Workshop 1 - Wednesday, Sept. 27

MEDIA OWNERSHIP RULES CHANGES
Overview - The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulates the size and ownership interests of an increasingly wide variety of media companies. The FCC is proposing to set several new ownership rules and limits which would increase the amount of media properties one company can own in one city or market across distribution media and sub-categories. Radio ownership limits were eliminated in 1996 with negative consequences to public interest, including issues around local information, along with cultural and political sandbagging.

Public interest and media reform organizations have fought back against consolidation. They have asserted that changes would discourage diversity and allow an individual company to dominate public discourse and unfairly influence public opinion. They assert that a greater number of owners means more competition and a wider variety of individuals making decisions about what the American people see and hear.

Presenters - Dr. Hasan Crockett will discuss how radio ownership rules changes have created monopolies, such as Clear Channel, which have significantly skewed and shrunk the music, political opinions and news which millions of people hear. A profoundly negative impact has been felt in access to positive lyrics in hip-hop music and in news & information reflecting anti-war or anti-government positions.

Bruce Dixon, author of The Black Commentator, will also be on hand to discuss pressing and salient media ownership issues.

Okay, so what exactly will go on?

Happy you asked. Buckle up.

The project will focus on three areas:
1) MEDIA POLICY EDUCATION & TRAINING
A. Working with the universities, the Youth Media Collaborative will hold a series of media briefings on media policy issues. This will include bringing in speakers to talk about media consolidation and ownership, net neutrality, low-power radio, PEG access, deregulation, intellectual property and other concerns. Potential speakers would include representatives from such organizations as Free Press, Common Cause, Reform the Media, Youth Media Council and Prometheus Radio Project, among others.
B. Students will work with a collaboration of organizations to develop op-eds, public service announcements for radio and television, and materials for Internet distribution. Two student representatives and one professor from each school will be selected to cover/participate in the Media Reform Conference in Memphis. A follow-up forum about media justice issues will be held in Atlanta to help relay information to other students and the broader social justice community.

2) MEDIA SKILLS TRAINING
A. The Youth Media Justice Civic Participation Project will also provide media skills workshops to students on op-ed writing, as well as PSA and blog production, to encourage students to use technology and other media tools to speak out on public policy issues and discussions through the mainstream and independent media.
B. These workshops will be open to grassroots social justice groups. Interested students will be placed with local organizations to help foster working relationships.

3) HANDS ON APPLICATIONS
A. Students participating in the project will be required to produce PSAs, work on public affairs programming and write opinion pieces for distribution to the media. Students will be encouraged to write about media policy issues and concerns, to monitor local, state and national policy issues and to translate these issues for their peers and for the general public. Students will be asked to develop and maintain a website where information will be available to other students and to the social justice community.
B. During the legislative session, students will also be required to develop and maintain a blog covering legislative issues.
C. Students will meet with social justice groups prior to the legislative session to help determine priority issues. The blog will help keep social justice groups - particularly groups outside of the capital - informed about policy happenings. Students will work with social justice organizations to help craft media campaigns designed to raise public awareness, ensure that the public is fully informed and that progressive voices and viewpoints are part of policy debates.
D. Students will be assigned a social justice organization and will work closely with the Georgia Forum, People TV, WRFG-FM Radio (community radio station), and the Southern Media Justice Collaboration to identify media opportunities, determine topics for forums, and select speakers and trainers.