July 15.2009

McGregor Hall at Wayne State
Detriot, MI
Conference Website

On July 16 in Detroit a SUMMIT for Women Centered Social Justice Media will be held at the opening of the Allied Media Conference. This intense, yet nourishing, one-day work session aims to draw representatives from the 300 organizations and outlets --- radio, video, magazines, blogs, ezines --- to unite them in common cause for women’s empowerment.

Creation of a national women’s media agenda and a collective strategy for the sustainability of women’s media organizations are central goals. Building trust among the groups and across race/class/geography/media-genre borders will be a critical first step. Self-defined affinity groups will collaborate on programs. As a whole body women will share field developments and discuss the results of the recent survey. In an interactive World Café process SUMMIT participants will prioritize programs needs. Then from a series of funding models the women media makers will design a new sustainable fund that best serve the collective needs of the field of women’s social justice media organizations.

Women attending are requested to bring an offering---a media piece, a symbol of their work, an icon---to place on an alter at the start of the meeting. In conclusion all these offerings will be redistributed out to all attendees.

Registration for the SUMMIT is $40 and includes three meals for the long work day that starts at 8:30 and runs into the evening. Women’s Media Equity Collaborative (WMEC), convener of the SUMMIT, recognizes that many groups need scholarships to attend. Priority is for groups led by women of color, low income women, queer women, the disabled and moms. WMEC is still actively fund raising and seeking sponsors to assist this process. Further we urge women to check out Allied Media Conference’s website http://www.alliedmediaconference.org. There are leads on how to get to Detroit via grassroots fund raising efforts; housing; how to find the conference site, McGregor Hall at Wayne State.

The pressing need for women’s media organizations to mobilize is perceived by many women media leaders. Among the forces that drive this necessity are:

1) the persistent exclusion of women from media policy discussions;
2) mainstream media’s continued low (21%) representation of women’s and girls stories; and
3) the lack of substantial support from established philanthropy for women centered media, exacerbated by the economic slump.

The SUMMIT has historic implications, to significantly deepen the ability of those organizations and outlets that are the first presenters of women’s voices and breaking news on hundreds of vital stories effecting women’s lives. The SUMMIT is being held in Detroit on the 161st anniversary of the Women Rights Convention and the Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments.

Adrienne Maree Brown of The Ruckus Society will facilitate the sessions. WMEC recently sent a survey to the field to collect data in advance of the SUMMIT. The project to conduct the survey and hold the SUMMIT have been funded by Social Science Research Council, a re-grant program supported by Ford Foundation. WMEC is indebted to Allied Media Conference’s assistance in holding this SUMMIT at the beginning of their 11th annual conference. The INCITE! Women of Color/Trans People of Color Track has two representatives working with WMEC to plan the SUMMIT.