National Conference for Media Reform 2011, Call for Suggestions

“Change the Media, Change the World” was the theme at the National Conference for Media Reform in Boston last weekend. But if it didn’t sound like a self-help book from the bargain bin, we could have added “Change Yourself.”  Because we all walked away a little changed, didn’t we?

So much of the work we do to change the media happens online, or in our own communities, that it can be easy to forget that others are out there, miles away, feeling the same frustrations and sharing the same visions for the future. So when NCMR brings thousands of people together, face-to-face, it’s a little magical. The “heart” of the media reform movement doesn’t necessarily refer to the center; it’s the openness, kindness and generosity we express when we meet, and our shared love and work for humanity, for social justice and for a genuine democracy.  

It’s now three days after journalist John Nichols gave his incredible speech to send everyone home energized, and that magic is still hovering. At Free Press, we’re hearing NCMR stories that bolster our own work, and should bolster you, too – whether you were with us at the conference or not.

Here’s what we heard from 20-year-old Miguelina “Erikka” Diaz, a member of the New York Public Radio initiative Radio Rookies:

I learned so much at the conference, it’s impossible to state it all. But what I can say is that we as the youth have so much to branch into and so much to change for the better. In some ways I felt intimidated and in other ways I felt as if I was supposed to be there for some reason. It changed my whole point of view about media (positively). The way I will use the information that I learned there is by creating something for the public that will help the people – something new that no one has ever thought of. It’s the only way things would become at least a little bit better. It [the conference] is an experience I will carry with me for the rest of my life.

Nicole Young from Amherst, Massachusetts, tweeted: “I had such a great time @ #NCMR11. Inspired me to retool my career: to work in policy (setting the agenda) rather than management.”

And Erick Boustead tweeted that he was “inspired, humbled, stoked” by the social justice delegation at NCMR.

The sentiment echoes in  the posts, op-eds and articles about NCMR. Liz Phelly of the Boston Phoenix wrote that NCMR “re-energized” people in this three-day round-up. Here’s Ms. Magazine’s post about female representation at the conference and in the media, and Colorlines.com dedicated a page to the event. And Eli Beckerman from the Green Mass Group came to NCMR a little skeptical about changing the world by changing the media. He left quite convinced. He wrote:

The major theme banged home during the weekend was that no matter what your issue focus is, you've got to make media your second issue. Whether we're talking about media policy or media making, it is imperative to transform the way we communicate to each other and to larger and larger audiences of concerned citizens. From message to medium, from media justice to media literacy, this conference brought together a few thousand people who are remaking the media from the bottom up.

GRITtv’s video round-up of the conference gives a shout-out to Free Press, and we’re giving a shout-out right back to GRITtv’s host, Laura Flanders, who was a hilarious and fierce emcee during the opening NCMR plenary. The talented folks at The Uptake have some incredible coverage from NCMR, and Free Speech TV provided live coverage and interviewed media makers and leaders, including Yes! Magazine’s Sarah Van Gelder.

Most people at NCMR were wishing they had clones and could be in two – or even twelve – places at once to attend sessions that ran the gamut from tech policy to on-the-ground organizing. Videos are popping up every hour of speeches and sessions, like Malkia Cyril talking about the need for grassroots media justice campaigns during the live broadcast of Democracy Now! on Friday morning. Watch journalists Nichols, Mike Elk, Kari Lydersen and Steve Early talk about media and the labor movement.

Then there’s poet Hakim Bellamy’s letter to the FCC during the Townhall with FCC Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Michael Copps. And dancing led by a talented 6-year-old. And a bizarre and strangely funny interview with The Nation editor Katrina vanden Heuvel by comedian Sarah Benincasa.

Then there were the speeches. Now speeches aren’t always something to write home about, but in this case, they were. I even did: “Dear Mom, these speeches were great.” So watch them and share them. There was Amy Goodman (killed it!), Rinku Sen (yes!), Rep. Ed Markey (right on reclassification!), Rep. Donna Edwards (we can turn our activism into policy change!), Josh Silver (it’s so hard to say goodbye!), Malkia Cyril (she sings!) Rick Karr (running out of quips!) and many others – we are working feverishly to get them all posted soon, including FCC Commissioners Copps and Clyburn, Rep. Mike Doyle, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, and Current TV host Erin Gibson.    

Free Press’ incoming CEO Craig Aaron told the crowd we all need to be lobbyists for a different media system:

Craig’s favorite NCMR moment? “Too many to choose from. Malkia Cyril singing in her speech. The amazing Sarah Jones. Toussaint and the House Band and Erin McKeown. Rinku Sen on Sunday. Watching the amazing and indefatigable Free Press staff at work. Don’t make me choose! I can’t.”

Other Free Press staff members had their own favorite moments. Chris Riley, policy counsel for Free Press, said:

I have a lot of favorite moments from NCMR, but I’ll skip over the ones that almost everyone shared – the sense of excitement and anticipation in the morning hours before the day began, and the energy of the packed house when Nancy Pelosi walked up to the podium – and move to the ones that I think were less widely known. The last question asked of the panelists at my session on spectrum policy came from a journalist and part owner of a low power television broadcasting station in the San Francisco Bay area. He raised a serious concern with a lot of the policy proposals we had been talking about – because incentive auctions and repacking run the risk of preventing him from being able to continue to operate his station, and from reaching the very local, minority-focused audience he targeted. Sadly, we didn’t have a lot of helpful answers for him – his concern is very real, so the best we could do was to say that we’d do our best to try to protect him, and we encouraged him to make his voice heard inside the Beltway. But the moment meant a lot to me, because it was a real opportunity for us D.C. insiders to hear firsthand about real world problems. I think I speak for all of the panelists when I say we’re going to be looking at our spectrum policy work a little differently based on our conversations with him.

Free Press Program Coordinator Libby Reinish:

My favorite NCMR moment? I would have to say that all of the Media and Technology Sandbox sessions were most inspiring to me. I got to see Union Press teaching folks how to hand pull gorgeous letterpress posters, Maggie Avener of Prometheus teaching a packed room how to make their own audio cables, and the temporary wireless MESH network set up by NCMR attendees. I walked away from the Sandbox sessions feeling empowered to create change with my own two inky hands.

And Free Press Outreach Manager and NCMR heroine Mary Alice Crim:

11:15 a.m. Sunday – as I was getting ready to run backstage for the closing plenary, my mom found me in the staff room. She was moved to tears after attending the On Wisconsin session. She gave me a hug and told me that her eyes had been opened and that she was so thankful for my work and the work of Free Press. We both cried and it was clear that she had received the change the media, change the world message.

Whew. That one gave me goose bumps. For a little levity, here’s Free Press’ Lindsy Embree’s fave part of NCMR 2011: “The escalators. I didn’t have to run up so many stairs.” As I said, we all walked away with something.

There are so many more moments to capture, so much more to share. We’re excited about what’s to come next.Revel in the heart of the movement and the magic you helped create at NCMR 2011, and then help us get to work changing the media to change the world.