Christopher Ali
Biographic Data
| ID | 4499284 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Christopher Ali |
| GIVEN NAMES | Christopher |
| FAMILY NAME | Ali |
| SIGNATURE | ALI C |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Virginia |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 75 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 14 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2012 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
When Over-The-Top Is Over the Top: A Political Economic Analysis of Network Usage Fees in South Korea
This study investigates the disputes between global content providers (CPs) and South Korean Internet service providers (ISPs), notably SK Broadband (SKB), over network usage fees, which Korean ISPs argue global CPs—such as Google, Netflix, and Facebook—should pay because of the substantial network traffic they generate. Key cases include disputes between Facebook and the Korean Communications Commission (KCC), Netflix and SKB, and the Korean gov…
Public media lobbying: The case of APTS
This paper focuses on the governance structure that links US public television station’s largest federal lobbying firm (America’s Public Television Stations or APTS) with the recently approved ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard, in which APTS is a major advocate. Using a political economic approach to understand the incentives and motivations behind seemingly contradictory APTS lobbying efforts, we interrogate a string of relationships between large ind…
People, Power, Praxis: A Critical Qualitative Reminder to Policy Scholars and Makers
Background: This article reflects on the crucial contribution of critical qualitative research in communication policymaking. Analysis: This article draws on previous and current projects that use critical theory to analyze broadband policy in the United States and discusses methodological interventions of critical political economy, critical feminism, Marxism, and ethnographic approaches to policy. Conclusions and Implications: I use the hallmar…
Lived Policy: Towards the Humanization of Telecommunications
This paper develops the concept of “lived policy” for the methodological toolkits of critical, qualitative communication policy scholars. Lived policy seeks to understand how public policies are lived by those impacted by them. It is inspired by research in “lived religion” and “lived theology” which connect theological studies with the lived realities of those who practice religion. Lived policy aims to humanize the policymaking process and the …
Come on f––er, just load!” Powerlessness, waiting, and life without broadband
Waiting is a way of experiencing the effects of power. This article finds those waiting for fixed broadband connection are powerless to end the waiting and increasingly frustrated with the powerful—the governmental officials, policy makers, and broadband providers—who control their waiting. This article, built on 19 interviews with residents of a rural county in the United States, details the lived experiences of those waiting for a fixed broadba…
Advanced Introduction to Platform Economics
Not All Doom and Gloom
Local news in the United States is threatened by forces beyond its control – a financial climate that no longer supports advertising-driven news production, a fragmented audience, and multi-media, multi-content environments demanded by both consumers and investors. In recent decades it has been local newspapers that have bared the brunt of these assaults. Within this turmoil, however, a more complex and nuanced understanding of American local new…
The Death of Broadcast Localism in the United States
The localism principle in US broadcasting policy refers to the belief that broadcasters should be responsible to, and reflective of, their communities of license. At certain times in its discordant history, this policy doctrine included community review boards, a physical station present in the community, publicly available logs, advantages to stations using unpopular local frequencies, and a limit on how many local television stations one compan…
When the Watchdog Neither Barks Nor Bites: Communication as a Power Resource in Media Policy and Regulation
Communication in policymaking and regulation has been of interest to political scientists for the last 15 years. Lamentably, the conceptualization and analysis of communication in media policymaking and regulation has yet to garner much attention from media policy scholars. Drawing on theories of power and new institutionalism, we address this paucity by introducing a theoretical and methodological approach that centers on the intersection of com…
The Digital Life of Small Market Newspapers: Results from a multi-method study
The established narrative around newspapers and their relationship with “digital” is predominantly gloomy. We’ve learned how newspapers missed the mark regarding digital distribution and how traditional working practices often led to slow adoption of digital tools. There’s merit in this, yet it is not the entire story. We are missing insights into the smallest newspapers. This paper contributes to this conversation through an investigation into t…
Searching for Sheboygans: On the future of small market newspapers
This article addresses the knowledge gap regarding small market newspapers in the United States. We address a deceptively simple research question: what is the state of small market newspapers in the United States as seen through the eyes of practitioners and industry experts? Based on in-depth interviews with experts and practitioners, we argue for a more nuanced vocabulary to describe newspapers and local news. Grouping all newspapers into a mo…
Media Localism: The Policies of Place
Local media is at a turning point. Legacy outlets – television and newspapers – are declining while emerging platforms are failing to take their place. When it comes to the policies and regulations governing local television, regulators are struggling to address audience gravitation and fragmentation, the declining commercial viability of broadcasting, and the ongoing crisis of journalism. In an era of digital platforms such as YouTube and Facebo…
Media Localism: The Policies of Place
Of Logos, Owners, and Cultural Intermediaries: Defining an Elite Discourse in Re-branding Practices at Three Private Canadian Television Stations
This article explores the relationship between local television stations and national networks through a careful study of station re-branding. The relationship is explored through case studies of the three privately owned English-speaking television stations in Winnipeg, Canada. Through in-depth interviews with station and network executives, the author investigates the critical factors that facilitated the re-branding of Canada’s private televis…
Searching for Sheboygans: On the future of small market newspapers
This article addresses the knowledge gap regarding small market newspapers in the United States. We address a deceptively simple research question: what is the state of small market newspapers in the United States as seen through the eyes of practitioners and industry experts? Based on in-depth interviews with experts and practitioners, we argue for a more nuanced vocabulary to describe newspapers and local news. Grouping all newspapers into a mo…
Media Localism: The Policies of Place
Local media is at a turning point. Legacy outlets – television and newspapers – are declining while emerging platforms are failing to take their place. When it comes to the policies and regulations governing local television, regulators are struggling to address audience gravitation and fragmentation, the declining commercial viability of broadcasting, and the ongoing crisis of journalism. In an era of digital platforms such as YouTube and Facebo…
The Digital Life of Small Market Newspapers: Results from a multi-method study
The established narrative around newspapers and their relationship with “digital” is predominantly gloomy. We’ve learned how newspapers missed the mark regarding digital distribution and how traditional working practices often led to slow adoption of digital tools. There’s merit in this, yet it is not the entire story. We are missing insights into the smallest newspapers. This paper contributes to this conversation through an investigation into t…
When the Watchdog Neither Barks Nor Bites: Communication as a Power Resource in Media Policy and Regulation
Communication in policymaking and regulation has been of interest to political scientists for the last 15 years. Lamentably, the conceptualization and analysis of communication in media policymaking and regulation has yet to garner much attention from media policy scholars. Drawing on theories of power and new institutionalism, we address this paucity by introducing a theoretical and methodological approach that centers on the intersection of com…
Come on f––er, just load!” Powerlessness, waiting, and life without broadband
Waiting is a way of experiencing the effects of power. This article finds those waiting for fixed broadband connection are powerless to end the waiting and increasingly frustrated with the powerful—the governmental officials, policy makers, and broadband providers—who control their waiting. This article, built on 19 interviews with residents of a rural county in the United States, details the lived experiences of those waiting for a fixed broadba…
Of Logos, Owners, and Cultural Intermediaries: Defining an Elite Discourse in Re-branding Practices at Three Private Canadian Television Stations
This article explores the relationship between local television stations and national networks through a careful study of station re-branding. The relationship is explored through case studies of the three privately owned English-speaking television stations in Winnipeg, Canada. Through in-depth interviews with station and network executives, the author investigates the critical factors that facilitated the re-branding of Canada’s private televis…
Media Localism: The Policies of Place
Local media is at a turning point. Legacy outlets – television and newspapers – are declining while emerging platforms are failing to take their place. When it comes to the policies and regulations governing local television, regulators are struggling to address audience gravitation and fragmentation, the declining commercial viability of broadcasting, and the ongoing crisis of journalism. In an era of digital platforms such as YouTube and Facebo…
Media Localism: The Policies of Place
When the Watchdog Neither Barks Nor Bites: Communication as a Power Resource in Media Policy and Regulation
Communication in policymaking and regulation has been of interest to political scientists for the last 15 years. Lamentably, the conceptualization and analysis of communication in media policymaking and regulation has yet to garner much attention from media policy scholars. Drawing on theories of power and new institutionalism, we address this paucity by introducing a theoretical and methodological approach that centers on the intersection of com…
The Digital Life of Small Market Newspapers: Results from a multi-method study
The established narrative around newspapers and their relationship with “digital” is predominantly gloomy. We’ve learned how newspapers missed the mark regarding digital distribution and how traditional working practices often led to slow adoption of digital tools. There’s merit in this, yet it is not the entire story. We are missing insights into the smallest newspapers. This paper contributes to this conversation through an investigation into t…
Searching for Sheboygans: On the future of small market newspapers
This article addresses the knowledge gap regarding small market newspapers in the United States. We address a deceptively simple research question: what is the state of small market newspapers in the United States as seen through the eyes of practitioners and industry experts? Based on in-depth interviews with experts and practitioners, we argue for a more nuanced vocabulary to describe newspapers and local news. Grouping all newspapers into a mo…
Not All Doom and Gloom
Local news in the United States is threatened by forces beyond its control – a financial climate that no longer supports advertising-driven news production, a fragmented audience, and multi-media, multi-content environments demanded by both consumers and investors. In recent decades it has been local newspapers that have bared the brunt of these assaults. Within this turmoil, however, a more complex and nuanced understanding of American local new…
The Death of Broadcast Localism in the United States
The localism principle in US broadcasting policy refers to the belief that broadcasters should be responsible to, and reflective of, their communities of license. At certain times in its discordant history, this policy doctrine included community review boards, a physical station present in the community, publicly available logs, advantages to stations using unpopular local frequencies, and a limit on how many local television stations one compan…
Advanced Introduction to Platform Economics
Come on f––er, just load!” Powerlessness, waiting, and life without broadband
Waiting is a way of experiencing the effects of power. This article finds those waiting for fixed broadband connection are powerless to end the waiting and increasingly frustrated with the powerful—the governmental officials, policy makers, and broadband providers—who control their waiting. This article, built on 19 interviews with residents of a rural county in the United States, details the lived experiences of those waiting for a fixed broadba…
Lived Policy: Towards the Humanization of Telecommunications
This paper develops the concept of “lived policy” for the methodological toolkits of critical, qualitative communication policy scholars. Lived policy seeks to understand how public policies are lived by those impacted by them. It is inspired by research in “lived religion” and “lived theology” which connect theological studies with the lived realities of those who practice religion. Lived policy aims to humanize the policymaking process and the …
Public media lobbying: The case of APTS
This paper focuses on the governance structure that links US public television station’s largest federal lobbying firm (America’s Public Television Stations or APTS) with the recently approved ATSC 3.0 broadcast standard, in which APTS is a major advocate. Using a political economic approach to understand the incentives and motivations behind seemingly contradictory APTS lobbying efforts, we interrogate a string of relationships between large ind…
People, Power, Praxis: A Critical Qualitative Reminder to Policy Scholars and Makers
Background: This article reflects on the crucial contribution of critical qualitative research in communication policymaking. Analysis: This article draws on previous and current projects that use critical theory to analyze broadband policy in the United States and discusses methodological interventions of critical political economy, critical feminism, Marxism, and ethnographic approaches to policy. Conclusions and Implications: I use the hallmar…
When Over-The-Top Is Over the Top: A Political Economic Analysis of Network Usage Fees in South Korea
This study investigates the disputes between global content providers (CPs) and South Korean Internet service providers (ISPs), notably SK Broadband (SKB), over network usage fees, which Korean ISPs argue global CPs—such as Google, Netflix, and Facebook—should pay because of the substantial network traffic they generate. Key cases include disputes between Facebook and the Korean Communications Commission (KCC), Netflix and SKB, and the Korean gov…
Political science (9 works) · Media Studies and Communication (8 works) · Sociology (8 works) · Business (5 works) · Public relations (4 works) · Advertising (3 works) · Computer Science (3 works) · Law (3 works) · Law (3 works) · Marketing (3 works)