Amit Schejter’s research focuses on the relationship between media and justice. It analyzes how the introduction of new technologies has an effect on the public interest; minority rights; the unequal distribution of communication resources, and the silencing of the public's voice, in particular that of members of marginalized communities. Central among the theoretical approaches to justice he currently investigates is the capabilities approach.
He is the author or editor of eight books and more than 80 journal articles, law reviews and book chapters in five languages and has been cited in congressional and Knesset hearings. Critics have described his books as deserving of “high praise for their energetic and creative investigation,” as “must-read for policy makers, educators, industry leaders and others interested in bringing U.S. communications into the 21st century,” and as “display[ing] enviable intellectual courage."
He has been invited to present his work at universities, research institutes and to regulatory bodies across the globe and his research has been supported, among others, by the Ford Foundation, the Media Democracy Fund, the European Union Marie Curie FP-7 Program, the ICORE program of the Israel Science Foundation, the Ministry of Science and Technology in Israel, the Social Science Research Council and the Canadian Social Science and Humanities Research Council.
He held senior executive positions in the media and telecommunications industry in Israel, served on and chaired a variety of public committees, and counseled media and telecommunication entities in Israel and the Palestinian Authority and headed a national task force on the future of audiovisual services in Israel. He is co-founding editor of the Journal of Information Policy. He chairs the boards of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), of the Israel Communication Association and of the Movement for Public Journalism, and is member of the board of the Jaffa Theatre - the Center for Arab-Hebrew Culture.
Schejter, a professor of communication studies at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) is currently serving as Head of the Young Family School for the Human Experience.
Schejter, A., Shomron, B., Abu-Jaffar, M., Abu Kaf, G., Al Sharha, A., Mendels, J., Mola, S., Shacham, M., & Tirosh, N. (2023). Digital Capabilities: ICT adoption in marginalized communities in Israel and the West Bank. London: Palgrave-MacMillan
Marciano, A., Schejter, A. & Neriya Ben-Shahar, R. (2024). The Capabilities Divide: ICT adoption and use among Bedouin in Israel. Journal of Human Development and Capabilities 25(3), 454-472. https://doi.org/10.1080/19452829.2024.2370417
Schejter, A. (forthcoming). The reemerging right to communicate. In P. Napoli, K. Rogerson & R. Caplan (eds.) Handbook of Technology, Media & Democracy. Berlin: De Gruyter
