Remix Hotel Panel on Saturday

After participating in a panel with DJ Spooky last month at the Chelsea Art Museum, I was invited by Jo-Ann Nina of Shocklee Entertainment to be on a panel at the Remix Hotel NYC this Saturday June 4th at 3:30pm. It should be a great conversation about copyright, with a diverse mix of opinions. Come out and check it out...

People include: HANK SHOCKLEE (Music Industry Executive, Producer, Founder of Public Enemy), ROSE MEADE HART (Attorney, Copyright & Trademark - Mary J. Blige, MC Lyte, Frank Sinatra, Shaggy), SIVA VAIDHYANATHAN (Media scholar, historian, author of "Anarchist in the Library" & "Copyrights, Copywrongs"), COLIN MUTCHLER (Director of activefreemedia.org, Creative Commons Advocate, Musician, Media Artist), ATOSSA KIA (Attorney, Copyright & Trademark, Webcasts, Formal counsel for Sony Music Entertainment).

SAE Institute of Technology, NYC Campus
Herald Square, 1293 Broadway, 9th Floor
Sixth Ave @ W 34th - at the top of the Daffy's/Staples building

Sharing Visuals through Portable Projectors

As mobile devices become the most popular tools of the web (see pdf of mobile graph), their small screens aren't exactly ideal for sharing among friends, families, and communities. So I've been thinking, what if you could have the option of projecting your screen to a nearby wall or open space? Back in December of 2004, I read this article about some folks who are actually building prototypes of smaller, portable projectors . Of course it would work best at night in low light, but that's ok. The other option I've been thinking about is that you could bring your iPod or whatever into a connected space and be able to easily connect (with wires or wirelessly) to projectors and screens set up best for that space. We gotta long way to go, but it's coming, so we gotta keep on imagining how it will best facilitate productive communication and cool sharing.

"Crash" Interconnection in Fort Greene

I just walked out of the film "Crash." It was the best movie I've seen in the last year or so. I was amazed by how it brought issues of race, immigration, and money into the interconnected and intimate stories of 10 or so very human characters.

That's all I'm going to write for now because I'm enjoying the first weekend in many months that is about relaxing and regenerating. After leaving Learning Matters a little early on this beautiful spring/summer new york day for the work session of the Media that Matters Film Festival, I sat in the sun and called a potential replacement for my job, and then headed home for a relaxing listen to an "On the Media" podcast.

In between the wash cycle of my loads of laundry, I checked out this new solar powered outdoor restaurant called Habana Outpost at the corner of Fulton and South Portland, and met some new friends over a $2.50 Brooklyn Draft and a great burger and mexican corn.

It's amazing that in my New York crazy life, I feel totally relaxed and ready for bed after laundry, dinner, and a great film. I guess it's because it all happened in a three block radius on a beautiful summer night in Fort Greene.

On the two block walk from BAM to my apartment, it was perfect that I ran into Ashanti, the young artist from the block who's making a film about the changin neighborhood. It was one of those nights, like in "Crash," where I felt in tune with the energy of the interconnectedness.

Media Democracy Movement, First Day

This weekend I'm attending the National Media Reform Conference in St. Louis, Missouri. An amazing gathering of over 2,000 people who are working for a democratic and just media. So far the first speakers were amazing. From Janine Jackson of FAIR, to Malkia Cyril's passionate and clear articulation of a media justice movement that goes beyond calls for reform, to Amy Goodman's inspiring call for journalists with integrity. It seems like there is more of a broad perspective than the last conference in terms of what we need to do to win. More notes are in the full post, including important words from Juan Gonzalez about the history and future of this movement.

Panel 1:

Juan Gonzalez:
One of the most important leaders for media democracy is C Evert Parker, head of the communications department of the United Church of Christ, who began with the NAACP holding the local network television station. He has never being

Cherokee newspaper in 1828. The first Chinese language daily newspaper in Sacramento. There is a long history of democratic media attempting to break through the stranglehold. Often it has taken the form of independent and ethnic press.

Four pillars of the media democracy movement: (1) public accountability movement, (2) media workers themselves, 300,000 full time workers, (3) independent, non-commercial media (4) non-monopoly commercial media

He talked about building an alliance with the religious conservatives who don't want to expose their children to commercials and sex, etc.

Noami Klein:
The issue of American media is actually a global issue. "When Americans learn geography through war and religion through torture, the world is in crisis."

It's not enough to 'reform' the media, but to revolutionize the media.

What gets amplified? It's not so much about what facts get put through, but what gets amplified to become a story. It's not that there's no outrage, but there's almost too much outrage about strange things.

We have to stop pretending that if the facts are reported, the truth will set us free. We need our own amplification systems.

Compassion relief valves. Terry Schiavo, the Pope.

Simple demand: "Show us the War"

Panel 2: on Media Activism

Inja Coates from Media Tank
They have some great images of the Angels of the Public Interest trying to deliver the magic ball of the public interest to Michael Powel. Try to get those.

Jonathan from Reclaim the Media
Lots of questions that we should be asking Cable Companies.