Abstract
The book Communications Policy: Theories and Issues aims to ‘introduce key debates and developments currently taking place in Europe and the USA’ (p. 3). It is a compilation of writings by well-known scholars in the field of communication and media studies with an interest and focus on policy. The book is organized in two parts, as per title, ‘theories’ and ‘issues’. Overall, the book succeeds in giving a welcome and helpful glimpse into the field of communication and media policy today. It will be a useful companion to classes on policy and media systems.
The book opens with an introduction which, although it aims to give the setting of the book, ends up standing slightly dislocated and confusing in relation to the rest of the book. The editors begin by providing a few short and hurried definitions of policy and proceed to disclaim that policy is hard to define. ‘Communications’, a term conventionally used to refer to the technologies of media and communication, is also left without much qualification vis-a-vis the term ‘communication’ policy. It is understandable not to wish to repeat the literature on what is policy, but if this book is an introduction to theories and issues of communication(s) policy, then it is necessary to see it here. Furthermore, as the book unfolds across many fields in later chapters, it is crucial that a unifying understanding of the meaning and complexity of policy and communication(s) policy is thoroughly treated. There is a discussion about the role of the state in this introduction and this is the point where coherence and a focal point start to emerge, so as a choice, it is a sound one.
It is the first chapter of the book that actually provides a framework for understanding policy in the pages to follow. The first part ‘theories’, includes a discussion by Sandra Braman on the question of what can be considered communication and media policy and how the public is mediated through it. It is an overview chapter which brings into the discussion a rather procedural consideration as to where and how policy can be studied. Braman’s concern is the ways in which the ‘public’ may be mediated through policy and the ways in which it can affect change in laws. The following chapters treat the question of communication(s) policy theory from the perspective of information policy and public access (Alistair Duff); the possibility of using media audience research to address policy dilemmas (Raboy, Abramson, Proulx and Welters); and the role of policies of public service communication for the development of civil society (Harrison). The chapters in this section are clearly concerned with the status of citizens and public in the policy field, the position they occupy and how they are informed by policy. For the ‘seasoned’ policy scholar these positions and the work of the authors are known, but they work well in a volume which can be used to offer broader understandings of policy in class. Not so much an offer of theory, with the exception perhaps of Duff’s chapter, the chapters in this section offer theoretical impulses or how to think about theory.
It is generally still a shortcoming of policy studies, and communication is no exception, that theory occupies a peculiar position, whereby we cannot talk about policy theories, but can talk about theoretical frameworks that address the often normative dimensions of communication policy (the public interest, for example, or the role of the state). Instead, the field borrows heavily from other disciplines, such as institutionalism or theories of policy-making process. This first section, although the separate chapters are of interest, would benefit from more coherence and qualification of the reasons why these chapters are put here, rather than in the second part of the book, where they would fit equally well.
The second section of ‘issues’ includes a selection of areas, whose typological choice is again unclear. This does not mean that the works are problematic, by any means. Indeed, we find interestingly written updated accounts on old and exiting themes, such as private media (McChesney), the relation of national and supranational institutions in Europe (Harcourt), public broadcasters (Papathanassopoulos and Negrine), the role of the state in regulating telecommunications (Bauer), Internet policies (Caristi) and comparative approaches to the information society (Gil-Egui, Tian and Stewart). The section functions a little as a reader in policy areas, reviewing well-researched and debated areas with the aim of providing an updated overview of specific questions. This section also attempts to function as a space for impetus for new ideas and research providing us with further issues and prompting questions that require further enquiry.
There are some crucial areas missing here, since the theory part of the book introduced the information policy dimension, as one distinct perhaps from communication and media policy (chapters by Braman and Duff): these are the areas of intellectual property, questions of privacy, threats to freedom of expression, the question of governance of information distributed through non-media – such as the Internet of ‘things’, e.g. tracking technology – that gain increasingly a more dominant space in the debate around rights and communication technology.
As we know, edited volumes are indeed tricky in maintaining coherence and a centre of gravity that can be easily identifiable across different styles of writing and different approaches. This noteworthy effort does not lag behind in bringing together strands of coherent investigation to the questions of policy in communication and media and will be of good use as a reference for students of policy and media studies.