In the last few months, I’ve been working with a great team of scholars putting together a study commissioned by the FCC. The project provides a critical review of existing research on the information needs of communities in the US. Major points include defining individual and community critical needs, examining the extent to which they are served by local media ecologies, and identifying barriers to participation. Our team is led by four principal investigators: Lewis A. Friedland, Philip Napoli, Carola Weil, and Ernest J. Wilson III. A large academic network (including Sandra Ball-Rokeach at USC) contributed to the endeavor.
Below you can see the video of our presentation and public discussion at the Federal Communications Commission. We did manage to wrap it up just before fire alarms went off in the building.
My notes from the public discussion and the helpful feedback from a panel of respondents
including Yong Jin Park, Jonathan Ladd, and James T. Hamilton are available here.
You can download the presentation PDF or the executive summary of the study.
Read the announcement from the FCC or the remarks made by Commissioner Clyburn.
Take a look at the story posted by the USC Annenberg News.