Panel: Where does U.S. media policy go from here? [video/audio]
How can media policy support local journalism in the USA?
Over the last four months, I have moderated a series of webinars — hosted by the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia Journalism School — exploring: “What role media policy can (and should) play in supporting a strong, sustainable, vibrant local media sector in the United States?”
We have heard from academic and industry experts as we dived into the current media policy landscape, lessons that we can learn from overseas markets, how grassroots and community media can have a seat at the table and be effectively supported, as well as fresh ideas for funding and structuring local news.
The final webinar asked where media policy goes from here, particularly in light of a seemingly stalled legislative agenda on the Hill, the upcoming midterms and upcoming elections happening at a state level across the country.
Our expert panelists for this event were:
- Joy Jenkins, Assistant Professor at School of Journalism and Electronic Media at the University of Tennessee;
- Elizabeth Hansen, Senior Research Fellow at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism;
- Phil Napoli, James R. Shepley Distinguished Professor of Public Policy at Duke University.
Below you can see a video of the webinar, as well as an audio-only version of our conversation. There’s a transcript too if you’d prefer to read what we said!
Panelists
Joy Jenkins, Assistant Professor at School of Journalism and Electronic Media at the University of Tennessee
Dr. Jenkins’ studies have focused on the influence of market concerns on journalists’ public service roles, how perceptions of audience and local impact shape journalistic identity, the potential of journalistic narratives to spur civic engagement, and the ways news organizations use digital platforms to facilitate dialogue with audiences.
Before coming to the University of Tennessee, Dr. Jenkins served as a post-doctoral research fellow in digital news at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford. At the Reuters Institute, she studied how local and regional news organizations around Europe are adapting to changes facing the news industry.
Elizabeth Hansen, Senior Research Fellow at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism
Dr. Hansen Shapiro’s work focuses on the future of journalism in public media and public policies to support local news. She is a steering committee member of the working group on the sustainability of journalism at the Forum on Information and Democracy and is the CEO and a co-founder of the National Trust for Local News, which is seeking to transform how local news organizations are funded, organized, owned and operated.
Previously, Dr. Hansen Shapiro led the news sustainability research at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and was the Research Director for the Membership Puzzle Project’s Membership Guide.
Phil Napoli, James R. Shepley Distinguished Professor of Public Policy at Duke University; Director, DeWitt Wallace Center for Media & Democracy; Sanford School of Public Policy, and Senior Associate Dean for Faculty and Research, Sanford School of Public Policy
Dr. Napoli’s research focuses on media institutions and media regulation and policy. He has provided formal and informal expert testimony on these topics to government bodies such as the U.S. Senate, the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Congressional Research Service.
Phil Napoli’s research focuses on media institutions and media regulation and policy. He has provided formal and informal expert testimony on these topics to government bodies such as the U.S. Senate, the Federal Communications Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Congressional Research Service.
Professor Napoli is the author of four books: Foundations of Communications Policy: Principles and Process in the Regulation of Electronic Media (Hampton Press, 2001); Audience Economics: Media Institutions and the Audience Marketplace (Columbia University Press, 2003) (winner of the Robert Picard Award for the Best Book in Media Management and Economics from the Association for Education in Journalism & Mass Communication); Audience Evolution: New Technologies and the Transformation of Media Audiences (Columbia University Press, 2011), and Social Media and the Public Interest: Media Regulation in the Disinformation Age (Columbia University, 2019)
He is also the editor of Media Diversity and Localism: Meaning and Metrics (Routledge, 2007) and co-editor with Minna Aslama of Communications Research in Action: Scholar-Activist Collaborations for a Democratic Public Sphere (Fordham University Press, 2011). Professor Napoli has also published over 50 articles in legal, public policy, journalism, and communication journals; as well as over 30 invited book chapters in edited collections.
Moderator
Damian Radcliffe is the Carolyn S. Chambers Professor in Journalism, a Professor of Practice, an affiliate faculty member of the Department for Middle East and North Africa Studies (MENA) and the Agora Journalism Center, and a Research Associate of the Center for Science Communication Research (SCR), at the University of Oregon.
Alongside holding the Chambers Chair at the School of Journalism and Communication (SOJC), he is also a three-time Fellow of the Tow Center for Digital Journalism at Columbia University, an Honorary Research Fellow at Cardiff University’s School of Journalism, Media and Culture Studies (JOMEC), and a life fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA).
Previous events
This event was the fifth in a five-part series exploring the role that media policy can play in supporting local journalism in the United States.
Missed the other webinars in this series? Catch up here:
- “Lessons learned and a look at what happens next,” (watch the full conversation on YouTube, listen on SoundCloud, read the transcript on Scribd and write-up in the Tow newsletter and on Medium), 27 January 2022
- “Emerging Issues and Fresh Ideas,” (watch the full conversation on YouTube, listen on SoundCloud, read the transcript on Scribd and write-up in the Tow newsletter and on Medium), 20 January 2022
- “Giving a Voice to Grassroots Media,” (watch the full conversation on YouTube, listen on SoundCloud, read the transcript on Scribd and write-up in the Tow newsletter and on Medium), 16 December 2021
- “Lessons from Overseas,” (watch the full conversation on YouTube, listen on SoundCloud, read the transcript on Scribd and write-up on Medium), 18 November 2021
- “An introduction to Media Policy and Local Journalism,” (Watch on YouTube, listen on SoundCloud, read the transcript on Scribd and write-up on Medium), 21 October 2021
