200 Global Media and Communication 13(2) Book reviews Des Freedman, Jonathan A Obar, Cheryl Martens and Robert W McChesney (eds) Strategies for Media Reform: International Perspectives. New York: Fordham University Press, 2016, 360 pp; ISBN: 9780823271658 Reviewed by: Russell Newman, Emerson College, USA Over the past two decades, advocates for media reform in the United States have fought for, and achieved, much greater visibility and even success. With Donald Trump’s ascendency to the White House, however, new obstacles loom large. Trump’s election is simultaneously symptomatic of myriad failures of the US media system as well as a manifestation of the fallout of neoliberal imperatives. Taking stock at a global level is long past due, and the editors of this book provide valuable service towards that end. The authors featured remind us that media reform has been an historical and pan-geographic constant, one best understood, as McChesney argues in the pointed preface, ‘as being concerned with providing a core element of the infrastructure of democracy’ (p. xiii). Well-chosen academicians provide theoretically grounded and methodologically diverse studies alongside similarly well-situated policy activists who speak across myriad strug- gles and conjunctures. In each of four expansive sections, scholars lead off with theoretically based analyses of particular struggles, followed by shorter pieces by practitioners that provide lessons learned from their struggle; valuably, many of the scholars are deeply involved in reform initiatives themselves. Each chapter commences with the author’s summary of key take- aways from their case study and finishes with clearly described lessons for activism. This structure serves the reader quite well. An introductory section outlines media reform as a concept, offering as well reflections on intersections between the policy-world and the academy. ‘Internet activism for media reform’ provides contributions regarding use of online platforms to influence policy debates largely in North American and British con- texts. This said, included is a fascinating piece on the establishment of the Internet Rights and Principles Coalition charter within the Internet Governance Forum – an effort that pushed the envelope by inserting human rights law into computer engineering and soft- ware design principles themselves. ‘The power of the media reform movement’ expands the book’s purview tremendously, exploring deliberate strategies undertaken by agents of reform across a wide swath of political settings. Finally, ‘Media reform as democratic reform’ draws attention to the mutual constitution of communication-policy reform and (sometimes, but not always) democratic governance processes across the globe. Several aspects make this collection particularly valuable. For one, it highlights struggles to obtain liberal ideals of unencumbered and pluralistic expression alongside more radical objectives. The pitfalls of liberalized, commercialized media are among the barriers to these in different ways across settings. The chapters by Abraham- Hamanoiel on broadcast and telecommunications reform in Mexico, by Tsai and Lo on hyper-commercialized journalism and pushback against mega-mergers in Taiwan, by Karikari on the Media Foundation for West Africa’s monitoring and defence of journal- istic practice, and Brooten’s absolutely sparkling historical contextualization of media