policy – Looks Like New

How does broadband policy affect our Internet access?

MEDLab — Wed, 26 Apr 2023 23:00:20 +0000

IMAGE BY Alexis Kenyon via DALL-E

Many of us assume everyone has access to the Internet. In light of the last few years of global pandemic, however, we observed headlines about the unconnected and the issues that were created in social, work, and educational daily experiences.

Why are some Americans, especially in the rural Midwest flyover states, left without access or with incredibly slow Internet speed?

To answer these questions and explore policy failures, we speak with Dr. Christopher Ali, a Pioneers Chair in Telecommunications and Professor of Telecommunications at Penn State University. Dr. Ali’s research and advocacy work focus on exploring the lived experiences and the implications of broadband policy.

What Comes After Democracy?

MEDLab — Fri, 29 Jul 2022 00:00:58 +0000

Democracy seems to be in crisis around the world. Aspiring dictators are on the rise in many countries, and the flows of information are under the control of often-unaccountable tech companies. Could democracy be on its way out? This month, we hear from one of the most celebrated scholars of politics and media working today, Zizi Papacharissi. Her latest book, After Democracy, draws from interviews with 100 people around the world to explore the state of democracy and whether it has a future.

Where did public media come from?

MEDLab — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 22:27:39 +0000

Long before our present day audio boom, public broadcasting in the United States flourished. Radio, a powerful way to connect people, underwent many transformations and federal regulatory shifts that impacted what it became.

Where did public media come from? We explore these origins in the early 1900s with Dr. Josh Shepperd, assistant professor of Media Studies at the University of Colorado, Boulder.