Civil Rights & Media Justice

Soul Searching in Silicon Valley

Stevie Converse — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 09:19:44 -0500

Full article: Financial Times
April Dembosky
In the wake of social uprisings around the world this year, technology companies are responding to international human rights organizations' call for better facilitation of social movements in varying degrees. Some have begrudgingly reshaped internal policies to account for their wider role in society and a few are interpreting them as a strategic opportunity.

Statement of Michael J. Copps on 2010 Quadrennial Review

Stevie Converse — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 09:31:01 -0500

Full article: FCC
In the vast majority of cases, I do not believe that newspaper-broadcast cross-ownership advances the public interest. It means fewer voices in the community, less localism in the industry, and steep transactional costs that all too often lead to down-sized or shuttered newsrooms and fired journalists. Our media, and our public policy, need to head in a different direction.

Wiretapping, SOPA, Occupy: 2011 Was a Tumultuous Year in Media Law

Stevie Converse — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 12:08:13 -0500

Full article: PBS.org
Rob Arcamona
This year turned out to be one that could fit well in a Billy Joel song: peppered protesters, jailed journalists, Internet crusaders ... the list goes on. To recap a year that has been chock-full of shifts in media, here's a list of the top 10 (plus one for good luck) legal developments of 2011.

News Corp. Protesters Issue List of Grievances

Stevie Converse — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 07:31:35 -0400

Full article: SavetheNews.org
Timothy Karr
A coalition of concerned citizens, labor organizations, advocacy groups and OccupyLA protesters will demonstrate outside News Corporation's annual shareholders' meeting on Oct. 21. Under Rupert Murdoch, News Corp. has accumulated toxic levels of media power -- including cable channels, news networks, newspapers, television stations, movie studios and more. News Corp. leverages its news and entertainment empire to bully regulators, elect compliant politicians, gain regulatory favors and undermine the public interest.

News for All the People Book Tour Launch

Mary Alice Crim — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 13:29:28 -0400

Here at Free Press we're celebrating the release of our colleague Joseph Torres' new book, News for All the People: The Epic Story of Race and the American Media. This October the authors are taking their book on the road on a national tour that includes stops in New York, California, New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, and Washington, D.C.

Pittsburgh Stands Up for Media Reform

Lindsy Embree — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 10:30:54 -0400

Full article: SavetheNews.org
Libby Reinish
FCC Michael Copps will be the first to tell you that his own agency needs to do more to improve the country’s media system. Last week, he told a room full of Pittsburgh residents that a key part of the remedy is citizen action. The event, Owning Our Airwaves, convened federal policymakers and experienced Pittsburgh media makers and organizers to discuss the current state of the media, especially the lack of opportunities and representation for people of color and women.

News for All the People Book Launch: New York City

Lindsy Embree — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 09:19:49 -0400

Start: 10/20/2011 - 17:00

End: 10/20/2011 - 20:30

Timezone: Etc/GMT-4

Juan González of Democracy Now! and Joseph Torres of Free Press are proud to announce the launch of their new book, News for All the People: The Epic Story of Race and the American Media.

Americans for the Arts: Scenes from San Diego

Stevie Converse — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 07:28:22 -0400

Full article: National Alliance for Media, Art & Culture
Candace Clement
Public funding for the arts almost perfectly parallels the struggles for public funding for media. Both are facing cutbacks at the national and local levels --not to mention attacks from free-market ideologues who are missing one critical factor: They are both public goods.

Verizon Pursues Tough Line on Labor

Stevie Converse — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 07:21:27 -0400

Full article: Wall Street Journal
Anton Troianovski
Verizon is seeking some of the biggest concessions in years from its unions, stepping up pressure on organized labor as the telecom industry shifts to less labor-intensive wireless technology. As it starts talks to replace three-year union contracts set to expire Aug. 6, Verizon wants to tie pay increases more closely to job performance, make it easier to fire workers for cause, halt pension accruals this year and require union workers to contribute to health-plan premiums.

Take Back the Media

Stevie Converse — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 07:39:53 -0400

Full article: Orion Magazine
Josh Stearns
Years of runaway media consolidation have diminished the diversity of voices on the airwaves, gutted our nation's newsrooms, and wrested more and more media out of the hands of the people. But a rising wave of new nonprofit journalism efforts, new opportunities for local radio and digital justice coalitions are planting the seeds of a movement to take back our media.