Writings on Community, Communication, and Culture in the Digital Age
In his remarks at the New Literacy Project‘s DC Kickoff at the E. L. Haynes Public Charter School in Washington yesterday, FCC Commissioner Michael J. Copps explained why youth and adults need “news literacy, digital literacy and media literacy” and described how “community media centers, libraries and PEG centers” can play an important role in supporting this work.
The Commissioner’s full comments are available for download via the FCC here (PDF).
The New America Foundation is hosting an exciting event to discuss community media and public policy on Wednesday, February 9th at 3:30PM in Washington, D.C. Here are details from the website:
“Community media is at an inflection point. Between the passing of the Community Radio Act and the emergence of the internet in community engagement, community media centers that operate public access television (PEG) stations have a an opportunity to evolve. As the Federal Communications Commission moves to complete its Future of Media Report, the New America’s Open Technology Initiative is releasing a report “Full Spectrum Community Media: Expanding Public Access to Communications Infrastructure” and has invited a range of speakers to comment on it.
The report argues that the key to sustaining a community media center in the future will be expanding beyond the provision of public access television and participating in the provision of local broadband, operation of radio broadcast licenses as well as other communications infrastructure. For PEG channels this means they must seek to expand the definition of “public access” so that it refers not only to a type of content that is locally-produced and reflects the diversity of a community, but also to a type of communications infrastructure that is governed by the people who use it. The policies outlined in this paper are essential to making public access infrastructure a reality.
Please join us for the release of the report and a discussion of public policy and community media. A reception will follow the event.”
Introduction
Sascha Meinrath
Director, Open Technology Initiative
New America Foundation
Introductory Remarks
Steven Waldman
Senior Advisor to Chairman Julius Genachowski
Federal Communications Commission
Speakers
Joshua Breitbart
Senior Field Analyst, Open Technology Initiative
New America Foundation
Sylvia Strobel
Executive Director
Alliance for Community Media
Brandy Doyle
Policy Director
Prometheus Radio Project
Laurie Cirivello
Executive Director
Grand Rapids Community Media Center
Moderator
Tom Glaisyer
Media Policy Initiative, New America Foundation
Knight Media Policy Fellow
Unfortunately, I was sick this past weekend and couldn’t make it to our Boston Action Tank workshop, “Strategies for Shaping the Media/Tech Future: Policy, Funding & Organizing,” at the Grassroots Use of Technology conference in Lowell, MA. However, I am looking forward to presenting at the Alliance for Community Media conference in D.C. next week with Ivettza Sanchez of Manhattan Neighborhood Network.
Ivettza and I are running the “Training the Trainers: Vlogging 101″ workshop on Thursday, July 10 from 1:30-3:00PM. Here’s the description from the conference brochure:
“Vlogging (AKA Video Blogging) is a short form of video strictly created to upload to the Internet. This workshop will equip you with the tools and materials you’ll need to teach videoblogging back at your CMC. It will also provide you with tips on how to help your producers navigate the myriad of ways to get their videos watched on the web from videoblogs to wikipedia, to social networking sites.”
If you’re coming to the conference next week, I look forward to seeing you there.
There is a nice mention in the Cambridge Chronicle today about my co-workers’ project, NeighborMedia at CCTV. The article, written by Evelyn Ratigan is entitled, “Journalism project takes reporting to the backyard — literally.” Congrats to Julie Adler for the great press and all of her hard work leading this group of dedicated citizen journalists in the community.
“Since September, Cambridge Community Television has been training citizen journalists in digital media and providing a forum to discuss the issues concerning their neighborhoods. The first term of the program wraps up on Monday, June 16, with a presentation of the journalists’ work at 7 p.m. in CCTV’s Big Studio in Central Square at 675 Mass. Ave.
The station offered a series of classes and personal tutorials to a group of six Cambridge residents, teaching them how to film and edit documentaries, post blog entries and host television shows on the community network.
Adler said the program was a station-wide effort to expand the station’s online and television exposure by reaching ‘deeper into the neighborhoods of Cambridge.’”
Read on at Cambridge Chronicle online.
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