Research Collaboration in a Communication Rights Campaign: Lessons Learned. (August 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ryan, Charlotte
• Is Part Of: New solutions. Volume 28:Number 2(2018)
• Page Start: 303
• Page End: 320
• Publication Date: 2018-08
• Subjects: communication rights -- action research -- inequalities -- collaborative research; Environmental health -- Periodicals; Environmental health -- Government policy -- United States -- Periodicals; Industrial hygiene -- Periodicals; Industrial hygiene -- Government policy -- United States -- Periodicals; 613.62
• DOI: 10.1177/1048291117752464
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1048-2911

Abstract

In building public support for social change, activists in communities of color routinely approach broader audiences via news media. Communities of color, however, routinely face disparities that limit their access to media including local news media outlets. This lack of access mirrors inequalities in political, social, and economic arenas and can slow public awareness campaigns to address disparities in health, environmental, and other quality-of-life issues. I describe two community-based collaborative action research studies that documented and challenged how local television newscasts underrepresented and misrepresented three communities of color in Boston. The linkage between communication rights and campaigns to address quality-of-life issues is presented, as well as unresolved challenges in the collaborative research process. The study has implications for environmental health campaigns.