Event Date: February 24, 2007 | This year, the NYC Grassroots Media Conference seeks to ask: What are the common threads inherent in our global struggles for social change and how does the media contribute to our understanding of the root causes of injustice faced by world communities? From educating ourselves and our government leaders to spreading our messages and recruiting broader and more diverse constituencies into our campaigns, media is central to the struggle for social justice. Therefore, the fight for better access to and representation in the media is essential for advancing peace and justice both at home and abroad.
Join the 4th annual NYC Grassroots Media Conference to explore these connections and strategies, and come together to demand a media system that will link our diverse communities, connect local and international struggles, and fight for social justice across boundaries and beyond borders. Register Today.
The National Conference for Media Reform is for anyone who is concerned about the state of our media and committed to working for change. This energizing weekend from January 12-14, presents ideas and strategies for winning the fight for better media and connects you with thousands of media reformers from across the country. The conference opens today with 3000 people who have traveled to Memphis to listen to over 250 speakers and attend their choice of 100 panels and workshops. If you care about media and can't leave your desk or office log on and watch streaming live video of the opening plenaries with Bill Moyers and Jesse Jackson, and closing plenary with Jane Fonda. You can also view the keynote session with Congressman Ed Markey who introduced the Net Neutrality bill and chairs the Subcommittee on Telecom and the Internet, actress Gina Davis and FreePress founder Robert McChesney. Tonight watch the Memphis Music Concert and rally streamed live on the Internet. Be sure to check out their blog over the weekend as well.
Be sure to take advantage of :
Downloadable audio of hundreds of panels and workshops
Live Blogging
Photographs of Conference on Flickr
YouTube footage of Conference taken by participants
Make Net Neutrality Priority 1 for 2007. There's little to no discussion of what net neutrality is on regular broadcast news. Because of this the Free Press initiative "SavetheInternet Coalition" was born in April 2006 and byseveral months later, in July, over 1 MILLION people had signed the petition to maintain our Internet freedom. By September the public stood together on Net Neutrality and the anti-net neutrality Bill that passed through Senate stalled.
Net Neutrality ensures that any citizen can view the smallest website or blog as easily as they can view a large corporation's website, preventing phone and Internet companies like AT&T, Comcast and Verizon from charging additional fees or making it very difficult to navigate and load the websites you want to see and read. Only the big payers would get the fast "broadband" lane. The best way to understand net neutrality is to take 5 minutes and watch this new video. If you want to continue to have a free and open Internet (the way it is right now) then you you owe it to yourself to understand the principles of Net Neutrality before these companies spend enough on lobbying Congress to take away our free and participatory aspect of the Internet. If they do that, they take away our voices too. The Internet is an incredible Democratic resource for every citizen. We can't let the Internet become this generation's TV and Radio—as citizens will lose our power. Take notice --watch the video.
Net Neutrality ResurgenceCOANEWS is involved in the production and distribution of a new highly charged video alerting people to an upcoming “lame duck” congressional push to remove the all important Net Neutrality. If you not familiar with the issue you can learn more here: (http://savetheinternet.com). The basic idea is that big Internet providers want to be able to turn the Internet into more of a cable system where they control what content you get at what speeds. Now that the elections are over un-elected congressmen can pass unpopular bills (like those removing net neutrality) before they leave office. It’s called a “lame duck” session — what's "Lame Duck"
Event Date: February 24, 2007 | This year, the NYC Grassroots Media Conference seeks to ask: What are the common threads inherent in our global struggles for social change and how does the media contribute to our understanding of the root causes of injustice faced by world communities? From educating ourselves and our government leaders to spreading our messages and recruiting broader and more diverse constituencies into our campaigns, media is central to the struggle for social justice. Therefore, the fight for better access to and representation in the media is essential for advancing peace and justice both at home and abroad. 
