The relationship between media and communications technologies and social, political, and economic inclusion has been a fundamental focus of our work. Full participation in the polity increasingly depends on access to media and communications services--especially the Internet. It also depends on the related capacity to be heard and represented in public life, whether through control of programming or ability to hold the media accountable. 'Old' media--television, telephony, and radio--remain deeply relevant in both contexts. Collaborative grants have focused on both aspects of inclusion, and increasingly on the larger context of inequality that bring them together. A number of distinct traditions in media activism meet on this terrain: digital inclusion, media reform, media justice, universal service, community media, and others. 

Access to the Internet and Other Communications Infrastructures

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• A Development-based Critique of Telecentre Deployment in India

  An analysis of the Telecentre model and policy framework for expanding access to the internet rural Indian communities

  Primary Investigator: Rahul De', Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, India Partnering Organization: IT for Change




• Alternative Media and Democratic Praxis: A Study of the Media Mobilizing Project in Philadelphia

  A study of the MMP's model of activism and community engagement in its campaign to hold Philadelphia and its municipal wireless provider (Earthlink) accountable for promises to citizens

  Primary Investigators: Peter Funke and Todd Wolfson, University of Pennsylvania; (Researcher Dan Berger, University of Pennsylvania)
  Partnering Organization: Media Mobilizing Project




• Building a Democratic Regulatory Framework for Community Radios in Thailand

  An effort to collaboratively develop a regulatory model and code of practices that will help strengthen community broadcasting in Thailand

  Primary Investigator: Pirongrong Ramasoota, Chulalongkorn University
  Partnering Organizations: Thai Media Policy Advocacy Center (Thai-MPAC); Campaign for Popular Media Reform (CPMR); Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA); the Center for Global Communication Studies (CGCS) at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania




• Building Community Communication Infrastructure: A Case Study of the Tribal Digital Village

  Documenting and analyzing basic telecommunications service gaps and community wireless solutions in Native American communities in rural Southern California 

  Primary Investigator: Christian Sandvig, University of Illinois
  Partnering Organization: Southern California Tribal Chairmen’s Association 




• The Case for "Open Access" in Africa: Mauritius Case Study

  An analysis of the emerging competitive landscape in telecom services in Mauritius following the end of the SAFE undersea cable monopoly on Internet connectivity

  Primary Investigators: Abiodun Jagun, University of Strathclyde; Russell Southwood, APC
  Partnering Organization: Association for Progressive Communications (APC)




• From the Digital Divide to Digital Excellence: Global Best Practices for Community Wireless Networks

  An comparative analysis and search for best practices in international community wireless projects

  Primary Investigators: Sascha Meinrath, New America Foundation; Laura Forlano, Columbia University
  Partnering Organization: New America Foundation




• Measuring Noncommercial Radio’s Impact in Rural Communities

  Developing new audience measurement instruments that can better serve rural radio communities

  Primary Investigator: Graciela Orozco, San Francisco State University
  Partnering Organizations: National Federation of Community Broadcasters; WMMT-FM Community Radio, Whitesburg, KY




• Migrant Voices: Communication for Social Change with Garment Workers and Day Laborers in Los Angeles

Participatory research on the technical, organizational, and policy requirements for a hybrid radio/net/telephony project by and for immigrant workers

Primary Investigator: Sasha Costanza-Chock, University of Southern California
Partnering Organizations: Instituto de Educacion Popular del Sur de California (IDEPSCA); Garment Worker Center




• Mobile Voices: Participatory Action Research for Mobile Community Among Immigrants in Los Angeles

  Researching and designing a platform for low-wage immigrants to publish stories about their lives and communities, directly from their mobile phones

  Primary Investigators: François Bar and Sasha Costanza-Chock, University of Southern California; Raul Añorve, IDEPSCA
  Partnering Organization: Instituto de Educacion Popular del Sur de California (IDEPSCA)

• The Public FM Project: Supporting Non-Profit FM Radio Licensing

  A crash effort in mapping frequencies and preparing non-profit groups for the 2007 non-commercial radio station licensing window

  Primary Investigators: Todd Urick, Common Frequency; Andy Jones, University of California - Davis
  Partnering Organization: Common Frequency

• Rural Telecommunications Access -- Montana Media Partnership

  An investigation of the factors shaping the availability of telephone service, cellular and wireless service, and high-speed Internet service in rural/remote communities, and how access affects civic participation

  Primary Investigator: Richard Wolff, Montana State University 
  Partnering Organization: Montana Common Cause

• What's Meant By Digital Inclusion? An Interrogation of Municipal Broadband Policy in San Francisco

  A study of San Francisco's efforts to develop a "digital inclusion" strategy for its municipal wi-fi build out

  Primary Investigator: Seeta Peña Gangadharan, Stanford University
  Partnering Organization: Media Alliance 

Media Diversity and Social Justice

• Assessing Change: A Study of Latino Media Advocacy Efforts

  An assessment of the successes and failures of Latino advocacy in transforming mainstream media practices, from the 1960s to the present

  Primary Investigator: Frances Negrón-Muntaner, Columbia University
  Partnering Organization: National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP)




• Assessing the Diversity of Latino-Oriented News Media in Local Settings 

  An assessment of source diversity, content diversity and exposure diversity in the Latino-oriented broadcast media, focusing on Central Texas

  Primary Investigator: Federico Subervi, Texas State University
  Partnering Organizations: National Hispanic Media Coaltion; Latinos and Media Project (LAMP)




• Citizen Journalism: The Case for Including Homeless People

  An exploration of the information needs and information production of the homeless in Atlanta, GA

  Primary Investigator: Matthew Cardinale, Georgia State University
  Partnering Organizations: Metro Atlanta Task Force for the Homeless




• Digital Inclusion: Working Both Sides of the Equation

  Bridging the gap between youth media groups and media policy reform campaigns

  Primary Investigator: Dorothy Kidd, University of San Francisco
  Partnering Organization: Media Alliance




• Local Issues, Local Voices: A Media Education and Monitoring Project

  A project to develop a template for community media monitoring, with a test case in Philadelphia

  Primary Investigator: Jan Fernback, Temple University
  Partnering Organization: Media Tank




• Localism, the Ethnic Minority News Audience, and Community Participation

  Survey and interview research on media consumption among minority populations in Washington, DC

  Primary Investigators: Carolyn Byerly and Jamila A. Cupid, Howard University; Kehbuma Langmia, Bowie State University




• Monitoring Local News Coverage's Ability to Meet the Public's Informational Needs

  A community media monitoring and analysis project focused on English and Spanish language news programming in Sacramento before the February 2008 California presidential primary.

  Primary Investigator: Kimberly Nalder, California State University - Sacramento
  Partnering Organizations: Sacramento Media Group; California Common Cause




• New Media and Empowerment of Communities of Color in the U.S. Urban Heartland

  Documenting the digital divide in the city of Louisville, especially in underserved minority communities
  Primary Investigators: Catherine Fosl and Jennifer Gregg, University of Louisville
  Partnering Organization: Kentucky Jobs with Justice




• Radio as a Mobilization Tool in Latino Communities

  Latinos in California utilized Radio Bilingue, a local Spanish-language radio station, to inform, encourage, and organize political action on the issue of immigrants' rights as part of the national May 1st mobilization protests

  Primary Investigator: Graciela Orozco, San Francisco State University
  Partnering Organization: Radio Bilingüe




• Understanding Barriers to Entry for Minority and Female Broadcasters

  A survey-based study on the experiences and perspectives of minority and female broadcasters, focusing on public policies that affect their entry into the market

  Primary Investigators: Catherine Sandoval and Allen S. Hammond, IV, Santa Clara University School of Law
  Partnering Organization: Minority Media and Telecommunications Council (MMTC)




• Youth Channel All-City: Building a Municipal Infrastructure for Media Education, Production, and Distribution

  Designing a content and production model for the next generation of youth-produced community access television

  Primary Investigators: Amy Bach, University of Pennsylvania; Rachel Kulick, Brandeis University
  Partnering Organization: Manhattan Neighborhood Network Youth Channel