Download the PDF: Broadcast Television Laws and Your Rights as Citizens

How do Electronic Town Meetings fit into U.S. communications law? Do they represent an inappropriate intrusion of the public into the affairs of broadcast TV stations or do they represent a fully legitimate exercise of the public’s rights and duties in a modern democracy? Because most citizens are reluctant to act when not given the authority to do so, it is important to know that “Electronic Town Meetings” (or “Televised Community Feedback Forums”) are fully legitimate expressions of our democratic processes that are strongly supported across a broad spectrum of Constitutional law, Congressional legislation, and FCC regulation.

Download the PDF: Revitalizing Democracy Through Electronic Town  Meetings

An article for the Journal of the Council of State Governments, Spring 1993.
Each generation must renew its contract with democracy in ways that respond to the changing needs of the times. Our world is now changing so fast that democracy is endangered unless citizens are far more involved in setting the direction of public policy. Electronic Town Meetings hold the potential to dramatically revitalize our democracy at a time filled with great decision about our future.

Download the PDF: Let’s Put the Vision in Television!!

An article for the journal In Context suggesting that virtually all of our problems are, at their core, communication challenges. Therefore, holding our tools of mass communication accountable for serving the interests of the public is not “just another issue” — it impacts all other issues. Only with robust and effective tools of mass communication can we grapple with the serious challenges to our future.