- POB 653
Beer Sheva, Israel 84105
Amit M Schejter
Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Communication, Faculty Member
- Penn State University, Telecommunications, Department Memberadd
- Information Society, Israel Studies, Media and Cultural Studies, Telecommunications, Media Studies, Media Policy, and 11 moreTelecommunications Policy, Communication, Mobile Communication, Media Law, Internet & Society, New Media, Digital Media, Social Movements, Media regulation, Social Media, and Media and Democracyedit
- Amit Schejter (Amit Meshulam Schejter) is Professor of Communication Studies at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in... moreAmit Schejter (Amit Meshulam Schejter) is Professor of Communication Studies at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, and former President of Oranim College. He also holds an appointment as Visiting Professor of Communications and co-director of the Institute for Information Policy at the Bellisario College of Communications of the Pennsylvania State University.
Schejter received his LL.B. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1986, his M.S. in mass communications from Boston University in 1991 and his Ph.D. in communication and information policy from Rutgers in 1995. Between 1997 and 2000 he was on the faculty at Tel Aviv University. Since 2004 he has been at Penn State and since 2012 at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
His research focuses on the relationship between media and justice. It analyzes how media policies have an effect on the public interest;minority rights; the unequal distribution of communication resources, and the silencing of the public's voice, in particular that of members of marginalized communities. Central among the theoretical approaches to justice he currently investigates is the capabilities approach.
He has also written extensively about media regulation, critiquing policies regarding broadcasting, cable television, public broadcasting, mobile services, and audiovisual services in Israel as well as low power FM, network neutrality and universal service policies in the U.S. As a member of the International Media Concentration Group, he analyzed (with Moran Yemini) media concentration in Israel between 1984-2013.
He is the author or editor of 7 books and more than 70 journal articles, law reviews and book chapters in five languages and has been cited in congressional and Knesset hearings. Critics have described his books as deserving of “high praise for their energetic and creative investigation”, as “must-read for policy makers, educators, industry leaders and others interested in bringing U.S. communications into the 21st century,” and as “display[ing] enviable intellectual courage". In 2017 he received (with Noam Tirosh) the Israel Communication Association’s Outstanding Book of the Year Award. He serves as the founding editor of the Journal of Information Policy and a member of the scientific management of the Israeli Center of Research Excellence (ICORE) “Learning in a NetworKed Society” (LINKS).
Between 1988-1989 and 1992-1993 Schejter served as bureau chief and senior advisor to Israeli ministers of education and culture Yitzhak Navon and Shulamit Aloni. Between 1993 and 1997 he was director of legal affairs and international relations at the Israel Broadcasting Authority where he co-authored the Nakdi Report. In 2000 he was appointed vice president for regulatory affairs at Cellcom (Israel), where he attracted public attention when attacking the government's caving in to pressures of Bezeq, the national telco, and refusing to undergo a polygraph test enforced on the corporation's senior management.
Professor Schejter has been involved in public life in Israel and the United States. In Israel, he has served on a number of public committees charged with studying and developing new policies regarding a wide range of issues. In 2007-2008 he headed the Future of American Telecommunications Working Group, which proposed a telecommunications and media policy agenda for the incoming Obama administration, and he has addressed regulators, and academic audiences worldwide. Most recently, in 2015 he headed a government panel that proposed sweeping changes to the Israeli media industry.
He currently sits on the board of directors of the Jaffa Theatre – The Stage for Arab-Hebrew Culture, and of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel as well as on the Israel Press Council. He is an avid fan of Hapoel Tel Aviv and for a few years wrote a popular column on the fans website.edit
In this study we focus on internet nonuse among Israeli ultra-Orthodox Jewish women, members of a community that mostly refrains from using the internet or deploys content-filtering when it does access it in some situations. We conducted... more
In this study we focus on internet nonuse among Israeli ultra-Orthodox Jewish women, members of a community that mostly refrains from using the internet or deploys content-filtering when it does access it in some situations. We conducted in-depth interviews to empirically answer two questions: First, how do ultra-Orthodox women perceive their internet nonuse? Second, what direct and indirect solutions do they create to realize their desired capabilities that contemporarily require internet access? We found that adhering to religious strictures means more than obedience to religious commitments and community leaders, and that while nonuse may seem like a self-imposed disenabling act, it holds valuable social advantages at the individual, family, and community levels.
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Leading up to Israel’s eighth decade, its media environment is rich and dynamic; however, the framework in which these media operate has not been as liberal as the large number of outlets may suggest. Upon its foundation, Israel had a... more
Leading up to Israel’s eighth decade, its media environment is rich and dynamic; however, the framework in which these media operate has not been as liberal as the large number of outlets may suggest. Upon its foundation, Israel had a vibrant printed press market, which was subject to a licensing regime and developed a close relationship with the military and security establishment. With the collapse of this regime in the early 2000s, it was replaced by a concentrated press industry with intimate and purportedly corrupt ties to government. The broadcast and cable media, which were initiated gradually – public media in the 1960s and commercial media in the 1990s – have always been heavily regulated and supervised by a plethora of regulatory agencies, which are deeply involved in the market structure and with oversight over content. A major characteristic of both media regulatory actions and the actors in the media environment is the existence of commercial government mouthpieces in print and broadcast, alongside documented efforts to control more newspaper, online and television assets. Perhaps a silver lining lies with the online media, which have gone under the regulatory radar and remained unlicensed, both with regard to online news and to entertainment.
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Dramatic changes in media law and practice took place on Israel’s 70th year of independence: The Press Ordinance was abolished; the Broadcasting Au- thority (IBA) was replaced by the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation (IBC); and the Second... more
Dramatic changes in media law and practice took place on Israel’s 70th year of independence: The Press Ordinance was abolished; the Broadcasting Au- thority (IBA) was replaced by the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation (IBC); and the Second Authority Law (which governs commercial broadcasting) was amended, abolishing the “dual broadcasting model” established in the 1990s. What charac- terizes these changes is that they mark the breaking up of Israel’s media policy structure from its post-colonial roots. The new laws demonstrate for the first time in Israeli media policy history a unique Israeli structure.
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This study critiques and analyses the meaning and design of the term “public interest” as it has been constructed in commercial television policy in Israel. Its main thesis is that the term serves Israeli policymakers to achieve economic... more
This study critiques and analyses the meaning and design of the term “public interest” as it has been constructed in commercial television policy in Israel. Its main thesis is that the term serves Israeli policymakers to achieve economic goals. This endpoint marks the transition the public interest consideration has undergone from its initial identification with national and state goals to its subordination to economic interests, in a particular competition. The combination of the neoliberal ideology that has taken over Israeli policymaking since the 1980s, with the prominence of large corporations in the policymaking process, has contributed largely to this outcome.
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For decades, attempts have been made to define a ‘right to communicate’. The rise of media technologies, which are characterized by abundance of channels and information, interactivity, mobility, and multimediated messaging, has allowed... more
For decades, attempts have been made to define a ‘right to communicate’. The rise of media technologies, which are characterized by abundance of channels and information, interactivity, mobility, and multimediated messaging, has allowed to rethink this right in a context converging traditional media and telecommunications and referring to communicating as an essential human capability. Applying Amartya Sen’s capabilities approach to communications, we argue that com- municating is a capability required to realize such functionings as participating in political, cultural, social, educational, and commercial life and is essential to promote belonging to a collective. The ‘negative’ right to free speech should be replaced by a positive right to communicate, which should include free speech, access to information, privacy, and utilization of communications in order to belong to a community.
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הבעת קול היא יכולת הפרט לשתף את נסיבות חייו ולהישמע בזמן שהוא עושה זאת. לפיכך היא ממלאת תפקיד חיוני בתפקוד האנושי ומזוהה כיכולת מרכזית שמימושה חיוני להבטחת שלומותו של היחיד. לפי ״גישת היכולות״ – התיאוריה שבבסיס מחקר זה – יכולות הן מה... more
הבעת קול היא יכולת הפרט לשתף את נסיבות חייו ולהישמע בזמן שהוא עושה זאת. לפיכך היא ממלאת תפקיד חיוני בתפקוד האנושי ומזוהה כיכולת מרכזית שמימושה חיוני להבטחת שלומותו של היחיד. לפי ״גישת היכולות״ – התיאוריה שבבסיס מחקר זה – יכולות הן מה שהאדם רוצה להיות או לעשות, וחברה המאפשרת מיצוי יכולות מתוך בחירה חופשית היא חברה הוגנת, שבה יכול הפרט לשגשג. במחקר נבחנות ההזדמנויות שבהן פלסטינים-ישראלים מביעים את קולם באמצעי תקשורת ההמונים המרכזיים בישראל. ערוצים אלו הם במה מרכזית להשמעת קול בחברה, אולם קולן של אוכלוסיות מוחלשות נעדר לרוב מבימות אלו. ההתמקדות בפלסטינים- ישראלים נובעת מהיותם האוכלוסייה המוחלשת הגדולה בישראל. המחקר נערך באמצעות ניתוח תוכן כמותני של הראיונות שנערכו עם פלסטינים-ישראלים בחמשת ערוצי השידור בישראל וגם ראיונות עומק איכותניים עם צופים ומאזינים פלסטינים-ישראלים להבנת ציפיותיהם. מהמחקר עולה שהתקשורת הישראלית מונעת מפלסטינים-ישראלים להביע את קולם למרות רצונם העז לעשות זאת. המחקר תורם להבנת תפקיד התקשורת בהבטחת היכולת להביע קול וההזדמנויות הקיימות לפלסטינים-ישראלים להביעו באמצעותה.
Voicing is the capability to share life circumstances and be heard when doing so. It fulfills an important human function, vital for individuals’ wellbeing. Capabilities are what a person can do or be, and a society that enables their realization has a foundation for a theory of justice. This study examines the voicing opportunities of Palestinian-Israelis ‒ a large marginalized population in Israel ‒ through the main Israeli broadcast channels. These channels are the main platforms for voice in society, however the voice of marginalized populations is usually absent from them. We conducted a quantitative content-analysis of Palestinian-Israeli interviews on these channels, as well as in-depth qualitative interviews with Palestinian-Israeli viewers and listeners, to understand their expectations. Findings suggest that the Israeli media prevent Palestinian-Israelis from voicing, despite their strong desire to do so. The study contributes to understanding the media’s role in enabling voice, and Palestinian-Israelis’ current opportunities to voice.
Voicing is the capability to share life circumstances and be heard when doing so. It fulfills an important human function, vital for individuals’ wellbeing. Capabilities are what a person can do or be, and a society that enables their realization has a foundation for a theory of justice. This study examines the voicing opportunities of Palestinian-Israelis ‒ a large marginalized population in Israel ‒ through the main Israeli broadcast channels. These channels are the main platforms for voice in society, however the voice of marginalized populations is usually absent from them. We conducted a quantitative content-analysis of Palestinian-Israeli interviews on these channels, as well as in-depth qualitative interviews with Palestinian-Israeli viewers and listeners, to understand their expectations. Findings suggest that the Israeli media prevent Palestinian-Israelis from voicing, despite their strong desire to do so. The study contributes to understanding the media’s role in enabling voice, and Palestinian-Israelis’ current opportunities to voice.
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Legal and regulatory edicts that apply to archives focus on the value of the archival matter. The case study at the heart of this study discusses the rules pertaining to archives under Israeli law and analyzes them through a novel... more
Legal and regulatory edicts that apply to archives focus on the value of the archival matter. The case study at the heart of this study discusses the rules pertaining to archives under Israeli law and analyzes them through a novel theoretical perspective that sees public depositories of information as media that partake in the creation and sustenance of society’s memory. This study broadens the discussion on archives in relation to memory by focusing on the elements of archive laws developed in Israel. Analyzing the policies behind the operation of archives we highlight the legal requirements for both public and private archives, the criteria by which “archival matter” is defined, the balances created between the right for freedom of informa- tion and other rights such as privacy, the rules regarding the elimination of archival material, and the obligations on choosing which records to keep, and we wonder how these legal requirements influence memory processes. Utilizing this memory- driven analysis, the study uncovers the mechanisms by which laws and regulations influence “social memory.” By bringing the discussion regarding the worlds of regu- lation and memory under the roof of archive regulation, we offer a novel under- standing of memory processes, the power of regulation within these processes and the role of archives in it.
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The consistent underrepresentation and misrepresentation of Palestinian Israelis in Israeli media have been assumed to hinder Palestinian Israelis' ability to realize their communication capabilities. We set out to understand how... more
The consistent underrepresentation and misrepresentation of Palestinian Israelis in Israeli media have been assumed to hinder Palestinian Israelis' ability to realize their communication capabilities. We set out to understand how Palestinian Israeli individuals see their representation in the media as an issue of capabilities' realization and its effect on their right to communicate. Through semi-structured individual in-depth interviews with 20 Palestinian Israelis, we examined which capabilities they wished to realize by using Israeli media as well as what were the enablers and constraints that influenced their ability to realize these capabilities and exercise their communication rights. Findings suggest that Palestinian Israelis are aware of the way they are portrayed by the Israeli media, are bothered by it, fear its implications outside the screen and off the microphone, and although they wish to integrate in society and participate in its activities through the media, they feel rejected, thus consuming less mainstream Hebrew media. This hinders their ability to realize their capabilities through the media.
This study presents a theoretical model that incorporates the theories of Paulo Freire, Augusto Boal and Amartya Sen and uses their ideas to create an innovative digital role-playing game for teachers on ‘To-Be-Education,’ a platform... more
This study presents a theoretical model that incorporates the theories of Paulo Freire, Augusto Boal and Amartya Sen and uses their ideas to create an innovative digital role-playing game for teachers on ‘To-Be-Education,’ a platform originally designed for teacher-student role-playing . We then demonstrate how Sen’s ‘capabilities approach’, Freire’s ‘pedagogy of hope’ and Boal’s ‘theatre of the oppressed’ are adapted to tools of empowerment for Arab-Israeli teachers, who belong to a community marginalized by State policies. The teachers design their own games and base the scenarios on their own real educational and professional dilemmas. They then re-enact these situations to “rehearse reality,” and debate possible outcomes.
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The ‘‘Bnei Menashe’’ are a marginalized community that immigrated from India to Israel. The community has diverse information needs, yet they are characterized by difficulties that prevent them from acquiring vital information. In this... more
The ‘‘Bnei Menashe’’ are a marginalized community that immigrated from India to Israel. The community has diverse information needs, yet they are characterized by difficulties that prevent them from acquiring vital information. In this study, we utilized Sen’s (1993) ‘‘capabilities approach’’ as well as Friedland et al. (2012) ‘‘critical information needs’’ for the identification of the Bnei Menashe’s information capabilities, and the ways in which they answer them. The study was conducted using semi-structured individual in-depth interviews. The findings of the study relate that the Bnei Menashe succeed only partially in realizing the capability of being informed. This is a result of the partial technological exclusion that characterizes the community. This is a first-of-its-kind study, as the Bnei Menashe have not been studied methodically. Furthermore, the utilization of the cap- abilities approach represents a major contribution to existing communication theories, as the approach allows for a more wholesome understanding of the role of information and communication technologies in society.
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Highlights First-of-its-kind inventory of wireless services available to the Bedouin community. Findings indicate that none of the Bedouin towns are served by the cable industry. Landline penetration among the Bedouin is significantly... more
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First-of-its-kind inventory of wireless services available to the Bedouin community.
Findings indicate that none of the Bedouin towns are served by the cable industry.
Landline penetration among the Bedouin is significantly lower than among Jewish towns.
There is a large variation in connectivity levels to broadband among Bedouin towns.
First-of-its-kind inventory of wireless services available to the Bedouin community.
Findings indicate that none of the Bedouin towns are served by the cable industry.
Landline penetration among the Bedouin is significantly lower than among Jewish towns.
There is a large variation in connectivity levels to broadband among Bedouin towns.
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This chapter on media regulation and policy describes the study of the ways media institutions and their actions are organized and overseen. Studies of these arrangements span technology, law, and economics, whose intersections form the... more
This chapter on media regulation and policy describes the study of the ways media institutions and their actions are organized and overseen. Studies of these arrangements span technology, law, and economics, whose intersections form the foundation for regulatory measures. The chapter focuses on the study of media regulation and policy, and on the role that mediated communication research has played in identifying and informing media regulation and policy problems. It starts with a definition of regulation, and the metaphors it invokes; and pays particular attention to media regulations and policy challenges in which mediated communication research has been addressed or employed, even though its impact is not uniform. The chapter discusses the definitions of regulation, the history of media regulation, the regulation of media as a process, different regulatory regimes, a variety of regulatory perspectives, and the relationship between regulatory issues and research on issues such as media effects, the tension between administrative and critical research, and media and markets.
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Licence-fee funding in many public service broadcasting regimes is in turmoil and Israel is no exception. Since its inception in 1965, public broadcasting has been a continous presence and a central player in Israeli public life and... more
Licence-fee funding in many public service broadcasting regimes is in turmoil and Israel is no exception. Since its inception in 1965, public broadcasting has been a continous presence and a central player in Israeli public life and culture, and the licence fee a common fixture. However, in 2014, the law that established the Israeli Broadcasting Authority (IBA) was repealed and replaced by a new law, the Israeli Public Broadcasting Law, and the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) was formed to replace the IBA. While the IBA was funded by a combination of a licence fee on television sets, a levy on cars, public service announcements, underwriting on television, and advertising on radio, the IBC is mostly funded by government funding collected through a levy on cars, while the licence fee has been eliminated. The chapter reviews 55 years of rulemaking and policy development regarding the financing of public broadcasting in Israel. It argues that even though Israeli public broadcasting is in the midst of its biggest crisis, it is not the funding mechanism that is threatening its viability but political expediency, disrespect for its public mission, and, probably, corruption and greed.
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Interviews, site visits and observations are used in this study to describe the information needs of the asylum seeker and refugee community in Israel, utilizing Taylor's (1991) concept of identifying " information use environments "... more
Interviews, site visits and observations are used in this study to describe the information needs of the asylum seeker and refugee community in Israel, utilizing Taylor's (1991) concept of identifying " information use environments " (IUE), whose elements are people, their settings, their problems, and the solutions they find for their problems. A detailed analysis of the findings and framing them within the components of Taylor's model allow the creation of a framework for improving the refugees' situation in terms of their information needs. The study identified that asylum seekers and refugees in Israel have constructed a media environment based on their self-identification as " others ". They created personal and technological circles to address their information needs, broadly divided into three types: personal, institutional, and spatial. Within the public sphere, they erected Internet cafés, their own " post office " , and their own media. Within the private sphere, they acquired electronic media that address many of their needs. We conclude that since refugees are situated in society's least advantaged position, attending to their information needs should be a policy priority of their host society.
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The Israeli Minister of Communications appointed on 4 February 2014 a ten-member expert committee to propose a regulatory framework for the future of commercial television (broadcast and cable) in light of the imminent introduction of... more
The Israeli Minister of Communications appointed on 4 February 2014 a ten-member expert committee to propose a regulatory framework for the future of commercial television (broadcast and cable) in light of the imminent introduction of over the top (OTT) audiovisual services. In this study, the authors describe the process influencing the committee's final report. By comparing between the commit-tee's interim report and its final report, the study sheds light on the way regulation is designed in an era of transition. The reader will find in this study a detailed description of the different actors' responses to new regulation proposals and will have the opportunity to observe how and if these reactions influenced the work of public servants.
The latest development of media technology brought about the proliferation of a new media form more often than not dubbed as “social media,” however the catchy “social media” descriptor has not been helpful in surfacing the challenges... more
The latest development of media technology brought about the proliferation of a new media form more often than not dubbed as “social media,” however the catchy “social media” descriptor has not been helpful in surfacing the challenges this new media form raises for governance. In this study we try to tackle that difficulty by addressing the impact on policy of both the four characteristics that we have previously established as making contemporary media stand out from the mass media that preceded them – abundance (of content), mobility, interactivity, and multi-mediality – and their capability to enrich information and make its transference more effective. To do so, we propose to adopt the framework of “social justice” to their governance by describing the philosophy of utilitarianism and its effect on media policy in the twentieth century and preferring the competing twentieth century philosophies of John Rawls and Amartya Sen as the theoretical bases for a new governance framework of social media.
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If in the past, memory has been understood to be a biological phenomenon relating to the individual and his cognition, today it is clear that memory is a social construc- tion effected by political and cultural processes. This study... more
If in the past, memory has been understood to be a biological phenomenon relating to the individual and his cognition, today it is clear that memory is a social construc- tion effected by political and cultural processes. This study describes the laws used by the state of Israel in order to form its official memory. It describes how collective memory building is interwoven within the legislation that directs the undertakings of the country’s cultural institutions: the educational system, the national symbols, national holidays and memorial days, memory of the Holocaust, preservation of heritage through the erection of museums and physical monuments, commemoration of leaders, and the prevention of certain symbols from entering the public sphere. It demonstrates how the legal apparatus in Israel was mobilized to establish a nation- alized collective memory by bridging the ‘essential’ and ‘epochal’ elements of nation- building and how law can be both a mnemonic practice and an enabler of mnemonic practices. The study of this process provides us with a general lesson on the role of law in collective memory building, with a particular understanding of elements in Israeli nation-building processes.
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This study takes a holistic view of the audiovisual industries in Israel and describes the trends in ownership between 1984 and 2013. Market shares in 10 industries are described: broadcast television, radio, multichannel television... more
This study takes a holistic view of the audiovisual industries in Israel and describes the trends in ownership between 1984 and 2013. Market shares in 10 industries are described: broadcast television, radio, multichannel television platforms, cable and satellite delivered channels, broadband access, mobile communications, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), search engines and news websites. The data demonstrate that the Israeli system has come full circle from a government owned and operated monopoly in both the conduit and content markets it is heading toward new forms of non-competitive structures, with the rise of vertically integrated media conglomerates and highly concentrated content delivery systems.
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When hundreds of thousands of Israelis took to the streets in the summer of 2011, protesting the high cost of living and demanding “social justice,” the ills of the media system including its concentration, the growing digital divide, and... more
When hundreds of thousands of Israelis took to the streets in the summer of 2011, protesting the high cost of living and demanding “social justice,” the ills of the media system including its concentration, the growing digital divide, and the implosion of public broadcasting were not made part of the social movement’s agenda. This study employs a justice-based theory for media, analyzing three types of “products” of the social movement: the unionization of media workers, the establishment of alternative media, and the reports recommending regulatory/institutional reform. We attempt to understand why media reform, an essential element without which social justice cannot be fully achieved, has been sidelined in the debate over the ways to achieve “social justice” in Israel.
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This article on the civic struggles of residents of the demolished Bedouin village of Al-’Arakeeb in Israel demonstrates how social media have helped marginalized communities acquire a voice. It is based on site visits to the village over... more
This article on the civic struggles of residents of the demolished Bedouin village of Al-’Arakeeb in Israel demonstrates how social media have helped marginalized communities acquire a voice. It is based on site visits to the village over the course of a year beginning in July 2010, and on interviews with residents, Bedouin and Jewish activists, and journalists covering the conflict. Media strategies of villagers and activists are described and analyzed, and use of new and old media by people with limited access to telecommunications infrastructure is explored. Subsequent news accounts of the strug- gle and the journalist interviews point to a multifaceted role social media play in progressive social change for the Bedouin.
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Research Interests: Information Systems, Information Technology, Regulation, Customer Satisfaction, Mobile Communication, and 9 moreMarket Segmentation, United States, Cluster Analysis, Information Technologies, Mobile service, Substitution, IIT Institute of Informatics and Telematics, Service Provider, and Public Policy
The recent merger of News Corp. and Dow Jones highlights the latest threat to the integrity of business news in the United States and beyond. We argue that this threat comes from the mingling of journalistic and commercially motivated... more
The recent merger of News Corp. and Dow Jones highlights the latest threat to the integrity of business news in the United States and beyond. We argue that this threat comes from the mingling of journalistic and commercially motivated speech, and especially, from the latter masquerading as the former. Using the “speech transparency theory” framework, we recommend separating institutionally or editorially commercial and journalistic speech to create a more transparent environment for the consumption of business news.
Abstract The media have traditionally been assigned a role in creating a unified national identity, a process that has often come at the expense of recognizing the distinct identities of minority groups.
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/ Rooted in what are already disparate programs of regulatory intervention, the European Union and the United States have identified differently their current challenges in telecommunications policy. This study describes the development... more
/ Rooted in what are already disparate programs of regulatory intervention, the European Union and the United States have identified differently their current challenges in telecommunications policy. This study describes the development of both regulatory frameworks through their philosophical roots and ideological transitions demonstrating how, on the one hand, American influences have affected the European policy language, but, on the other, the European policies have better implemented the same policies and as a result are being seen as contributing to higher levels of broadband penetration. This time around, it seems that attending to the strengths of the European process may help policy-makers in the US reformulate their own home-grown policies.
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Historical, political and ideological frameworks of different countries create the context for telecommunications policy, context that is required in order to understand its reasoning and logic. One method that helps uncover these... more
Historical, political and ideological frameworks of different countries create the context for telecommunications policy, context that is required in order to understand its reasoning and logic. One method that helps uncover these frameworks is comparative research. Indeed, comparing policy initiatives undertaken by others in order to learn from them is commonly seen as a justification for conducting comparative research (Livingstone, 2003) and national policy makers not only study reforms in other countries, but they also often adopt similar policies as a result (Bauer 2003). One recent policy issue that has been the focus of public attention but has not been fully studied in a comparative form, is that of regulating network neutrality. There are different approaches to the regulation of network neutrality in different countries as they are deeply rooted in conceptually distinctive ideological, political assumptions regarding the role of government in telecommunications. Difference...
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The right to communicate has been a basic tenet of democracies for centuries, more commonly referred to as a right for free speech or a free press. Other regulations aimed at ensuring people can communicate, such as universal service... more
The right to communicate has been a basic tenet of democracies for centuries, more commonly referred to as a right for free speech or a free press. Other regulations aimed at ensuring people can communicate, such as universal service obligations that guarantee the opportunity to actively communicate, were not discussed as arising from rights. As such, the right to communicate was characterized as a “negative right,” deemed to be honored if governments did not abridge the freedoms it guaranteed, and not a “positive right,” which sets obligations on governments or market operators to act. Nevertheless, theoretical attempts were made over the years to expand free expression and recognize it as a “positive right.” Such was the case of the right of access to the media suggested by Jerome Barron in the 1960s. However, as media and telecommunications were traditionally seen as separate regulatory silos, the two disparate regulatory regimes, one forbidding obstruction, the other ensuring ac...
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Most “digital divide” studies focus on a point in time in which the study was conducted and on a particular “divide” issue studied. Such studies often analyze demographics of the populations or the ICT-usage skills they have or lack. In... more
Most “digital divide” studies focus on a point in time in which the study was conducted and on a particular “divide” issue studied. Such studies often analyze demographics of the populations or the ICT-usage skills they have or lack. In order to contribute to a better understanding of the divide, and in particular of its dynamics, this study examines changes over time of both ICT possession and patterns of use in Israel. Based on data derived from annual surveys conducted by the Central Bureau of Statistics, we paint a picture of the trends in ICT possession and patterns of use, between 2002-2013 (the latest date for which data is available). Our basic assumption is that the term “digital divide” is limited, as it focuses policymakers on the disparity in ownership, skills to use, or utilization to fully exploit ICTs. However, there is a social price paid by those on the lower end of the divide, which is currently absent from the policy-making discourse. We use therefore the term “digital exclusion” and refer by that to the exclusion from participation in the civic, political, cultural and economic spheres, which are the foundation of membership in the contemporary information and communication society. Such lowered participation levels are caused by disparity in access and usage. In order to demonstrate the analytical force of “digital exclusion”, the analysis takes into account the unique contours and cleavages within Israeli society and describes differences in ICT possession and use along population groups (Jewish/Palestinian), income, Jewish ethnicity (Europe/America – Asia/Africa origin), immigrant-Israel born, level of religiosity (within the Jewish community), and gender. ICT usage was checked with regards to: use for work, use for economic activities (online purchases), use for civic activities (e-government services), and use for social networking. Indeed, while the study focuses on Israel, some of these differences and gaps exist in many other nations, and both the data and the analysis can contribute to an international comparative conversation on digital exclusion patterns. The results of this longitudinal analysis demonstrate how digital exclusion is either maintained or even grows along certain aspects of participation. In each analysis, one of the determinants is controlled for, in order to identify effect. Initial results indicate that similarly to other countries, income is a major contributor to digital exclusion. Certain digital exclusion differences such as gender disappear, when income parity is present. However, such an effect is not visible when it comes to the gap between Jews and Palestinians, immigrants and Israel-born, and Europe/America and Asia/Africa descent. Additional insight is provided by the fact that across income levels, ICT use among 3rd generation Israelis is higher than among immigrants, and eradicates the effect of geographical roots (Europe/America vs. Asia/Africa). One unique element of the study is the differences based on level of self-proclaimed religiosity within the Jewish population. Indeed, the choice of ultra-orthodox Jews not to own or use ICTs raises a whole set of issues with regard to participation in the information society as a matter of choice.
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Abstract: This paper reports the first results of a year-long investigation into the state of the LPFM movement as it approaches its milestone tenth anniversary and questions whether indeed, as envisioned, LPFM stations “give voice to the... more
Abstract: This paper reports the first results of a year-long investigation into the state of the LPFM movement as it approaches its milestone tenth anniversary and questions whether indeed, as envisioned, LPFM stations “give voice to the previously voiceless” or whether, as some research has indicated they especially benefit fundamentalist and other religious communities' efforts to expand their cultural reach. Using a mixed-methodology approach, investigators mapped the LPFM industry using FCC data and public information provided ...
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The Bedouin are the indigenous people of the southern half of Israel – the Negev (in Arabic: Naqab) dessert. The 230K population constitutes 3.5% of the Israeli population and close to 30% of the population of the Negev. Yet, despite... more
The Bedouin are the indigenous people of the southern half of Israel – the Negev (in Arabic: Naqab) dessert. The 230K population constitutes 3.5% of the Israeli population and close to 30% of the population of the Negev. Yet, despite their centuries’ old ancestral roots in the region, since the founding of the state they have been systematically discriminated against and deprived of basic freedoms and rights, among them partaking in egalitarian policy discourse regarding their own livelihood, including the equal opportunity to utilize network communication technologies in their towns and villages. More than 60,000 of them live in “unrecognized” villages, which the State Comptroller has described as “insufferable conditions.” This first-of-its-kind inventory of wireless services available to the Bedouin community demonstrates empirically the combined effect of discriminating state policies and industry neglect of a poverty-stricken and systematically marginalized community. Incorporating critical analyses of policy documents, systematic mapping of infrastructure and facilities, and industry responses, this study paints a picture of exclusionary practices and the way they are implemented and justified in the digital wireless media industry. The empirical data consists of: 1. Official universal service and mobile deployment standards as dictated by law, regulations and licenses. 2. Levels of connectivity to wireline services in Bedouin towns, both “recognized” and “unrecognized,” compared with each other, with neighboring Jewish towns and with national averages and standards. 3. Levels of connectivity to wireless services in Bedouin towns as compared to neighboring Jewish towns, taking into account the number of towers/transmitters in each locality and the density of the population. 4. Mapping of the Bedouin “diaspora” and measures of the distance between towers/ transmitters and villages. These measures, using official location maps provided by the ministry of environmental protection, are divided by different service providers. 5. Quality of service, determined by fieldwork in which transmission and reception of signals were measured, identifying deployment of the different “generations” of mobile services. 6. Official positions and reactions of industry and operators regarding service provision to Bedouin towns and villages. Initial findings indicate: 1. None of the Bedouin towns are served by the cable industry. Landline penetration among the Bedouin is significantly lower than among Jewish towns. 2. There is a large variation in connectivity levels to broadband among Bedouin towns. It ranges from 10% in Tel-Sheva to 45% in Rahat. The national level of broadband penetration in 2014 was over 71%. 3. There is large variation in number of cellular towers/transmitters per capita among the Bedouin “recognized” towns, ranging from 1/3,000 residents in Kseife to 1/9,400 in Hura. 4. There is a dramatic difference in the number of towers/transmitters between Jewish suburbs and Bedouin towns. Some Jewish settlements have as many as 1 tower per 157 residents (Shoval and Nevatim). The lowest rate being 1/1,775 (Meitar). 5. In the “unrecognized” Bedouin diaspora, the distance of the closest tower to a village can be as much as 7 kilometers. Of the 52 villages only 2(!) are less than a kilometer away from the closest tower.
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What differentiates contemporary media from their predecessors is not that they are social, as would seem to be the case owing to their common descriptor as “social media,” but that they create an opportunity for a new type of mediated... more
What differentiates contemporary media from their predecessors is not that they are social, as would seem to be the case owing to their common descriptor as “social media,” but that they create an opportunity for a new type of mediated sociability. They differ from the traditional media that dominated the twentieth century in four aspects: they provide an abundance of available information, channels over which this information can travel, and storage space in which information can be retained; they are mobile; they are interactive; and they allow multimediated messages to be conveyed by users. These characteristics allow those that have the opportunity to use them the capability to communicate on richer levels that allow more presence. These features are at the heart of their democratic potential.
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The latest development of media technology brought about the proliferation of a new media form more often than not dubbed as "social media," however the catchy "social media" descriptor has not been helpful in... more
The latest development of media technology brought about the proliferation of a new media form more often than not dubbed as "social media," however the catchy "social media" descriptor has not been helpful in surfacing the challenges this new media form raises for governance. In this study we try to tackle that difficulty by addressing the impact on policy of both the four characteristics that we have previously established as making contemporary media stand out from the mass media that preceded them - abundance (of content), mobility, interactivity, and multi-mediality - and their capability to enrich information and make its transference more effective. To do so, we propose to adopt the framework of "social justice" to their governance by describing the philosophy of utilitarianism and its effect on media policy in the twentieth century and preferring the competing twentieth century philosophies of John Rawls and Amartya Sen as the theoretical bases for a new governance framework of social media.
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Legal and regulatory edicts that apply to archives focus on the value of the archival matter. The case study at the heart of this study discusses the rules pertaining to archives under Israeli law and analyzes them through a novel... more
Legal and regulatory edicts that apply to archives focus on the value of the archival matter. The case study at the heart of this study discusses the rules pertaining to archives under Israeli law and analyzes them through a novel theoretical perspective that sees public depositories of information as media that partake in the creation and sustenance of society’s memory. This study broadens the discussion on archives in relation to memory by focusing on the elements of archive laws developed in Israel. Analyzing the policies behind the operation of archives we highlight the legal requirements for both public and private archives, the criteria by which “archival matter” is defined, the balances created between the right for freedom of informa- tion and other rights such as privacy, the rules regarding the elimination of archival material, and the obligations on choosing which records to keep, and we wonder how these legal requirements influence memory processes. Utilizing this memory- driven analysis, the study uncovers the mechanisms by which laws and regulations influence “social memory.” By bringing the discussion regarding the worlds of regu- lation and memory under the roof of archive regulation, we offer a novel under- standing of memory processes, the power of regulat
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Can a right to memory be counted among the rights society needs to safeguard, if so, what are its theoretical and conceptual foundations, and how do they relate to communications? We answer these questions by offering a new perspective... more
Can a right to memory be counted among the rights society needs to safeguard, if so, what are its theoretical and conceptual foundations, and how do they relate to communications? We answer these questions by offering a new perspective regarding the right’s components, origin and justifications, the mechanisms needed to realize it and the legal framework required for such realization. We begin by first recognizing the fundamental role of memory in human life, in particular as it pertains to the creation, preservation, and endowment of identity, which justifies the need to protect it. We then discuss memory’s four elements—remembering, forgetting, being remembered, and being forgotten—and their dependence on communications. We follow by describing the nature of rights and the distinction between different types of rights. This helps us claim that recognizing the right to memory requires ensuring the capability to communicate by designing appropriate communication policies.
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This study examines how media representations of Palestinian-Israeli politicians, can help community members realize their capabilities. The study’s database is comprised of 1,207 interviews conducted with Palestinian-Israeli politicians... more
This study examines how media representations of Palestinian-Israeli politicians, can help community members realize their capabilities. The study’s database is comprised of 1,207 interviews conducted with Palestinian-Israeli politicians on news and current affairs programs on the three national television channels and the two national radio stations in Israel, for 24 months (2016-2017). We identified and analyzed the differences in the modes of representation between national and local Palestinian-Israeli politicians and between Palestinian-Israeli parliament members in the Joint List and Palestinian-Israeli parliament members in Zionist parties, all through the capabilities prism. In this study, we demonstrated how different types of Palestinian-Israeli politicians may potentially affect the realization of different political functions and capabilities. Analyzing political representations in the media through the theoretical framework of the ‘capabilities approach’ contributes to a more comprehensive insight into the roles the media can play promoting people’s wellbeing and human rights, relative to traditional media theories.
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In this study we focus on internet nonuse among Israeli ultra-Orthodox Jewish women, members of a community that mostly refrains from using the internet or deploys content-filtering when it does access it in some situations. We conducted... more
In this study we focus on internet nonuse among Israeli ultra-Orthodox Jewish women, members of a community that mostly refrains from using the internet or deploys content-filtering when it does access it in some situations. We conducted in-depth interviews to empirically answer two questions: First, how do ultra-Orthodox women perceive their internet nonuse? Second, what direct and indirect solutions do they create to realize their desired capabilities that contemporarily require internet access? We found that adhering to religious strictures means more than obedience to religious commitments and community leaders, and that while nonuse may seem like a self-imposed disenabling act, it holds valuable social advantages at the individual, family, and community levels.
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The recent merger of News Corp. and Dow Jones highlights the latest threat to the integrity of business news in the United States and beyond. We argue that this threat comes from the mingling of journalistic and commercially motivated... more
The recent merger of News Corp. and Dow Jones highlights the latest threat to the integrity of business news in the United States and beyond. We argue that this threat comes from the mingling of journalistic and commercially motivated speech, and especially, from the latter ...
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The recent merger of News Corp. and Dow Jones highlights the latest threat to the integrity of business news in the United States and beyond. We argue that this threat comes from the mingling of journalistic and commercially motivated... more
The recent merger of News Corp. and Dow Jones highlights the latest threat to the integrity of business news in the United States and beyond. We argue that this threat comes from the mingling of journalistic and commercially motivated speech, and especially, from the latter ...
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Abstract" Studies conducted over several years in Israel explored social aspects of the developing mobile phone phenomenon. Using a variety of quantitative and qualitative methods the research examined the place... more
Abstract" Studies conducted over several years in Israel explored social aspects of the developing mobile phone phenomenon. Using a variety of quantitative and qualitative methods the research examined the place that the" Wonder Phone" has been occupying in many facets of life. It was concluded that the mobile is" not only talk"-as a recent campaign slogan of one of Israel's mobile providers suggests. Rather, it is a medium through which Israelis define their gendered and national identities; it offers an experience of" being ...
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This study presents a theoretical model that incorporates the theories of Paulo Freire, Augusto Boal and Amartya Sen and uses their ideas to create an innovative digital role-playing game for teachers on ‘To-Be-Education,’ a platform... more
This study presents a theoretical model that incorporates the theories of Paulo Freire, Augusto Boal and Amartya Sen and uses their ideas to create an innovative digital role-playing game for teachers on ‘To-Be-Education,’ a platform originally designed for teacher-student role-playing . We then demonstrate how Sen’s ‘capabilities approach’, Freire’s ‘pedagogy of hope’ and Boal’s ‘theatre of the oppressed’ are adapted to tools of empowerment for Arab-Israeli teachers, who belong to a community marginalized by State policies. The teachers design their own games and base the scenarios on their own real educational and professional dilemmas. They then re-enact these situations to “rehearse reality,” and debate possible outcomes.
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One of the goals of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was to contribute to the erection of “ roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines,” that in the words of then newly elected President Barack Obama, “bind... more
One of the goals of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) was to contribute to the erection of “ roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines,” that in the words of then newly elected President Barack Obama, “bind us together.” However, while the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP), which was established by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) utilizing ARRA funds has reached its end, the federal funding does not provide any resources for conducting an evaluation of the program, nor does it provide any plan for the future sustainability of the Public Computing Centers (PCCs) established by the program. This study employs a triangulation of qualitative and quantitative methods in order to provide a complete as possible evaluation of the BTOP PCC program as it was implemented in one Midwestern city. Observations and site visits took place over more than a year in five BTOP PCCs. More than seventy semi-structured int...
One of the most significant developments in contemporary education is the view that knowing and understanding are anchored in cultural practices within communities. This shift coincides with technological advancements that have reoriented... more
One of the most significant developments in contemporary education is the view that knowing and understanding are anchored in cultural practices within communities. This shift coincides with technological advancements that have reoriented end-user computer interaction from individual work to communication, participation and collaboration. However, while daily interactions are increasingly engulfed in mobile and networked Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), in-school learning interactions are, in comparison, technologically impoverished, creating the phenomenon known as the school-society digital disconnect. This volume argues that the theoretical and practical tools of scientists in both the social and educational sciences must be brought together in order to examine what types of interaction, knowledge construction, social organization and power structures: (a) occur spontaneously in technology-enhanced learning (TEL) communities or (b) can be created by design of TEL. This volume seeks to equip scholars and researchers within the fields of education, educational psychology, science communication, social welfare, information sciences, and instructional design, as well as practitioners and policy-makers, with empirical and theoretical insights, and evidence-based support for decisions providing learners and citizens with 21st century skills and knowledge, and supporting well-being in today’s information-based networked society.
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In this book, a novel approach applying the theoretical framework of distributional justice theories developed by John Rawls and Amartya Sen to the governance of today’s media proposes a fresh, innovative assessment of the potential role... more
In this book, a novel approach applying the theoretical framework of distributional justice theories developed by John Rawls and Amartya Sen to the governance of today’s media proposes a fresh, innovative assessment of the potential role for media in society. Three case studies describe the utilization of new media by marginalized communities in Israel – Ethiopian immigrants, the Bedouin and Palestinians – and set the stage for media policy scholars, teachers and students to discuss an analytic framework for media policy that is fresh, different, innovative and original. Departing from the utilitarian principles that dominate Western liberal regimes, and that have led to the proliferation of media systems in which control is concentrated in the hands of the few, this work proposes an alternative that focuses on redistributing power and voice.