedicated to publishing innovative and accessible work exploring new media and their impact on society, culture, and scholarly communication. Visit the website at www.digitalculture.org.

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cover of Muting Israeli Democracy: How Media and Cultural Policy Undermine Free Expression

Muting Israeli Democracy

How Media and Cultural Policy Undermine Free Expression

Amit M. Schejter

University of Illinois Press, 2009

The result of years of critical analysis of Israeli media law, this book argues that the laws governing Israeli electronic media are structured to limit the boundaries of public discourse. Amit M. Schejter posits the theory of a "mute democracy," one in which the media are designed to provide a platform for some voices to be heard over others. While Israel's institutions may be democratic, and while the effect of these policies may be limited, this book contends that free speech in Israel is institutionally muted to ensure the continued domination of the Jewish majority and its preferred interpretation of what Israel means as a Jewish-democratic state. Analyzing a wide range of legal documents recorded in Israel from 1961 to 2007, Muting Israeli Democracy demonstrates in scrupulous detail how law and policy are used to promote the hegemonic national culture through the constraints and obligations set on electronic media.
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cover of Selling the Air: A Critique of the Policy of Commercial Broadcasting in the United States

Selling the Air

A Critique of the Policy of Commercial Broadcasting in the United States

Thomas Streeter

University of Chicago Press, 1996

In this interdisciplinary study of the laws and policies associated with commercial radio and television, Thomas Streeter reverses the usual take on broadcasting and markets by showing that government regulation creates rather than intervenes in the market. Analyzing the processes by which commercial media are organized, Streeter asks how it is possible to take the practice of broadcasting—the reproduction of disembodied sounds and pictures for dissemination to vast unseen audiences—and constitute it as something that can be bought, owned, and sold.

With an impressive command of broadcast history, as well as critical and cultural studies of the media, Streeter shows that liberal marketplace principles—ideas of individuality, property, public interest, and markets—have come into contradiction with themselves. Commercial broadcasting is dependent on government privileges, and Streeter provides a searching critique of the political choices of corporate liberalism that shape our landscape of cultural property and electronic intangibles.
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