Trip Report: Conference for Media Reform, St. Louis

[AnnInLa]

Subject: trip report: Conference for Media Reform (I posted this over at the website of Louisiana-Activist Network, www.newdemocracyrising.com)

Hi all...got back yesterday from St. Louis and the Nat'l Conference for Media Reform. With 2,000 attendees, it was a sold-out conference, and there were attendees from every one of the 50 states and from 6 foreign countries. It was absolutely exhilirating being with so many liberals in one place. Altho the focus was on media-reform, the main undercurrent of everything was an anti-war sentiment.

Personal: I felt like an overaged groupie of liberal "rock stars." I made sure to speak with Medea Benjamin, David Brock, Al Franken, Amy Goodman, Naomi Klein, Robert McChesney (Free Press) and Phil Donahue. Blush...I admit to getting a few autographs. Tried to get close enough to Bill Moyers to take a good closeup photo, but no luck. Phil Donahue was just everywhere, in all the meetings, talking to activists in the halls, meeting and greeting, appearing on all the local St.Louis TV stations..what a dedicated liberal activist he is.

I passed out over 100 Soulstice fliers (could have used many more, but..) and talked to many people about LAN. Most had heard about the Jazz Funeral
and alot of people wrote down the new democracy rising website address.

If you would like to learn more about the conference, go to www.freepress.net/conference and listen to, or read, or watch video from the event.

The seminars that interested me the most were "Local Community Activism" and "Independent World Television Project." The Prometheus Radio Project is something that would be a valuable resource in our local communities. They promote low-power community radio stations, which have 50-100 watts and reach only a five or ten mile radius. These stations are non-commercial and arose from the pirate-radio phenomenon. Stations provide important local info for immigrants, non-literate people, disenfranchised people...promote local events/community projects/local musicians/info on local gov't meetings, etc etc. We have a few of these stations in LA already, and they are all over the US and in some other countries. Now, however, they are under attack, as big corporate-owned stations are alleging that they "encroach" on their airwaves. The potential for using these local stations to get "our message" out locally is tremendous. I have manuals and materials if anyone is interested...will mail them to you. Info at www.prometheusradio.org. The second exciting seminar was an overview of the proposed Independent World Television Network. As you know, the news of the war and other aggressions by the US in woefully lacking, in many ways. These people believe they can, thru internet fundraising and private liberal foundations, establish a global independent news channel. If half a million people across the globe contribute just $50, IWT News will secure the $25 million it needs to fund its first year of broadcasting, in 2007. To be seen on its own digital TV channel and the web, it is also negotiating alliances with public and nonprofit channels to carry its programming. It will cover the big issues, war and peace, political campaigns, environment, global economy, civil rights, labor issues and social policy. It will hire journalists for their experience, political acumen and understanding of history. (Quoting from their brochure.) This is EXACTLY what we need. Talks are going on all over the globe, in every country. They are going to do this, folks, and that just excites the hell out of me! PLEASE go to their website, www.IWTnews.com.