House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi to Kick Off 2011 National Conference for Media Reform
BOSTON – House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi will headline the 2011 National Conference for Media Reform in Boston on April 8-10. The first woman to serve as Speaker of the House, and a powerful voice on media and technology issues, Pelosi will address the opening plenary of the event at the Seaport World Trade Center.
Thousands of grassroots activists, policymakers, journalists, scholars and people concerned about better media from across the country will attend NCMR 2011, hosted by Free Press, the largest event of its kind devoted to media, technology and democracy.
“We are very excited that Leader Pelosi will be joining us in Boston for what promises to be our best and most memorable event yet,” said Craig Aaron, managing director of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Free Press. “Decisions are being made in Washington right now that will shape the free and open Internet, the future of journalism and the health of our democracy, and we’re glad that policymakers will be here to address and listen to thousands of people from across the country committed to creating better media in their communities.”
The more than 300 presenters at the conference include U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders; U.S. Reps. Mike Doyle and Donna Edwards; FCC Commissioners Michael Copps and Mignon Clyburn; former White House technology adviser Susan Crawford; Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz; Craig Newmark of craigslist; PBS President Paula Kerger; Frontline Executive Producer David Fanning; Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez of Democracy Now!; journalists Glenn Greenwald, Laura Flanders, Katrina vanden Heuvel and David Shuster; Tony Award-winning playwright and performer Sarah Jones; musician Erin McKeown; ex-ABC news anchor Carole Simpson; Cheezburger Network founder Beh Huh; Internet scholars Lawrence Lessig, Tim Wu and Jonathan Zittrain; activists Malkia Cyril and Rinku Sen; Free Press co-founders Robert W. McChesney and John Nichols; and many more.
NCMR 2011 will also feature live musical performances, film screenings and more than 50 interactive sessions about journalism and public media, technology and innovation, policy and politics, arts and culture, social justice and movement building, plus hands-on workshops and how-to trainings.
To view the program, a schedule of events, registration information and highlights from previous conferences, go to http://conference.freepress.net.
Press credentials for NCMR 2011 are available to members of the media who will be covering the event. Request press credentials by filling out the online application: http://conference.freepress.net/press.
Many conference speakers, media policy experts and the event planners are also available for guest appearances in advance of the conference. To schedule an interview, contact Jenn Ettinger at press@freepress.net.
