Boston Town Hall Meeting on Media and Democracy

This fall the FCC will face massive corporate pressure to gut media-ownership rules and pave the way for more media consolidation. In Congress the “Super Committee” will weigh cuts to public media as it trims the federal budget. Meanwhile, Net Neutrality protections preserving the free and open Internet are under increasing threat.

On Oct. 21 the Boston Media Reform Network is hosting a town hall exploring how today’s shifting media landscape impacts the news and information needs of local communities, especially Boston. We will screen portions of the documentary Page One: Inside the New York Times, which chronicles the media industry’s transformation in the face of this changing landscape, to help frame the town hall conversation. New York Times reporter Brian Stelter, who is featured in the documentary, will participate in our discussion.

Here are the details:

What: Town Hall Meeting on Media and Democracy
When: Friday, Oct. 21, at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6:30.
Where: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Room 10-250, 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, Mass.
Who: Brian Stelter, New York Times reporter, Kate Novack, Page One: Inside the New York Times producer, Andrew Rossi, Page One: Inside the New York Times director, Sasha Costanza-Chock, professor of civic media at MIT, and Craig Aaron, president and CEO of Free Press

The town hall also kicks off the Social Movements/Digital Revolutions Conference, which will bring together hundreds of activists and media makers who are fighting to forge a new digital future: http://www.digitalmediaconference.org

The Boston Town Hall Meeting on Media and Democracy is sponsored by the Boston Media Reform Network, Free Press, Lesley University, Mass. Global Action, the MIT Center for Civic Media, the MIT Comparative Media Studies Program and Open Media Boston, with support from Participant Media.