This article examines the notion of the right to communicate, which is a central element of public interest media activism and advocacy in a variety of international contexts.  As this study illustrates, when Jean d'Arcy identified the need for a right to communicate in the late 1960s, it immediately struck a chord among those attempting to link human rights with recent developments in communications technology, in particular, satellite communications.  However, by the early 1980s, efforts within UNESCO to formulate a right to communicate collapsed. This article illustrates how various individuals and organizations have attempted to keep the concept alive since then, along with the challenges associated with doing so.