Press Release
Free Press announces 2005 National Conference for Media Reform
Contact: Timothy Karr, 201-533-8838
WASHINGTON – Free Press, the national, nonpartisan media reform group, today launched the official Web site of the 2005 National Conference on Media Reform and opened general registration for the event. The conference, which will be held May 13-15 at the Millennium Hotel in St. Louis, will bring together several thousand people working to create a more democratic media system.
“We’ve witnessed an unprecedented explosion of interest in media issues in recent years,” said Robert W. McChesney, the president and founder of Free Press. “The public is fed up with shoddy journalism, government-funded pundits, a lack of independent media and rampant consolidation. This conference is a unique opportunity for thousands of media reformers to meet, learn and strategize.”
The event will offer dozens of panel presentations, interactive workshops, speeches, film screenings and roundtable discussions on topics such as media ownership and consolidation, grassroots organizing, media literacy, public broadcasting, intellectual property, commercialism, community Internet, and much more.
Among those already scheduled to speak at the event are FCC Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein; comedian Al Franken; Naomi Klein, author of No Logo; Daily News columnist Juan Gonzalez; syndicated columnist Arianna Huffington; and linguist George Lakoff. Activist leaders and members of Congress will also attend the event.
In 2003, Free Press hosted the first National Conference for Media Reform in Madison, Wisconsin, bringing together more than 1,700 activists, educators, policy-makers and journalists, artists and concerned citizens.
“The last conference was an historic event that helped invigorate the media reform movement,” said Josh Silver, executive director of Free Press. “Since then, the movement has gathered momentum as more Americans engage in the fight to fix our media system. If you’re concerned about the media, you won’t want to miss this opportunity.”
More information about the National Conference for Media Reform is available at www.freepress.net/conference.
“We’ve witnessed an unprecedented explosion of interest in media issues in recent years,” said Robert W. McChesney, the president and founder of Free Press. “The public is fed up with shoddy journalism, government-funded pundits, a lack of independent media and rampant consolidation. This conference is a unique opportunity for thousands of media reformers to meet, learn and strategize.”
The event will offer dozens of panel presentations, interactive workshops, speeches, film screenings and roundtable discussions on topics such as media ownership and consolidation, grassroots organizing, media literacy, public broadcasting, intellectual property, commercialism, community Internet, and much more.
Among those already scheduled to speak at the event are FCC Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein; comedian Al Franken; Naomi Klein, author of No Logo; Daily News columnist Juan Gonzalez; syndicated columnist Arianna Huffington; and linguist George Lakoff. Activist leaders and members of Congress will also attend the event.
In 2003, Free Press hosted the first National Conference for Media Reform in Madison, Wisconsin, bringing together more than 1,700 activists, educators, policy-makers and journalists, artists and concerned citizens.
“The last conference was an historic event that helped invigorate the media reform movement,” said Josh Silver, executive director of Free Press. “Since then, the movement has gathered momentum as more Americans engage in the fight to fix our media system. If you’re concerned about the media, you won’t want to miss this opportunity.”
More information about the National Conference for Media Reform is available at www.freepress.net/conference.
