Next Media reform conference

Well it has just recently been announced that the next Free Press
National Media Reform conference will be held in Minneapolis, MN.
This is pretty close to my own "backyard" so I'm excited that the
Emergence will be able to bring you an up close and personal view
of the Conference. As you know if you are a regular here- this is
a critical issue to the Emergence and to our Democracy at large.
In the archives you'll find footage and text from this years
conference in Memphis (as well as the still moving quote from Bill
Moyers on the right)because it strikes at the very core of a vital
tool for the Emergence. I encourage you to take a few minutes to
view Bill Moyers amazing speech on the Plantation mentality that
exists in our culture today and why we are helping to breed this
detrimental chasm through the lack of diversity in Media Ownership.
Just click on the Emergence archives or search in YouTube to view this
historic speech.

Net Neutrality is still at the forefront of
a free media (keeping the internet from being bought up by all the
big corporations)- if we lose the internet we will really have to
swim upstream without a paddle. As FCC Commissioner Copps has
said, the Media is owned by the public trust but the public has to
take a vested interest in what is happening right beneath their
noses or it will lose it forever. Copps is voted down time after
time in opposing the further deregulation and the pressure is on by
the big companies who show no sign of slowing down. Murdoch just
gobbled up the Sacred Dow Jones if you are looking for examples.
I experienced the transformations first hand from the small radio
station owned by my Father to the Legendary Top 40 that was gobbled
up by Chancellor then Clear Channel communications while working
as an on air host/copywriter in the mid 90s. We must demand that
lower powered FMs be viable in big and small cities, Public Radio
remain public and non profit, and replace the cap and limits on the
number of newspapers, TV and radio stations that can be owned in a
market by one corporation no matter the name they give it. The next
2 months I'll be posting updates as the FCC reviews the legislation
for further deregulation. If Copps loses out and not enough speak out
further deregulation would mean conceivably one or two companies
could own every radio station, TV station, Internet provider, and
newspaper. Which pretty much sends chills up my spine. Inform yourself.
Keep your eyes and ears open. Jill

from freepress.net

Mark your calendar: the next National Conference for Media Reform will be held in Minneapolis, June 6-8, 2008.

Join fellow activists, media makers, educators, journalists, policymakers and concerned citizens in calling for real and lasting changes to our nation's media system.

2008 provides us with a great opportunity to put the issue of media reform in the national spotlight. Join us in Minneapolis and help us build this critical movement.

Registration will open in a few months. But you can keep tabs on NCMR 2008 by joining our mailing list.