The Labor of Teaching and Learning Policy Advocacy as Media Activism

Abstract

How can media activists intervene in regulatory processes to influence the future of policy making about network neutrality and communication policy generally? Teaching and learning policy advocacy skills is central to the work of public interest advocacy organizations that seek to create a deeper and more diverse body of knowledge to inform the communication policy needs of groups underrepresented within policy processes, such as Indigenous and ethnic minority communities as well as media activists. Yet while policy advocacy literacy may not be a central focus of media policy studies (Lentz, 2014) or among media activists, scholarship from the field of adult education that reflects on activist learning can inform this knowledge gap.