Media Reform

I've got one word for you.

Wow.

It is so good to be amongst old friends and colleagues here at the 4th National Conference on Media Reform.

Where to start?

"Nation" journalist John Nichols puts on his "What the FCC Is Going On" button with a giant white polar bear. Really!

What do I feel like walking into an auditorium with 3,000 citizens all fired up for media reform?

To quote the late great James Brown:

"I feels good."

The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood's Josh Golin frames his multimedia talk on how corporations use multimedia to target kids, and what we can do about it.

ACME Co-President Bob McCannon deconstructs the decided lack of mainstream news coverage re: the recent sub-prime mortgage debacle in his afternoon keynote.

ACME Teach-In participants have all of their media and technology questions answered by Horace Mann School tech gurus and ACME New York City co-founders Adam Kenner and Sheryl Rivera, just prior to the 4th National Conference on Media Reform.

MEF's Kendra Hodgson shares some powerful MEF film clips in her discussion-driven workshop about using documentary films for social change.

How can we harness the power of digital media to champion a community or social cause important to us? We explored this question in our workshop, looking at a "Turn On The Tap" digital story created by elementary school media makers.

I am fired up.

I am sitting in the Best Western hotel room here in Minneapolis (I like this town, and affectionately refer to it as "Minny") with my old friend - ACME co-founder and co-president Bob McCannon.

We are preparing for ACME's first-ever TEACH-IN at the National Conference on Media Reform.

ACME has attended all four of Free Press' National Media Reform conferences, beginning with the one in Madison back in 2003, running workshops and an exhibit booth advocating the importance of media education for media reform.

Hear ACME Co-President Dr. Rob Williams speak on media education for media reform at Senator Bernie Sanders' town meeting at St. Michael's College.