corrente

The National Conference on Media Reform
November 7-9, 2003
Madison, Wisconsin
Conference Information

Americans recognize that their media are experiencing digital Wal-Martization. Like the chain that earns billions but cannot be bothered to pay employee health benefits, major media concerns in the United States brag about their profits to Wall Street but still cry poor when it comes to covering the news that matters to Main Street.

[...]

There is real work to be done. For a media reform movement that is sustainable enough, broad-based enough and powerful enough to forge real changes in media ownership patterns, and in the character of American media, it is essential to build upon the passionate base of activists who did so much to make media an issue in 2003. We have to make media policy part of the 2004 presidential debate and all the campaigns that will follow it. And we have to make it a part of the kitchen-table debates where the real course of America can, and should, be plotted. To do that, the media reform movement that captured the imagination of antiwar activists and others in 2003 must burrow just as deeply into labor, church, farm and community groups, which are only beginning to recognize how their ideals and ambitions are being damaged. If the initial challenge was one of perception?making media an issue?the next challenge is one of organization. "Media reform has become an issue for millions of Americans," says Bernie Sanders. "Now, we've got to make media reform more than an issue. We have to make it a reality for all Americans." ~ Up in Flames By Robert McChesney (Free Press Founder) and John Nichols

Conference Schedule
Panelists/speakers
Live Coverage

Be the Media has organized a weblog which will feature observations, reports and other commentary from several people throughout the conference, including organizers and attendees. To view the blog, please click here.

Keynote Speaker: Bill Moyers
US Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI)
US Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)
US Congressman Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
US Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI)
US Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D-NY)
US Congressman Bernie Sanders (I- VT)
US Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (D-NY)
FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein
FCC Commissioner Michael Copps
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney
Reverend Jesse Jackson Sr., Rainbow/PUSH Coalition
Ralph Nader
Al Franken
Naomi Klein, author of No Logo
Amy Goodman of Democracy NOW!
John Nichols
Robert McChesney
Charles Lewis, Center for Public Integrity
Juan Gonzalez, National Association of Hispanic Journalists
Linda Foley, President, Newspaper Guild
Musician Billy Bragg
[and more...see links provided.]

Be the Media weblog: http://www.bethemediablog.net/ or click HERE

FREE PRESS/media reform home page