The Communication Crisis in America, And How to Fix It

This book critiques U.S. public policy about communication and offers guidelines to improve public safety and create strong democratic communities. The lack of effective emergency communication, basic information about health care, education, jobs and the economy, and civic life is at a crisis state, creating problems for the whole community, not just a vulnerable few.  The Communications Crisis in America is not because of changing markets or new technology, it is the failure of public policy.  The authors include economists, sociologists, journalists, lawyers and a diverse group of media and communication scholars, all offering an urgent call to action and difficult, but achievable steps forward.  

Mark Lloyd is Professor of Professional Practice of Communication at the University of Southern California Annenberg School, USA.  He has been an associate general counsel at the Federal Communications Commission, and headed the communication policy program at the New America Foundation.  An Emmy-award winning broadcast producer with experience in public and commercial radio and television, including NBC and CNN, Lloyd has also managed national advocacy campaigns focused on a wide-range of communication policy issues. 

Lewis A. Friedland is the Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, USA where he directs the Center for Communication and Democracy.  He is affiliated with the Department of Sociology and has published four books, co-edited two, and is author of more than forty research articles and chapters.  Friedland played a prominent role in providing a 2012 report to the Federal Communications Commission, involving several of the contributors (including Wilson) on the importance of addressing critical information needs.