Access
by
“Access” is usually understood to refer to the opportunity, ability, or right to gain entry to a space or possession of a thing. One of the most common formulations is to have access to a given object, action, or context. Discussions of media access have followed this usage, in terms of gaining access to the means of production, granting access to positive or realistic representations, enabling access to telecommunications networks and mass media content. Typically, media access is prioritized in matters related to news, politics, and economics, while it is less commonly made relevant to discussions of entertainment or social media. “Access” has a positive and positivist bent; each of the examples above presupposes that it is beneficial for people to have access, and that access is a discrete state that can be identified and achieved. Given these tendencies, it is unsurprising that the use of “access” in media policies and within media studies has routinely conveyed some combination of media availability, affordability, or consumer choice. The limitations of such a discourse of access are evident when we consider US media policies in relation to access and then in relation to disability. From the Communications Act of 1934, which established...
This essay may be found on page 7 of the printed volume.