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What to expect at this weekend's Media Democracy Days in Vancouver

Four months ago, mainstream media was in a frenzy after a young journalist quit his senior position as CTV's Quebec City Bureau Chief, and felt it his duty to tell us why. While refreshing for many, Kai Nagata's outspoken denouncement of mainstream media in favour of public interest journalism falls into a strong tradition of activism for media reform in Canada over the past few decades.

Responding to a growing rightward drift of mainstream media in Vancouver, Robert Hackett and colleagues at the Simon Fraser University School of Communication founded Media Democracy Day in 2001.

"The 1990s brought with them undeniable concern for the state of the public sphere, as far as the media would shape it," said Hackett. "Media Democracy Day aimed to create space for critical discussion and reflection on Canada's media landscape."

As Nagata's open letter and the 10-year anniversary of Media Democracy Day suggest, the conversation on the bridging of media and democracy is far from over. In fact, as MDD turns 10, the event has expanded to encompass programming which addresses all three of its core principles: Know the Media, Be the Media, Change the Media.

For the 2011 event organizers, this means the addition of a third day focussed on action-based learning. Katie Raso, co-organizer of Slutwalk Vancouver and a facilitator of MDD's Mapping Media Democracy: A Launchpad for Action dialogue, is looking forward to uniting citizens in the discussion of how to build a movement.

"The inspiration for Sunday's closing session is to connect participants with the wealth of independent media organizations in Vancouver. We want to provide a space that will help people channel their excitement and energy into brainstorming future projects and directions for Vancouver's organizing landscape," said Raso.

In addition to the dialogue, MDD will host four media production workshops at SFU Woodward's and W2 Media Café on Sunday Nov. 13 from 12 to 1:30 p.m. Sarah Buchanan is the programming coordinator at CJSF campus radio station, and will be hosting a workshop titled Do-It-Yourself Radio Basics. Having worked in community radio for a number of years, Buchanan understands the importance of having a diverse, independent media system.

"Not only is it socially empowering to have your voice heard in society, it's also interesting. Our volunteers come up with really innovative ideas on how to do a radio show because they haven't been told how to do a radio show."

In her work, Buchanan experiences the challenges that mainstream media's dominant voice has provided for how we visualize our role in the world.

"Half of my job is convincing people that they are allowed to be media producers. Many of the people that walk through our doors are concerned that since they don't have a journalism degree, they aren't qualified to be on the air. We have to change the preconception that we're not allowed to be part of the media."

This top-down model of information dissemination is one type of narrative that Media Democracy Days aims to defy throughout the weekend. With two keynote speakers, Dr. Sut Jhally and Judy Rebick, who founded internationally recognized media production spaces, The Media Education Foundation and Rabble.ca respectively, organizers hope that MDD participants leave the weekend feeling empowered to realize change and act upon connections bridged at the events.

Stuart Poyntz, an organizing director for Media Democracy Days states, "It's rare to have a mix of media being taken up by activists and those interested in encouraging media democratization in the city. Beyond the [media production] workshops themselves, we're most excited about the opportunity to gather together committed media makers to foster that elusive social movement in media democratization."

Media Democracy Days 2011 take place Nov. 11-13 at various venues in Vancouver. For more information, go to the website: www.mediademocracyday.org

Gala Milne is a student in the SFU School of Communication and coordinator of Media Democracy Days 2011.

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