Description: Canada is at a critical juncture in the evolution of its communications policy. Will our information and communications technologies continue in a market-oriented, neoliberal direction, or will they preserve and strengthen broader democratic values? Media Divides offers a comprehensive, up-to-date audit of communications law and policy. Using the concept of communications rights as a framework for analysis, leading scholars not only reveal the nation's democratic deficits in five key domains - media, access, the Internet, privacy, and copyright - they also formulate recommendations, including the establishment of a Canadian right to communicate, for the future.
Review Quotes: "Media Divides" will serve not only as a resource for researchers and policy analysts, but will also be very useful for those teaching courses in communication law and policy. This volume serves as a core contribution by providing an overview of the idea of communication rights in Canada and tying together areas that are treated separately or in a narrower scope in other work
- Stephen D. McDowell, co-author of Managing the Infosphere: Governance, Technology, and Cultural Practice in Motion
"Media Divides" makes a singular contribution to a topic of considerable urgency and importance. It is a comprehensive "democratic audit" of Canadian communications policy, at a critical moment in its evolution, one that could determine whether our information and communication technology environment proceeds full speed in a market-oriented neoliberal direction, or instead, preserves and strengthens broader democratic values.
- Robert A. Hackett, co-author of Remaking Media: The Struggle to Democratize Public Communication