Community radioA B C D E F G H IJKL M N O P R S T U VXYZWand signed by President Bill Clinton in Febru-
ary 1996, designed to ban pornography on
the Internet (see internet: monitoring of
content). The measure has faced a number
of formidable and ongoing obstacles; fi rst, the
means of exercising censorship on the Net;
second, arriving at any defi nition of ‘decency’ (as
compared, for example, with ‘obscenity’) which
can win consensus in America; third, control-
ling indecency across frontiers (it is easy for
American citizens to ‘emigrate’ across the Net
by transmitting under the guise of ‘anonymous
remailers’); and fourth, persuading other nations
to introduce similar legislation. Perhaps the
strongest impediment to the Communications
Decency Act has been the United States Consti-
tution, the First Amendment of which prohibits
Congress from ‘abridging the freedom of speech’.
See regulation of investigatory powers
act (ripa) (uk), 2000.
Communication theory See topic guide
under communication theory.
Communication workers See workers in
communication and media.
Communicative rationality Jürgen Habermas
in his vast and seminal work on communication
and the public sphere, Th e Th eory of Communi-
cative Action, Vol. 1: Reason and Rationalization
(Beacon, 1981), and Vol. 2: Th e Critique of Func-
tionalist Reason (Polity, 1983), poses the notion
of communicative rationality as being character-
ized by truth, appropriateness and sincerity. Th e
operation of these criteria in public life rests
upon the existence of free, open and egalitarian
discourse – an ‘ideal speech situation’ – which
in turn makes understanding between elements
of society more likely. Communicative rational-
ity rests essentially on an equality of opportunity
to participate in communication.
Communicology The study of the nature,
process and meanings systems of all forms of
communication in what Dean C. Barnlund has
described as ‘the totality of time, space, person-
ality and circumstance’ (in ‘A transactional
model of communication’, K.K. Sereno and C.D.
Mortensen, eds, Foundations of Communication
Th eory, Harper & Row, 1970).
Community radio Because radio broadcast-
ing is the cheapest form of mass communication,
it lends itself to ‘grass roots’ use by communities
of interest – geographical, cultural, political. Its
potential is to be run by and for local communi-
ties, special interests and followings. Th e devel-
opment of local radio in the UK has made some
progress towards the community ideal, but full
independence in terms of appointments, policy,the Act to be twin parts of the same pattern of
technological convergence.
Deregulation, or at least ‘light touch’ regula-
tion, was the guiding principle of the Act, the
key focus the interests of broadcasting as a
business rather than, as some critics have stated,
the interests of audience. Rules concerning
cross-media ownership were largely aban-
doned: there is now no bar to foreign ownership
of British media and thus no impediment to
corporate media interests worldwide competing
for swathes of British commercial broadcasting.
Gillian Doyle in an article ‘Changes in media
ownership’ in Sociology Review (February 2004)
wrote, ‘In effect these changes allow unprec-
edented opportunities for major commercial
radio and television broadcasters to expand their
share of the UK media market.’
The Act scrapped the following regulatory
rules: (1) those preventing single ownership of
ITV; (2) those preventing ownership of more
than one national commercial radio licence;
(3) those preventing joint ownership of TV
and radio stations; (4) those obstructing large
newspaper groups from acquiring Channel 5
TV or radio licences; and (5) those preventing
non-European ownership.
ofcom took over regulatory responsibilities
from fi ve bodies: the Broadcasting Standards
Commission, the Independent Television
Commission (ITC), the Office of Telecom-
munications (Oftel), the Radio Authority, and
the Radiocommunications Agency. It has a
‘statutory duty to further the interests of citi-
zens and consumers by promoting competition
and protecting consumers from harmful or
off ensive material’. It is empowered to conduct
research, develop policies, create codes of prac-
tice, consult widely, make recommendations
concerning not only independent broadcasting
but also the BBC (which in terms of control does
not come under Ofcom’s remit) and deal with
complaints.
Pressure from various bodies, including many
MPs and a media committee chaired by Lord
Puttnam, brought about government modifi ca-
tions to the original Bill. A ‘public interest plural-
ity’ clause was inserted into the Act, allowing the
Secretary of State to block any deals which might
be judged to compromise plurality. See british
media industry group; commanders of
the social order; regulatory favours.
Communications conglomerates See
conglomerates: media conglomerates.
Communications Decency Act (US) Law
passed overwhelmingly by the US Congress