From East, West, Southeast, Southwest and Midwest, MAG-Net Anchors traveled from all parts of the country to Atlanta, Georgia this week to talk about the past, present and future of the Network. It's a time of celebration, reflection and deep planning. Check out what happened on day one.
Check out these sessions, caucuses, and events that feature MAG-Net members, partners and allies. Stay in touch during the conference - Join the Twitter Conversation by following us @mediaaction and Tag #mediajustice #AMC2013 THURSDAY, JUNE 20TH- NETWORK GATHERINGS 10:00AM - 5:00PM
Recent coverage and public discussion of the government's Internet and telephone spying leaves a major question unanswered: How, given what we know, does this trashing of privacy affect activists, particularly women and people of color?
Philadelphia MAG-Net member, Philadelphia Student Union (PSU) was started in 1995 by a group of young people who were concerned about not receiving the quality of education that they deserved. They decided that if school reform were going to be successful, it would have to involve students as leaders for change. Since that time, the organization has grown from the dream of a few students to a strong organization that has allowed students themselves to become a major force for improving schools in Philadelphia. Over 3,500 young people have completed the Student Union’s leadership development program. These young people learned how to bring people together to solve problems. Many of its former members have become active in organizing, youth work and advocacy in their colleges and communities.
Crossposted from Learning About Multimedia Project (LAMP)'s website In the years since the issue of bullying has garnered national attention and increasing concern, most big media companies have created campaigns designed to prevent bullying or to otherwise give people an opportunity to speak against it and raise awareness. MTV has A Thin Line, ABC Family has Delete Digital Drama, NBC airs anti-bullying spots via its public service campaign The More You Know, Nickelodeon has anti-bullying activities on The Big Help, and Cartoon Network has a Stop Bullying Speak Up campaign.
On Tuesday, April 23, 2013 The Applied Research Center (APC) and The Drop the I-Word Campaign joined with activists, including Fernando Chavez, attorney and eldest son of Cesar Chavez, and Jose Antonio Vargas, award-winning journalist and founder of Define American, to deliver petitions signed by 70,000 people to the New York Times urging them to stop using the term, “illegal” from their news stories when referring to individuals. Mr. Chavez, Jose Antonio Vargas, the ARC and a coalition of supporters and activists delivered the petitions to Jill Abramson’s office, the executive editor of the NY Times. The petition was started by Helen Chavez, Fernando Chavez’ mother and widow of Cesar Chavez.
Three days ago I saw the aftermath of explosives that tore through a crowd of unsuspecting bystanders, shrapnel leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. I read how children lost their lives, others lost limbs and a nation looked on in horror. On Monday, this same scene played out over and over again. All of them separate bombings, all on the same day and all in the same country. Iraq is this country, where over 25 blasts rocked major metropolitan areas, many of them car bombs, that resulted in more than 61 deaths and over 274 injured. No doubt the enormity of the loss of life and carnage is hard to imagine but if you had watched the news or read American newspapers you could be forgiven for not knowing it happened at all.
The Free Press 2013 National Conference on Media Reform in Denver, Co brought together media justice advocates, organizers, journalists and independent media makers from around the country. The liveliness of the movement for a more just and equitable media system was definitely on display in Denver. I experienced it first hand in conversations with radio hosts connecting inmates and their families from Appalachia, over drinks with digital literacy instructors working with youth from Hawaii, in interviews with Public Access TV producers from Saint Paul, Denver and Philadelphia. The message was clear across the board, we have a chance right now to build on the winning strategies of the last few years to make sure US media is accountable, representative, and democratic. Perhaps most important, we have the chance to take the tools of a 21st century media and advance movements for our human rights.
He didn’t understand why they took his dad away from them. “It’s all my fault…I must be a bad son”. After a long time, he received a phone call and heard his dad’s voice again. Grandma kept saying “you can’t talk too long”. There weren’t that many calls after that one. Then there were no calls at all.
I attended my very first National Conference for Media Reform (#NCMR2013), last weekend as a member of the Media Action Grass Roots Network #MediaJustice Delegation. A week later, I am still chewing through so much of the content I absorbed in Denver; from panels on journalism; activism; technology; social and media justice to policy and politics; the conference was filled with passionate discussions on why media matters.