Reinventing Media Activism: Public Interest Advocacy in the Making of U.S. Communication-Information Policy, 1960-2002

This report is a long-term analysis of citizens' collective action to influence public policy toward communication and information. The work discusses in greater detail what is meant by communication and information policy (CIP) and why we think it is worthwhile to study it as a distinctive domain of public policy and citizen action. The report concentrates on citizen action in the United States and looks backwards, tracing the long-term evolutionary trajectory of communications-information advocacy in the USA since the 1960s. We focus on the concept of citizen collective action and explain its relevance to CIP.Research supported by the Ford Foundation's Knowledge, Creativity and Freedom Program. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the School of Information Studies, Syracuse University, or the Ford Foundation

Surveillance Technology Toward a Dystopian Future

There is a continual debate between individuals who attempt to measure the individual’s right to privacy against the government’s right to know as an exchange to provide for the security of all citizens. Questions that demand an answer are whether the individual’s right to privacy outweighs the government’s duty to provide security; and if security is considered more important, can there even be a right to privacy. When questioning the right to privacy and state surveillance, there are three key goals. First, to investigate whether the human right to privacy should exist, considering the continued threat of terrorist attacks and public safety. Second, to question if state surveillance both actual and imagined are the fundamental means for governing state population, and individual citizens. Lastly, to assess if surveillance technology and state surveillance can be both a force of good and equal source of harm in society. To illustrate this debate, the focal point of this paper will be centered on power relationships in society as expressed through language (e.g., The Constitution) and practice (Laws). Therefore, this Honors Thesis Project surveys the historical background of surveillance technology and how the global surveillance industry uses its power to justify its decision-making in crisis\u27s while violating Americans\u27 civil liberties,human rights, and inflicting harm