Minneapolis and St. Paul are preparing for the arrival of thousands of media activists June 6-8. People are descending on the Twin Cites to attend the fourth National Conference for Media Reform. [1]

The Twin Cities Daily Planet [2] caught up with Free Press Executive Director Josh Silver to find out how the conference will plug people into the most pressing media issues – media consolidation, quality journalism and the future of the Internet.

Silver told the Daily Planet there is a deep connection between democracy and the media. “Due to consolidation and lap dog journalism, we are seeing a mainstream media that hinders rather than helps democracy,” he said. “People understand that if we are going to be able to learn about and elect good candidates, if we are going to be able to advance any issue that we care about, we have to build a different media system.”

Bill Moyers, Amy Goodman, Juan Gonzalez, Arianna Huffington, Katrina vanden Heuvel, Davey D, Van Jones and Naomi Klein are among the many notable speakers [3] attending the conference, which will explore topics ranging from [4] cell phone politics to hip hop activism.

Threaded through each of the 60 sessions will be one main goal: ensuring that media operates in the public’s interest.

“Are the laws that shape our media system going to be crafted on behalf of the giant corporations that own most of the media as they have been for decades, or are the laws going to be shaped on behalf of the American people?” Silver said. “That’s what this conference is about.”