Ben Scott's Presentation on Media Reform Policy in Washington, D.C. (4/8/04)

As part of the ICR's ongoing project on Communications, Culture, and Policy, funded by the Ford Foundation, our April 8 presentation was entitled, "Putting the Public Back in Public Policy." The distinguished speaker was Ben Scott, Ph.D. Student in the Institute of Communications Research at UIUC.

ABSTRACT: Far too many Americans know far too little about how the federal government actually works. Perhaps now more than anytime in history, policy decisions in Washington are not about truth, they are about power. Right now power is wielded not by the public in whose name the government operates, but by the lobbies of industry and ideology that control the flow of money into the nation's political economy. This is known to Americans, but rarely is it explicitly experienced. In 2003, the political system witnessed a highly significant anomaly on the question of a highly unlikely issue--the regulation of ownership in the media system. Not only did the question of media ownership make headlines side-by-side with war and peace in the Middle East, but well over 2 million Americans took the time and energy to contact regulators and legislators to make their voices heard. This unprecedented outpouring of public interest and participation in the policymaking apparatus shook conventional assumptions in Washington about the degree to which people are willing to study and agitate upon complex issues of public law with far-reaching social consequences, such as media policy. Thanks to an odd combination of political allies, skilled organizers, and low-cost internet communications, a new paradigm of public involvement in government has emerged. The circumstances of its initial successes and failures point towards new directions and future linkages between local organizing, public activism, and federal policymaking.

BACKGROUND READINGS: (1) McChesney, Robert W. (2004). The Problem of the Media. Chapter 7, "The Uprising of 2003." New York: Monthly Review Press.
(2) www.freepress.net/lpfm/essay.php
(3) www.mediaaccess.org/AJRNewsBlackoutFINAL.pdf

Ben Scott is a doctoral student in the Institute of Communications Research at the University of Illinois. His research focuses on the history of American journalism, political economy of the media system, and media policy making. Since June of 2003, he has been a Legislative Fellow in the U. S. House of Representatives working for Congressman Bernie Sanders (I-VT). He is the chief legislative counsel for the Congressman in charge of media policy and telecommunications. His recent work in Congress has been primarily invested in the ongoing controversy over the regulation of media ownership.