A synergy between academia and activism has long been a goal of both scholars and advocacy organizations in communications research. The essays in Communications Research in Action demonstrate, for the first time in one volume, how an effective partnership between the two can contribute to a more democratic public sphere by helping to break down the digital divide to allow greater access to critical technologies, democratizing the corporate ownership of the media industry, and offering myriad opportunities for varied articulation of individuals' ideas. Essays spanning topics such as the effect of ownership concentration on children's television programming, the media's impact on community building, and the global consequences of communications research will be valuable not only to scholars, activists, and media policy makers, but will also be instrumental in serving as a template for further exploration in collaboration.

Philip M. Napoli is Professor in the Graduate School of Business and the Director of the Donald McGannon Communication Research Center at Fordham University. He is the author of several books, most recently Audience Evolution: New Technologies and the Transformation of Media Audiences.

Minna Aslama is a Visiting Lecturer and Research Fellow at the Donald McGannon Communication Research Center at Fordham University, as well as a researcher at the University of Helsinki. She has published widely on popular culture and on media policy.