Mapping Global Media Policy: concepts, frameworks, methods

It is now recognized by scholars, policymakers and media activists that the environment in which media and communication policy is “made” is undergoing profound transformations. Trying to track, describe and analyze these transformations poses a stimulating challenge, particularly to scholars who see their work as an intervention in policy debates. This article seeks to address what we see as the most difficult yet necessary first steps towards meeting this challenge: defining the boundaries of what we actually mean by “global media policy”, providing a conceptualization of global media policy as a domain, elaborating a consistent analytical framework, and addressing methodological implications. The conceptual framework that we lay out here is part of a Global Media Policy (GMP) mapping project that has been developed within the context of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR), with a view to addressing the many issues faced by researchers and practitioners, as well as policy-makers and advocates operating in this domain. In this article we present an overview of the conceptual journey through which the GMP mapping project has evolved.