On January 20, 2006, the Ford Foundation brought together more than 40 interdisciplinary scholars, experts, and research-oriented non-profit leaders at a convening on “Media and Communications at a Crossroads: The Role of Scholarship for Media Reform and Justice.” The purpose of the convening was to share findings and lessons learned from various research-oriented projects supported by the Foundation since 1999 as part of the Foundation's exploration in a new area of grantmaking: media policy and technology. In addition to identifying research needs and gaps, convening participants discussed the opportunities and obstacles of working in this robust and dynamic field from a variety of perspectives. Participants also examined how research could help address the enormous challenges of media reform, justice, and communications and information policy serving the public interest in a globalized, 21st century context.

The Ford Foundation sought to engage both junior and senior scholars from a diverse set of educational institutions and disciplines ranging from large private and public universities to small liberal arts and community colleges, as well as researchers working in advocacy organizations. The projects funded since 1999 ranged from those that were purely exploratory in nature to those that solidly impacted pressing public policy issues. The researchers hailed from a wide variety of disciplines and differing theoretical frameworks and methodologies - including quantitative, qualitative and social action research – to arrive at their conclusions. In this way, the Foundation pursued a strategy that allowed it to map a broad range of research topics while gaining the maximum insight into the current state of the field of media and communications research and its potential impact on public policy in the U.S.

This report synthesizes the key policy issues, research findings, and challenges that resulted from exploratory grant making in areas such as media content, infrastructure, and policy, and proposes recommendations for future grant making in these areas. In particular, the convening addressed the following questions:

• How can research help address the enormous challenges of media reform, justice, and communications and information policy in a globalized, 21st century context?

• What are the research needs, gaps and obstacles of working in the robust and dynamic field of media policy?

• Where are the opportunities and challenges in the media policy field?