Podcast from Tonight’s Meeting with the Berkman Center Blog Group

Download the podcast from tonight’s Meeting with the Berkman Blog Group.

Andy Carvin’s Podcast: Open Content vs. Closed Doors (Or Closed Minds?)

Andy Carvin of The Digital Divide Network has a podcast available on his blog of his "keynote speech at the University of Missouri Scholarly Communications Conference". He also has a powerpoint presentation of his speech you can download to follow along with at home.

Andy notes in his talk that there is a direct correlation between income and education and who is and who is not online. He also remarks that content needs to be both locally and culturally relevant, as well as available multilingually, for people with different literacy levels, and accessible to people with disabilities.

His talk is an important reminder, as we use these online spaces, about how long we still have to go as a nation and a world towards bridging not only the digital, but the educational, economic, political, and other increasingly growing social divides between the "haves and have nots".

ACMEBoston Podcast: The Future of Public Access TV & The Internet

On this episode of the ACMEBoston Podcast, Mark Cooper of the Consumer Federation of America speaks with local independent radio host John Grebe about current bills in Congress affecting the future of Public Access Television and the Internet.

We also hear from Jason Crow, Access Coordinator of Cambridge Community Television and Michael Eisenmenger of Manhattan Neighborhood Network about how pending legislation in Congress takes away local control of media and places more power in the hands of Big Cable and Telephone companies.

Click here to listen to the ACMEBoston Podcast for February 11, 2006.

Also discussed is the issue of Network Neutrality which Free Press, the national media reform organization, describes as “the guiding principle of the Internet that fosters open competition and innovation, while preserving the independence and accessibility of the World Wide Web” – Free Press, Net Freedom Now.

To take a closer look at these issues, we’ll hear John Grebe’s interview from his program, “Sounds of Dissent” broadcast live on February 11, 2006. “Sounds of Dissent” on WZBC 90.3 FM in Newton, MA, covers current news and voices not often heard in the mainstream media.

This ACMEBoston Podcast, February 11, 2006, is brought to you by the Action Coalition for Media Education, Greater Boston. Produced by Colin Rhinesmith.

NEW ACMEBoston Podcast!

The new ACMEBoston Podcast is online at http://www.acmeboston.org!

Visit the new Podcast section on the website to listen to the first episode of the ACMEBoston Podcast with Professor Vincent Mosco, Canada Chair of Communication and Society at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario on media research and activism.

I spoke with Professor Mosco at The Global Flow of Information Conference at Yale University on April 5, 2005 about the field of critical communication and cultural studies and its contribution to media and political activism.

Click here to listen!

Welcoming all comments and ideas here for future ACMEBoston podcasts. Thanks!

Dan Gillmor on Citizen Media

Dan Gillmor, author of "We The Media" and founder of the Center for Citizen Media, spoke today at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School. I engineered and recorded the live webcast from the luncheon series today from 12:30 – 2:00 pm in the conference room at the Berkman Center.

Dan talked about how Citizen Journalism is transforming our culture as more and more people use blogs, podcasts, vodcasts, and other new media tools to tell their own stories and as a result challenge traditional media models.

Dan is starting a non-profit Center for Citizen Media as a joint initiative with the Berkman Center and the University of California-Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.

During the luncheon Ethan Zuckerman, co-founder of Global Voices talked about how people around the world are using blogs to challenge mainstream media representations of them and are saying "I don't like this coverage so therefore I'm going to take it on".

Listen to today's Berkman Luncheon Series with Dan Gillmor here.

Check out Dan's blog here and the Center for Citizen Media Blog here.

Weekly Media Analysis Podcasts

The following is a list of podcasts that take a look behind the scenes of our converging media landscape. "Mediageek" and "Media Minutes" provide important updates in the world of U.S. communications policy. "Counterspin" and "Media Matters" offer interviews with guests to discuss current issues and debates involving our media, culture, and society.

Mediageek:

Listen to Mediageek's "End of the Year at the FCC and the Importance of Spectrum" from 12-23-05.

"Spectrum is the policy word for the frequencies used in wireless communications. As we close out the year, Paul takes look at the issue of spectrum, including two new reports from the Goverment Accounting Office and the FCC. Paul also wraps up the year at the FCC discussing a last-minute battle in the Senate to approve two nominations to the FCC."

Media Minutes:

Listen to this week's Media Minutes from 01-06-06, which takes a look at :

"Soldiers on leave from Iraq are ordered to talk up the occupation to local media, in apparent violation of anti-propaganda laws. FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein wants official scrutiny of TV station charity-promotions. Sony BMG proposes a settlement for hacking PCs with anti-piracy software. The FCC leaves indecency be in 2005. NPR favors conservative pundits over liberals. And a Fast Fact: the dangers of practicing journalism in 2005."

Counterspin:

"CounterSpin provides a critical examination of the major stories every week, and exposes what the mainstream media might have missed in their own coverage. Combining lively discussion and a thoughtful media critique, CounterSpin is unlike any other show on the dial.

CounterSpin exposes and highlights biased and inaccurate news; censored stories; sexism, racism and homophobia in the news; the power of corporate influence; gaffes and goofs by leading TV pundits; TV news' narrow political spectrum; attacks on free speech; and more."

Media Matters:

"Media Matters features host Bob McChesney in conversation with a variety of guests. Listeners may call with comments or questions.

Bob McChesney is a research professor in the Institute of Communications Research and the Graduate School of Information and Library Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

'The media are central to all our lives,'he says. 'Yet the media are the most frequently misunderstood parts of our lives. We want to help people understand the role of media in society.'"