Why Media Diversity Matters
A national town hall meeting in DC, Denver, and live via webcast
There’s a battle looming at the Federal Communications Commission and in the court of public opinion. It’s a battle over control over today’s media environment.
For more than two decades, the FCC, the agency that regulates the media, promoted minority ownership and employment in broadcasting, but that progress has been halted. Today, instead of local ownership with a diversity of views, we now have homogenized, cookie-cutter media divorced from local concerns.
A distinguished and diverse panel of speakers in DC and Denver will discuss why every American should be concerned about the loss of the diverse, independent journalistic voices that used to connect our nation, serve our local communities, and provide the foundation for our democracy.
When: June 29, 2007
Where: Jack Morton Auditorium, George Washington University
805 21st Street, NW, Washington, DC
Turnhalle in the Tivoli
900 Auraria Pkwy, Denver, CO
And on the web at: http://www.civilrights.org/issues/communication/telecom-webcast.html
Time: 12noon Eastern, 10am Mountain
Click here to RSVP for DC or Click here to RSVP for Denver
(Click here to receive a webcast email reminder)
Moderators:
Tavis Smiley, Host, Tavis Smiley on PBS and The Tavis Smiley Show from PRI (DC)
Mayor John Hickenlooper (Denver)
Panelists (DC):
Michael Copps, Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission
Lisa Fager, Co-founder, IndustryEars
Leonard Baynes, Professor of Law and Director, Ronald H. Brown Center for Civil Rights and Economic Development, St. John's University
Mark Lloyd, Center for American Progress
Debbie Goldman, Senior Policy Analyst, Communications Workers of America
Kim Gandy, President, NOW
Jim Winston, Executive Director, National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters
Panelists (Denver):
Alan O'Hashi, Kaeru Productions
Florence (Flo) Hernandez–Ramos, founder and former CEO of KUVO
Wick Rowland, CEO of KBDI, and former dean of journalism and mass communication at Colorado University
With introductions by:
Dian Callaghan, Chair, Colorado Common Cause
Polly Baca, President and CEO, Latin American Research and Services Agency (LARASA)
About the LCCREF Media and Communications Project
The Media and Communications Project was developed to help the national civil rights community play a central role in the policy debates shaping the nation’s media and communications landscape. At its core, communications policy is about equal opportunity and equal access to important local and national resources, such as education, health care, and economic equality.
