Alternative media hold the promise of building public awareness and action against the constraints and limitations of media conglomeration and cutbacks to public broadcasting. These media are becoming key venues for community expression and political debate, but what is it that makes them alternative?

The contributors to this path-breaking volume answer this question by examining the evolution of various kinds of alternative media – including indigenous, anarchist, ethnic, and feminist media – against the backdrop of political, economic, and cultural developments in Canada. They get at the heart of alternative media by focusing on the three interconnected dimensions that define them: structure, participation, and activism. Alternative Media in Canada not only reveals how alternative media are enabled and constrained within Canada’s complex media and policy environment; it also shows that, in the context of globalization, the Canadian experience parallels media and policy challenges in other nations.

Kirsten Kozolanka is an associate professor in the School of Journalism and Communication at Carleton University. She has been an assistant press secretary to a political party leader on Parliament Hill, communications advisor to a cabinet minister at Queen’s Park, and a communications manager in a federal government department.

Kirsten Kozolanka's profile page

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Alternative Media in Canada represents the first edited collection of its type, an academic work seeking to elaborate the contours of the field specifically within the borders of the Canadian state. As such (in addition to securing a succinct title), it fills a substantial void … As the first book to focus a wide-angle lens upon “alternative media” within the borders of the Canadian state, Alternative Media in Canada stands out as a unique resource for teaching in Canadian institutions—and the quality, range, and relevance of contributions should reward not only those of us with particular interest in alternative media, communication policy studies, and the political economy of communication, but also scholars of media, politics, and social movements more generally, as well as media makers outside the mainstream, social justice activists, and engaged citizens.

Canadian Journal of Communication, Vol 38, 2012