Communication in the Public Interest Series

Communication has never been more important than in our current cultural moment. From the growing monopolization of global media, to human rights issues and health campaigns, communicating in a time of war, and issues of free speech and society, communication has real political and ethical imperatives in our world. This constitutes a vital opportunity to reach a wider audience with accessible forms of communication scholarship.

ICA and Blackwell have jointly developed a new book series, Communication in the Public Interest, which will serve the aims of the ICA and enhance its profile in education and the public arena. The series defines public interest as issues that have real world effects and implications or, more simply, issues that affect people's lives. Books in the series will also address, either implicitly or explicitly, the question: what does the field of communication have to offer to issues of public interest and debate? Communication in the Public Interest will address topics that are timely and immediate, but also of sufficient breadth, stature, and enduring presence to resonate within academia and in the wider world.


Potential topics might include:


These brief (50,000 - 70,000 word) volumes will be accessibly written and general enough for undergraduates, policy makers, and an educated lay audience to make use of them. In keeping with Blackwell's aims to shape the curriculum, these books should serve a classroom audience whenever possible. We should emphasize that this is not a monograph series. Instead, it takes as its premise that there are broad groups of people out there who are interested in communication and who are desperately looking for clear and provocative but evidence-based treatment of topics in the field of communication. Outside of the academy and the classroom, therefore, the audience for these pieces could be characterized as "engaged" or "sophisticated" readers (for instance, doctors, policy experts and makers, activists, legislators and administrators). What this audience most often wants, and what this series hopes to supply in the volumes that it publishes, is a clear explanation of what communication is, what the major issues are, the evidence base for assertions, and the actions that must be taken to resolve the problems raised. Authors should assume an audience that is interested in the field but do not know its literature and may also be sophisticated skeptics. We encourage authors to leave their intellectual imprint on their subject. The result will be a vibrant and compelling series of freestanding books.

Blackwell and ICA welcome proposals on topics within communication and media studies.


Authors should keep the following guidelines in mind when composing proposals:


Proposals should be between 5-10 single-spaced pages and include the following:


Series Advisory Board:

Sandra Braman, University Wisconsin, Milwaukee
Robert Craig, University of Colorado, Boulder
Michael Delli Carpini, Annenberg School, University of Pennsylvania
Howard Giles, University of California, Santa Barbara
Bradley Greenberg, Michigan State University, Emeritus
Dale Kunkel, University of Arizona
Bella Mody, University of Colorado, Boulder
Karen Ross, Coventry University, UK
K. Vish Viswanath, Harvard School of Health

For more information or to submit a proposal, contact Elizabeth Swayze, Communication and Media Studies Editor, Blackwell Publishing, eswayze@bos.blackwellpublishing.com.