NCMR Takes on Media Consolidation
We won a historic victory last month, with the Senate coming out overwhelmingly against more media consolidation. The growing media reform movement is becoming a formidable opponent to corporations trying to take and keep control of the public airwaves and local newspapers.
But to win this battle, we have to remain sharp, focused and unified – which is exactly what we’re doing at the National Conference for Media Reform in Minneapolis this coming weekend. There are over 75 sessions at the conference, and many of them focus on the problem of a consolidated media system. We’ll be strategizing, sharing and connecting on how to roll back Big Media’s market grab and stake our own claim to local news and information.
Here’s a peak at some of the sessions:
Silvia Rivera of RadioArte, Ivan Roman of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, Andrew Jay Schwartzman of Media Access Project, and Frannie Wellings of the office of Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) will discuss the media ownership fight, and how activists can keep up the pressure to prevent further consolidation.
Knowing the adversary is half the fight, and that’s why one workshop will delve into the inner workings of the FCC and how to hold broadcasters accountable to their public interest obligations.
Media corporations’ greedy fingers have extended beyond news and into the entertainment industry, where consolidation has meant less creative control for writers and producers. Patric M. Verrone of the Writers Guild of America, West, Bree Walker of KTLK-AM, and Michael Winship of the Writers Guild of America, East will review the recent Writers Guild strike and how to counteract the consolidation that has made movies more formulaic than a summer “blockbuster.”
The casualties of consolidation are immense, and communities of color in particular have paid the price for a media system that doesn’t include diverse viewpoints. How and why do people of color continue to be marginalized by mainstream media coverage? Panelists Juan Gonzalez of New York Daily News, Kristal Brent Zook of Hofstra University, Rosa A. Clemente of R.E.A.C.Hip Hop, Syndicated Columnist George Curry, Keith Kamisugi of Equal Justice Society, and Laura Waterman-Wittstock of Migizi Communications will discuss the current state and future of diversity in the media and its impact on society.
And while we work to change the current media system, we can also continue developing alternative, independently owned news outlets that cover the stories the mainstream still won’t touch. Davey D of Hard Knock Radio, Arianna Huffington of Huffington Post, Greg Watkins of AllHipHop.com, and Lizz Winstead of Air America Radio and The Daily Show will share lessons on how to create successful independent media outlets that reach the masses.
The list goes on, with sessions as hard-hitting, diverse and courageous as we hope the mainstream media will become.
