Public Media Caucus -- Los Angeles

Public Media Caucus – Los Angeles
Sunday, October 16, 2005
2:00pm to 5:00pm
California State University, Los Angeles
Music Building, Rm. 149
5151 State University Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90032-8111

What role should public media play in the American media landscape? What should a vibrant, sustainable public media ecology look like? The Center for Digital Democracy is holding a participatory caucus to outline what public media should be in the United States and how we can make it so. All of us are deeply concerned about the current state of the media, but unlike efforts in other countries, the U.S. has lacked an open, deliberative process to determine our public media needs and how to effectively meet them. The purpose of the caucus is to actively engage the independent media producing, distribution, activist, and funding community and those institutions that regularly use independent media such as libraries and museums in developing strategies to ensure a vibrant public media ecology.

Join panelists Aliza Dichter, Center for International Media Action, filmmaker Evangeline “Vangie” Griego, Anthony Riddle, Alliance for Community Media, and Jake Shapiro, Public Radio Exchange, who will provide an overview of independent media including a brief history of media production, distribution, and activism, along with examples of new production and distribution paradigms that are proving successful in generating audiences and revenues. The panel will be moderated by media consultant, Alyce Myatt.

The format of the Caucus will begin with the panel followed by a question and answer segment after which we will break into smaller working groups where the audience will participate in outlining public media needs and identifying strategies and tactics. We will then reconvene as a whole, with the groups reporting-out their key points. We will consolidate the information and determine specific action steps for moving forward.

The Caucus will take place on Sunday, October 16, 2005, from 2:00pm to 5:00pm at California State University, Los Angeles, Music Building, Rm. 149, 5151 State University Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90032-8111

This is third in a series of caucuses the Center for Digital Democracy will be conducting around the country. (The first was held in San Francisco and the report can be found at http://www.democraticmedia.org/ddc/PublicMediaCaucus.php.)

We are working in concert with other local and national organizations and individuals to elevate the issue of independent public media and its critical role in civil society. We are particularly interested in combining the efforts and good thinking of the media makers with the work of media activists and reformers.

For more information and to RSVP, please contact Alyce Myatt, amyatt@nyc.rr.com, (212) 765-0193. Seating is limited, but we hope you are able to join us.

http://www.democraticmedia.org/NPM/PMCLA.php