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DAILY NEWS
Oct 20, 2008 11:42 AM
Searching for Media Democracy One Day at a Time
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Physical activites are planned in locations from Vancouver to Montreal and related virtual activities will he held online, so organizers of this year's Media Democracy Day hope to reach both consumers and creators of media across the country and around the world.
Three themes for action and discussion will form the basis of activities on Media Democracy Day 2008, held across Canada on October 23, 2008.
Education, protest, change.
Is the media an obstacle or a driver for problem for positive social change, events organizers are asking?
According to some, media is supposed to provide a quality of information, and a wide range of perspectives and voices, to promote participation in public discussion, and informed citizenship.
But other say that behind the media buzzwords of our day convergence, global competitiveness, consumer choice the reality is a media system with fewer and fewer owners controlling more and more resources.
As a result, media outlets today seem more and more driven by marketing and commercial pressures rather than an ethic of public service.
Since 1996, there have been several efforts by concerned citizens and media activists to build coalitions to make the media more democratically accountable in the US as well as Canada.
Media Democracy Day is one such example.
Initially organized here by local Toronto and Vancouver groups concerned with threats to diversity posed by media concentration, early supporters included the Council of Canadians, the CEP union, the Canadian Media Guild, the Graphic Communications International Union, the CLC, and the Periodical Writers Assn.
Events were organized in 2001 in Toronto, Vancouver and Kitchener-Waterloo. Within a few years, there were assorted events in Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa and more.
This year, many Toronto-based events will be held at the International Student Centre on the University of Toronto.
In Montreal, Media@McGill is one of the main hosts for scheduled activities.
In Vancouver, the city's main Public Library has been booked to host various activities and panel discussions.
Organizers say October was first selected as a good time for media awareness activities, as students are back in school and there are not too many competing holidays or events.
But for those who want a trackable reason for selecting October 18th, two western-centric historically significant events point the way:
In 1922, the British Broadcasting Company was formed, and the date most associated is October 18.
Also, on October 18 1892, the first long-distance telephone line between Chicago and New York was formally opened.
For more information, visit www.mediademocracyday.org
