Transmission Project

Journalism that Matters, the Media Giraffe Project and others are convening a three day gathering “to consider the roots of American community, freedom, democracy – and the journalism which protects each”:

The America of Norman Rockwell’s mid-20th-century illustrations was rich with simple truths and sometimes hard choices. In that world, we respected authority, and the flag. We were asked to embrace justice, equality and tolerance. The “Country Editor” personified the Four Freedoms at the grassroots.

On Sept. 11, 2001, it was as if the last vestiges of Rockwell’s stoic, insular, yet generous nation had been torn asunder, and a new, darker period of fear engaged. A buy-now-pay-later ethic has brought some of our most valued journalism institutions to the brink. Now even the Missouri country editor works with bits and bytes alongside type and ink. Yet innovation abounds on the Internet, and we find new ways to connect and circulate. If Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and Twitter have taught us anything, it’s that we may hunger for the constancy of community more than ever.

Can we reboot Rockwell’s America in a digital age? Do we want to? What might be the role of art, and culture? Join us Sept. 11-13 to consider the options – and tools.

The Society of Professional Journalists is pleased to announce Roxana Saberi, the freelance journalist imprisoned in Iran from Jan. 31 to May 11, will be the keynote speaker at the Mark of Excellence Awards Luncheon on Friday during convention in Indianapolis.

This year’s annual meeting theme will be “Re-birth of a Nation: Using art to navigate the intersection of oppressions.” As a phoenix rising from the ashes, America is entering a time of new opportunities for growth, change, and awareness, a re-birthing. These same opportunities parallel Alternate ROOTS’ strategic planning year, as we evaluate and build a stronger foundation for Alternate ROOTS’ future. With change looming ahead we cannot forget our purpose, and understand that we have miles to travel in the work to end all forms of oppression. How can ROOTS re-define its use of art to navigate that intersection? What will it take to activate the collective consciousness of the future?

This year’s theme supports the idea that sustainable communities are needed in order to truly work towards ending oppression, and the idea that sustainability comes in many forms whether environmentally, psychologically, or spiritually “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” in every sense of the expression. We have the opportunity to reduce our consumption environmentally as well as reduce the ignorance feeding oppression. We have the opportunity to reuse materials and goods as well as reuse the knowledge of our ancestors to strengthen the connection between art and the movement. We can recycle these ideas into constructive images and actions.

The 11th annual Allied Media Conference will be held July 16-19, 2009 in the McGregor Conference Center on the campus of Wayne State University in Detroit.

The Allied Media Conference is the central project of the Allied Media Projects (AMP) network, which emerges out of ten years of organic relationship-building. Since the first conference (then the Midwest Zine Conference) in 1999, people have been compelled by the concept of do-it-yourself media. Later, as the Underground Publishing Conference, the emphasis was on building a movement of alternative media makers. With the shift towards Allied Media, the AMC has attracted more and more people who are interested in using participatory media as a strategy for social justice organizing.