"Our interest in this book is to examine the contribution of citizens’ movements to a uniquely intense period of policy reforms in public communication in Latin America during the 2000–2015 period. We examine a range of experiences of citizen participation to reshape media systems and change med...ia policy-making processes in the region. The analysis dips in and out of cases of media activism at both national and regional levels. Because we are interested in understanding the overall characteristics of media activism and policy reforms as well as similarities and differences in the region, we cast a wide analytical net by looking at various experiences. We are less interested in producing a granular analysis of particular experiences by country or type of media reform than in finding connecting threads among media movements in terms of goals, strategies, and impact. Whereas our analysis primarily draws from the cases of Argentina, Ecuador, Mexico, and Uruguay, we also make references to experiences in other countries. We chose these countries because, although they present similar levels of citizen activism on various media policies, the outcomes have been notoriously different." (Introduction, p.2)
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"The book offers a critical map to navigate the field of media governance. A thread of cosmopolitan critique connects the fourteen chapters to enhance media governance literature beyond the West and regional foci. The first part addresses the epistemological and ontological flaws in the use and adap...tation of media governance. The second part opens pathways for critique and provides a thorough understanding of the ambivalences that scholars encounter when addressing media governance as a field of study. The third part highlights shortcomings like geographical narrowness and tensions in the use of media governance concepts. The scholarly contributions show that media governance as a field of study is far from being established: its conceptualizations are in flux and need scholarly self-reflection, and ongoing discussions need to leave behind universalist conceptualizations and methods of analysis. The chapters reflect on hegemony, power, sovereignty, and identity as conceptual center points in media governance research. The book uniquely breaks with self-referential Western academia and is part of ongoing collaborative scholarly efforts towards epistemic transformation through dialogue." (Publisher)
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"Este número especialmente dedicado a la radio, a sus públicos, las experiencias locales, comunitarias, tiene la característica de visibilizar la pasión de varias generaciones. La RAC también, moviliza para mostrar un objeto vivo en el campo de investigación de la comunicación en sus múltipl...es dimensiones. Por último, un conjunto de reseñas dan cuenta de que la radio sigue siendo un medio histórico pero a su vez vigente y alternativo que supo sobrellevar con entereza las transformaciones de leguajes, tecnologías y modos de consumo." (Presentación, p.8)
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