Social Science Research Council

Minneapolis, MN - June 5, 2008

Co-hosted by Pennsylvania State University, the SSRC, and Free Press, the Academic Research for Media Reform Symposium for Scholars was held the day before the National Conference for Media Reform (May 6-8, 2008).  Scholars presented new research on issues of media ownership, sustaining independent media, digital technology challenges, and access to dominant media, with the aim of promoting dialogue between academics and media advocates/activists.

Montreal, Canada - May 22, 2008

This pre-conference for the annual meeting of the International Communication Association (May 22-26, 2008) addressed divides between research and advocacy in communication areas such as public health, media diversity, communications policy, global communications, Internet governance, journalism, technology usage/diffusion, and political communication. Organized along three tracks -- Bridging Organizational Cultures, Mapping Research Needed for Social Impacts, and Communicating Social Impacts -- the event encouraged individuals in academe, journalism, industry, government, and civil society to coalesce a set of concrete proposals for institutional change that can lead to tighter links between research and issue advocacy.

• In Montreal, the ICA also presented two researchers with new SSRC-sponsored prizes in media and communications: CRAC (Communication Research as an Agent of Change) and CROF (Communication Research as an Open Field) 

Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA - February 23-24, 2008

The SSRC, along with the Center for International Media Action (CIMA), the Annenberg School for Communication and Media Mobilizing Project co-hosted a two-day gathering of grantees, program partners, scholars and advocates to facilitate discussion on strategies to improve and increase research-advocacy collaborations on media and communications issues. Materials from the first ever 'Necessary Knowledge' Grantee Workshop on Collaborative Research can be found here. 

• Essays contributed for the workshop in February have been gathered together in an ongoing, online essay forum, Making Communications Research Matter

Memphis, Tennessee - January 11, 2007

The Media Policy Research Pre-conference was a one-day event leading into the National Conference for Media Reform on January 12-14th, 2007. The Pre-Conference was intended to facilitate stronger academic research engagement with policy processes, advocacy needs, and other aspects of media reform. Scholars and researchers from a wide range of disciplines gathered on January 11 to discuss ways of coordinating research efforts on policy opportunities and reform agendas in 2007. SSRC and Free Press co-sponsored the event.

October 23, 2006

On October 23, the Benton Foundation and the Social Science Research Council released four independent academic studies on the impact of media consolidation in the United States. The new research focuses on how the concentration of media ownership affects media content, from local news reporting to radio music programming, and how minority groups have fared – as both media outlet owners and as historically undeserved audiences --  in an increasingly deregulated media environment.

Dresden, Germany - June 18, 2006

This symposium, a side event of the International Communications Association conference, brought together a group of international scholars to discuss ways of expanding and strengthening research on the participation and representation of women in the news media. The SSRC co-sponsored the event.

Yale Law School, New Haven, Connecticut - April 21-23, 2006

'Access to Knowledge' describes the challenge of building stronger and more equitable participation in the knowledge economy, ranging from securing access to essential medicines, to expanding access to communications infrastructures, to ensuring a richer public domain in science and culture on which creators can draw. The A2K conference was the most important effort to date to explore the linkages, applications, opportunities, and research needs of this nascent movement. The SSRC was a co-sponsor of the event.

Center for Public Integrity, Washington DC - March 3, 2006

The SSRC sponsored a second planning meeting of a small group of academics and advocates involved in media research and media policy to discuss the possible strategies and activities of the Data Consortium on Media & Communications Policy.  The event was hosted by the Center for Public Integrity. The meeting concluded with an action plan to launch the Consortium and begin to engage a broader constituency.

Oxford University, England - February 2-4, 2006

The SSRC and the Oxford Internet Institute co-hosted a two-day workshop on the changing organization of social research, inside and outside the academy, as information and communication technologies (ICTs) become subjects and tools of research.  The meeting was a stocktaking of some 15 years of efforts at institutional reinvention in this area, and also a look forward toward emerging challenges for international and multidisciplinary collaboration.

Caracas, Venezuela - January 24-29, 2006

The SSRC sponsored two participants (Sheetal Mantani and Jennifer Wager) in the Communications Rights Delegation to the World Social Forum. The US group attended the WSF in order to explore and develop connections between US and international media policy and activism.

New York, NY - January 2006

The Ford Foundation hosted a one-day convening on the state of media and communications.  Featuring various grantees, advocacy partners, and researchers that the Foundation has supported since 1999, this was a chance for participants to reflect on the work that has been done and to discuss new opportunities and challenges for the field in the future.  A full report on the meeting and the issues addressed is available for download.

George Washington University, DC - September 11-13, 2005

The SSRC co-sponsored on September 12, 2005 a special meeting for media researchers on access to data issues, as part of the Future of Music Coalition's Policy Summit. This Summit brought together musicians, lawyers, academics, policymakers and music industry executives to discuss and debate issues surrounding digital technology, artists’ rights and the current state of the music industry.