Media Divides: Communication Rights and the Right to Communicate in Canada

Media Divides, a publication specific to Canadian communication rights, is a collection of writing intended to be a "report card", or democratic audit, on communications law and policy. According to the publisher: "The authors introduce the concept of communications rights as a framework for analysis in five key domains - media, access, the Internet, privacy, and copyright - and situate debates about rights in the context of Canadian history and the emerging global media and communications environment." The book suggests that because law and policy in Canada has "failed to respond adequately to a host of pressures and developments, citizens have unequal access to the nation’s communications system and the freedom of expression it promises."

Media Divides is written to provide an overview of democratic deficits in Canada’s communications policy and formulate recommendations - including the establishment of a Canadian right to communicate - for the future. It is intended for students and scholars of communications and law and for policy-makers and citizens who want to understand or influence the course of public policy.