The reality of our communication environment reduces the capacity of ordinary men and women to control the decisions that others take about their lives. This 'disempowerment' violates the human entitlement to dignity, equality and liberty. To defend human integrity against this, communication should contribute to the 'empowerment' of people. This implies the need to improve the quality of our communication environment. This is a tall order.
Communication is an arena largely controlled by very powerful interests.
The media moguls and their political friends will not voluntarily put their stakes at risk. The information industries, the telecommunication operators and their large clients, the intellectual property industries and the supporting governments are not likely to act against the disempowering impact of communication. Moreover, in most societies people are at present not seriously concerned about the quality of their communication environment. People are more worried about the killing of whales than about the disappearance of minority languages. However, since our communication environment is as essential to our common future as the natural ecology, it is time for people's movements to focus on the production and distribution of information and culture.