You can see what is going in Vancouver, Kingston, Ottawa, Montreal and Toronto at
mediademocracyday.org

I mentioned in another post that rabble's relaunch is on media democracy day, and concludes a full day of action, a media fair and workshops at 33 St George Street.

Here is the list of workshops and presenters for the Toronto event: International Student Centre, 33 St. George

Citizen Journalism panel Featuring Dale Mugford (Bravenewcode and matthewgood.com), Michael Tippett (NowPublic), Michelle Langlois (rabble.ca), Leanne Allen (CBC Radio/Online called Citizen Janes) and Roz Allen (therozblog.com).

Thinking About Anti-oppression and Alternative Media: From Intent to Practice. Facilitated by Sharmeen Khan (Upping the Anti and OPIRG-York)

Effective media coverage of the recent changes to Ontario’s Human Rights system. Presented by Human Rights Advisory Services

Documentary film-making. Resourcing sharing for documentary filmaking. Facilitated by Liisa Schofield (OpirgTO and filmmaker), Malinda (Be:Collective) and Carmelle Wolfson (independent filmmaker)

Latin American Issues in the Media. Presented by Lisa Makarchuk, Co-chair of Free the Five Cultural Committee and Alex Grant from Hands Off Venezuela

Beyond CBC-Pravda and media blackouts: Finding the real news about Canada’s war in Afghanistan and the homelessness crisis”. Presenters: Derrick O’Keefe (rabble.ca, StopWar Vancouver)and Andrew Mindszenthy (TDRC, Housing not War)

Reporting on poverty. Presented by Josephine Grey, Low Income Families Together

Investigative Research on the Web: Skills for Activists and Independent Journalists. Presented by Tim Groves

Open Source and New Media: Opportunities and Challenges. Presented by Darren Alexander

Indigenous Solidarity 101. Presented by Corvin Russell (EnJOI)

The Free Press on Campus. Facilitated by Rebecca Granovsky-Larson (Ryerson Free Press)

Podcasting 101. Presented by Meagan Perry (rabble.ca)

Left punditry: doing and presenting political analysis. With Justin Podur (zmag.com and killingtrain.com)

Campus Community Radio in Canada. Facilitated by Carmelle Wolfson and Susy Alvarez

On-Line Video 101. Presented by Tor Sandberg (rabble.ca)

Geeks versus Gatekeepers: How to Save Canada’s Open Internet. By Matt Thompson (Free Press, Savethenet.ca)

Strategy Session: next steps for MDD Toronto. Facilitated by Kim Elliott (rabble.ca)

Closing plenary, pre-action Maude Barlow (Council of Canadians) introduced by Sharmeen Khan

5:30pm - 7pm Action! Speaker’s Corner, University & College

8pm Doors open at Steamwhistle Roundhouse 255 Bremner Avenue

A Roundtable discussion with Maude Barlow (Council of Canadians), Murray Dobbin, Linda McQuaig (author), Jessica Yee. Moderated by Duncan Cameron (rabble.ca)

9pm-midnight: Concert! LAL, Mraya, Autorickshaw

Confirmed speakers include:

*Rex Weyler - Co-founder of Green Peace
*Deborah Campbell - Award Winning Independent Journalist
*David Beers - Publisher – The Tyee
*Gurpreet Singh - Broadcaster on Radio India, freelance columnist for Surrey Now, freelance reporter for South Asian Post
*Michael Tippett - Co-founder of Nowpublic.com
*Robert Hackett - professor at SFU and author of “Remaking Media”
*Andrea Hayley - president of the Epoch Times Vancouver
*Robert Scales – CEO of RainCity Studios
*Matt Thompson - Campaign Strategist for FreePress, Co-Founder of SaveOurNet.ca
*Kate Milberry - Media and Technology Commentator (See her blog)

Press Release - For immediate release
October 23, 2008

Large Media Democracy Day coalition asks, "What is Missing in the Media?"

A network of 20 independent media organizations, advocacy groups and media activists will gather in Toronto today for the city's largest ever Media Democracy Day event to ask: What is missing in the media, and Who is left out from mainstream news coverage in Canada today?

"Media Democracy Day is a chance for people to come together and discuss how media concentration and consolidation affects the quality of news coverage, and how we can increase the number and diversity of voices out there to fundamentally improve Canadian society and democracy," says Stuart Trew, Ontario-Quebec regional organizer for the Council of Canadians, and one of several Media Democracy Day co-organizers.

A focal point of the this year's Media Democracy Day are the many thematic and skills-building workshops on topics as varied as a critique of CBC's coverage of the Afghanistan war, the open source movement for software democracy, a podcasting class, anti-oppression, investigative online journalism and the democratic potential of campus radio.

"The response to the call-out for Media Democracy Day has been overwhelming," says Kim Elliott, publisher of rabble.ca and Media Democracy Day co-organizer. "We're thrilled to be offering a full day of free workshops designed to build media skills, like how to podcast or how become a freelance investigative journalist. Truly, if there is one thing missing from the mainstream media it is the diversity of voices and perspectives so crucial to ensuring that no one set of interests - largely the corporate interests of the highly concentrated media giants - can drown out all others."

Media Democracy Day Toronto kicks off with a panel on citizen journalism, featuring rabble.ca journalists and NowPublic's Michael Tippett.

At 5pm EST, following the workshops, activists will be taking it to the streets, wearing distinctive red t-shirts, to hear what ordinary people think is missing in the media.

The day concludes with a roundtable discussion and rabble.ca relaunch party at the Steamwhistle Roundhouse with guests Maude Barlow, Anne Lagace-Dowson, Murray Dobbin, Jessica Yee and Duncan Cameron, and musical guests LAL, Maryam Tollar and MC Lorraine Segato

quote:

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Looking for the story behind the story, hundreds of curious Torontonians visited U of T’s International Student Centre on Oct. 23 for the 12th annual Media Democracy Day. Appropriately titled “What’s Missing in the Media?” the day was packed with presentations on underreported and controversial topics.

One of the workshops, “Investigative Research on the Web: Skills for Activists and Independent Journalists,” led by Tim Groves, focused on crafty research techniques used by investigative journalists, private-eyes, and hackers.

Starting with the ubiquitous search engines, Groves taught a group of about 20 people the methods of obtaining precise search results from deep within the world wide web. Groves, who collaborates with activists and journalists, said the easiest way to learn internet syntax—specific codes in website addresses—is by “using the advanced search form and paying attention to the syntax it generates.”

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