Media Reform Conference

yeesh, my last blog entry was about a conference.  My life really isn't conference to conference.  There's a lot of paperwork and phone calls and activities and sorts all in between.  I guess I just didn't blog in Dec.  Apologies.  

Anyways - to my fellow VISTAs, new and in progress-

Last week I went to Memphis for the National Conference for Media Reform.  Lucky that it was in the middle of the states and in driving distance, otherwise, I wouldn't be able to go.  Quick note- there's a place called Dinosaur World in Kentucky, a few exits before the Maker's Mark factory, and around the great Mammouth Caves, in case anyone wants to plan a trip to Kentucky. 

What a conference!  I didn't have my computer there to blog on the spot but I would say at least a third of the attendees had a laptop.  There were over 3000 people there.  Including Ben Sheldon.  Yay.  

 Every session has audio recordings and a few have video for them.   Go to  http://www.freepress.net/conference/ for all the audio and videos and news stories.

  I suggest listening/reading  Bill Moyers, Rev. Jesse Jackson, and Amy Goodman.  Everyone one there had a great speech to say, but I think I liked theirs the most.   In Bill's speech he started it out with a quote from Ben Franklin about democracy is like two wolves and a lamb deciding what to have for dinner.   And liberty is a well armed lamb.  Well, that's a great quote expcet it turns out Bill was duped and Franklin was never attributed with saying that.  no one really knows. 

Seeing the Rev. Jesse Jackson speak is an experience.  He starts off all soft and quiet.  As he gets going his speech patters runs up and down like a rollercoaster, half way into the sentence he peaks really loudly and then suddenly drops into a soft ending.  And then by the end of the speech he was energetic, livid, and inspiring.   He spoke of MLK and the Civil Rights movement and how media reform is a civil rights issue.  I just felt that instead of everyone clapping and even some crying with tears of inspiration, followed by shoving off to our sessions, we should have all marched out the building and gone on a march or demonstration or something!  Something that was action and not just a bunch of us cheerleading for our selves.  Anyways... 

 I went to most of the media literacy training workshop done by the New Mexico Media Literacy Project.  Though I am already familiar with media literacy and its core concepts and all that, it's nice to see how to give a presentation that topic.  

 I cut out at some point during the first half to go see the session on Behind Corporate Media, moderator by Phil Donahue.  He was wearing a bow tie, by the way.

 ahhhh.      I've left this blog for awhile now and got sidetracked on other matters, as usual.  Now I'm back to it and it's Saturday morning and I gotta get ready for the kids that come in the afternoon for media lab.  I'll blog more about the conference and definitely about this media lab thing next week.  

tootles.