Media Democracy Festival 2015

To help build a movement for#MediaDemocracy we're holding a big Media Democracy Festival at Goldsmiths University on October 17th 2015.

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To help build a movement for#MediaDemocracy we’re holding a big Media Democracy Festival at Goldsmiths University on October 17th 2015. 9am – 10am: Arrivals/ registration – Great Hall

Speakers

10am – 11.30am: Great Hall The day will start with some great speakers setting the scene and explaining why Media Democracy is so important.  Confirmed speakers include: Aral Balkan A designer & social entrepreneur creating independent technologies that protect our fundamental freedoms & democracy. Natalie Fenton Professor of Media and Communications at Goldsmiths, Co-Director of the Goldsmiths Leverhulme Media Research Centre and  Centre for the Study of Global Media and Democracy, a founding member of the Media Reform Coalition and Board Director of Hacked Off. Kam Sandhu A journalist and co-founder of Real Media, an independent news website and aggregator that campaigns for public interest journalism and against mass media distortion. Kam has written and produced several short documentaries, and also founded RealFare, where she spent over two years reporting on the effects of austerity on welfare and inequality before Real Media. Michelle Stanistreet Michelle is the elected general secretary of the National Union of Journalists (UK and Ireland).  Michelle worked as a journalist for 10 years at the Sunday Express newspaper as feature writer and books editor. 11.30am  – 12pm: Break, and the great chair re-arrange, Great Hall

Open Space Unconference

12 – 6pm: Great Hall (with breakout sessions in various classrooms) The bulk of the day will be a self-organising open space unconference facilitated by Johnnie Moore.  Everyone will be free to propose a session that answers our central question: How can we create media democracy? Sessions already lined-up include:

Film

Alongside the open space they’ll be screenings of related documentaries including: The Fourth Estate with a Q&A with Director Lee Salter El Diario de Agustin (Agustin’s Newspaper), with a Q&A hosted by Alborada. Plus: 10 minute summary presentations running on a loop from Centre for Investigative Journalism: The Centre for Investigative Journalism – An introduction to the organisation Data Stories – Using data to find, write and explain news stories, from Excel to SQL Interactive Storytelling – The cutting edge of innovation in digital narrative methods Advanced Online Research – Tips and tricks for getting the most out of the internet The FOIA: Problems and pitfalls – Getting the most out of your requests. Information Security – Keeping your communication secure Company Accounts – ‘Follow The Money’ investigations into illicit finance

Workshops

Half hour taster sessions run by the Centre for Investigative Journalism. 15:00-15:30 Data Stories – Using data to find, write and explain news stories, from Excel to SQL, led by Juliet Ferguson. 15:30-16:00 The FOIA: Problems and pitfalls – Getting the most out of your requests, led by Sid Ryan. 16:00-16:30 Interactive Storytelling – The cutting edge of innovation in digital narrative methods, led by Marina Calland. 16:30-17:00 Information Security – Keeping your communication secure, led by Tom Sanderson.

Party (and live crowdfunding)

6pm – late. Live crowdfunding of media projects, spoken word, live music, and DJs.  In the evening we’re partnering with Filanthropy to organise a party from 6pm – late in the Student Union.  This will include the opportunity for 3 projects to pitch to the room and invite pledges of financial and other support from the crowd (who will be able to decide which projects get £5 of their ticket money, plus anything else they feel inspired to contribute). If you’ve got a media project that could really do with £500-1000 to help get you started then APPLY NOW for your chance to pitch to the room! LIVE BAND: United Vibrations We’re very pleased that incredible local band and festival favourites United Vibrations will be joining us for the party. SPOKEN WORD: Anthony Anaxagorou, Deanna Rodger and Potent WhisperThese amazing wordsmiths will be kicking the party off with their inspirational lyrics and wordplay.

Who’s coming to the Media Democracy Festival?

We’ve already got loads of great projects and groups signed up to participate, including: Real Media – an aggregator of independent news Hacked Off – the campaign for a free and accountable press Consented – “a multi-media platform for those who aren’t accurately represented by the mainstream” Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom – for a more accountable, freer and diverse media. Positive News – the world’s first publication dedicated to reporting positive developments, recently transformed into the first a global media co-op. Bristol Cable – a media co-operative – created and owned by people in Bristol who run free events, a multimedia website and a free quarterly print newspaper. The Centre for Investigative Journalism – Investigative journalism, critical inquiry, and in-depth reporting and research. The IMPRESS Project – for independent self-regulation of the press – and looking set to become the first recognised press regulator under the Royal Charter that came out of the Leveson inquiry People’s Assembly Against Austerity  – bring together campaigns against cuts and privatisation with trade unionists in a movement for social justice. Permaculture Magazine – an independent reader supported magazine all about practical solutions for self-reliance. visionOntv – who aim for the widest possible distribution of video for social change. Hastings Independent – the local non-profit community newspaper for Hastings & St Leonards on Sea Radical Film Network – a network for which those involved in radical film culture to work together and support its development, growth and sustainability. Shout Out UK – an independent news network that, via journalism, film and events, aims to show young people that politics has a direct impact on everything you do in life. Youth Media Agency – the National home for UK Youth Media: raising the profile of, and supporting, over 300 exciting media platforms. Through the Cracks – a news website devoted to coverage of reporting, storytelling and news startups made possible with the use of crowdfunding. Alborada – a UK based magazine, events and documentary producer covering Latin America London Socialist Film Co-op – arranges screenings where people can see films and take part in a panel discussion. Inform My Opinion – a podcast series on various social, political, economic, environmental subjects and activism (mainly in London), featuring voices of people who are well-informed and those who want to speak. Let Me Look TV – broadcasting videos they like or have produced (mostly activism stuff), and helping others broadcast their material too. Stop the War Coaltion – Stop the War was founded in September 2001 in the weeks following 9/11, when George W. Bush announced the “war on terror”. Stop the War has since been dedicated to preventing and ending the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and elsewhere. Goldsmiths Deptartment of Media and Communications Goldsmiths Student Union Compassionate Revolution – a platform where people pledge collective acts of art, heart, and civil disobedience to enable a Compassionate Revolution through the collective will of People Power! Their goals: to assert the voices of ordinary people in a functioning democracy; rapidly and peacefully redistribute wealth & power; and focus on the pressing issues of our age. Pax Vista TV – “A collective and professional response to the mainstream media, adhering to NUJ guidelines”