News

On February 15, 2003, millions of people joined protest marches against the war on Iraq in many countries across the globe. Some commentators called it the largest global protest ever. Why do people take part in such demonstrations? Where do they get their political information? Are demonstrators mostly seasoned political campaigners, or have the demonstrations mobilized many first-time protesters?

These are some of the questions being investigated by a team of American and European researchers in a cooperative survey project. The CCCE led the American contingent in this major empirical research effort. With the help of student volunteers, over 2,000 questionnaires were distributed to protesters at the New York, San Francisco, and Seattle demonstrations. A copy of the survey and description of the research can be found here.

The first meeting of the SPIN project was held in December, 2002. Billed as a “conversation with community organizers, culture workers, and media activists aimed at creating a Seattle Political Information Network,” the meeting served as a fruitful brainstorming session for creating an interactive information and publicity system for community activists and issue advocacy networks. Distributed at the meeting was a SPIN 1.0 document detailing a vision for the project, a program for the meeting, and background information of participants. A SPIN 2.0 meeting is being planned for Spring, 2003.

Tuesday, October 29, 2002
12:30 – 1:30 p.m.
Communication Building, Room 126

Panelists: Sheri Herndon, Independent Media Center & Doug Schuler, Public Sphere Project & Seattle Community Network
Moderator: Lance Bennett, Professor, Political Science & Communication, UW
(Event co-sponsored by the Digital Media Working Group)

Tuesday, October 8, 2002
Communication 126
1-2:30 p.m.

CCCE is pleased to join the World Affairs Council, The Dart Center, the Russian and East European Program (REECAS), and the Department of Communication in sponsoring a roundtable discussion on issues facing journalists in East European democracies and the United States. University of Washington Faculty Roger Simpson, Jerry Baldasty and Lance Bennett will exchange perspectives with prominent journalists from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia and Poland. Topics include investigative journalism, economics and the news, journalists covering traumatic events, and the democratic role of journalism in different political systems. Open to the campus community. All are welcome to join in.

September 12-14, 2002

The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) will hold their annual conference at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center. Fox News commentator, Bill O’Reily, is scheduled to be the keynote speaker at the event. For more details, please refer to the NAB homepage at http://www.nab.org/

September 10-15, 2002

Media democracy activist groups will host a community media convergence shadowing the National Association of Broadcasters’ (NAB) radio conference at various Seattle locations. Amy Goodman of Pacifica’s Democracy Now! and David Barsamian of Alternative Radio are keynote speakers. Planned for the week are panels, teach-ins and lectures – along with various forms of entertainment and culture jamming, such as a performance by Mark Hosler of Negativland. Events are organized around the theme of media democracy, and include broadcast media ownership issues.

The event is sponsored by the coalition, Cascadia Media Alliance. From their mission statement: “The Cascadia Media Alliance is a coalition of independent journalists, media activists and community organizers in the Pacific Northwest, promoting press freedom and community media access as prerequisites for a functioning democracy.”

Check out the comprehensive web site http://www.reclaimthemedia.org for in-depth descriptions and schedule of the conference’s events. Many of the conference’s endorsers and associated allies are listed on our Media Democracy page.