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Columns and Commentary by John Bambenek

I’ll Be Liveblogging “Can Freedom of the Press Survive Media Consolidation” Talk May 10-11

The U of Illinois is having a conference titled Can Freedom of the Press Survive Media Consolidation? - A Conference Featuring Artists, Journalists, Media Executives, Policy Makers, Activists, and Scholars.

Here are some of the guests:

Rep. Bernie Sanders
Danny Goldberg of Air America
Amy Goodman of Democracy Now

There doesn’t appear to be anything close to representing a conservative that’s affiliated with this thing, but I don’t know all the names. I’m going to withhold judgement until I’m there to see how bad this is. But I will be there liveblogging the event if there is wireless that I can get on. If not, I’ll be near-time blogging.

Stay Tuned.

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  • May 6th, 2005 Posted by John Bambenek | The MSM | 2 comments

    2 Comments »

    1. John,

      That sounds like something worthwhile and interesting to attend. And what do you know? I’m done with finals after this weekend!

      I think I’ll hit that conference up as well. I’m surprised the Comm. College didn’t push that information out to us, or at least I don’t remember seeing any advertisements for it.

      Comment by Kiyoshi Martinez | May 7, 2005

    2. No, you won’t find anyone remotely conservative with this group or even a differing opinion amongst the panelists. This is from the U of I news release. Seymour Hersh is the “star” journalist. enjoy???

      * Roberta Baskin, executive director of the Center for Public
      Integrity, and an investigative journalist who has worked for “20/20″
      and “Now With Bill Moyers.”

      * Phil Donahue, host of “The Phil Donahue Show,” a television talk
      show that ran from 1967 to 1996.

      * Bill Fletcher Jr., the president and CEO of TransAfrica Forum, and
      a former executive with the AFL-CIO.

      * Linda Foley, the president of the Newspaper Guild.

      * Danny Goldberg, the CEO of Air America Radio, a liberal talk-radio
      network, and a former chairman and CEO of Artemis Records.

      * Amy Goodman, the host of Pacifica Network’s “Democracy Now!” news
      program, and co-author of the book “The Exception to the Rulers:
      Exposing Oily Politicians, War Profiteers, and the Media That Love
      Them.”

      * Len Hill, a veteran movie producer who has become a major figure in
      the battle to preserve an independent production sector in Hollywood.

      * Paul Jay, a documentary filmmaker and founder of Independent World
      Television, a global news network seeking to begin broadcasting in
      2007.

      * Naomi Klein, a columnist for The Nation magazine and the author of
      “No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies.”

      * John Nichols, Washington correspondent for The Nation and
      co-author, with McChesney, of “Our Media, Not Theirs: The Democratic
      Struggle Against Corporate Media.”

      * U.S. Rep. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, a member of the Progressive
      Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives, and an advocate for
      media reform.

      * Orville Schell, the dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at
      the University of California at Berkley, and a frequent correspondent
      for “Frontline,” a PBS program.

      * Ben Scott, policy director for Free Press, an organization founded
      by McChesney in 2002 to advocate for public awareness and
      participation in media policy and reform.

      * Dennis Swanson, CEO of Viacom Television Stations Group, and
      formerly president of ABC Sports and general manager of WLS-TV in
      Chicago.

      The schedule of panel discussions and the panelists:

      Tuesday, May 10, Foellinger Auditorium
      7:30-9:30 p.m. - Goodman, Klein and Sanders

      Wednesday, May 11, Festival Theater, Krannert Center for the Performing
      Arts
      9-10:30 a.m. - Foley, Hersh, Nichols and Schell
      10:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. - Donahue, Hill and Klein
      1:45-3:15 p.m. - Baskin, Goldberg, Jay and Swanson
      3:30-5 p.m. - Fletcher, Goodman and Scott

      McChesney said another purpose of the conference is to build linkages
      not only among the media scholars attending the event, but among
      scholars, activists, policy-makers and journalists. “We hope we can
      begin to break down the barrier between the academy and the
      policy-making realm,” he said.

      For updates or additional information, visit http://www.iimpr.org.

      Comment by kent | May 9, 2005

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