Southern Oregon’s fifth annual Independent Media Week, April 19 – 25, will showcase a coalition of independent media producers, local activists and community groups organized around the theme that “A well-informed citizenry is a cornerstone of democracy”
Once again, media activists and community volunteers are organizing the week’s activities, and are inviting participation and attendance from all interested citizens and organizations. This year groups will be hosting independent media workshops, forums, films and performances including unplugged acoustic entertainment from local independent performers and student musicians. Our goals are to celebrate our diverse independent media, to bring attention to those sources and to empower community to use those resources.
In April 2005, the City of Ashland, Oregon officially proclaimed its first Independent Media Week. Every year since a coalition of community media supporters have asked the City of Ashland to proclaim a week in April as Independent Media Week. In 2008 we took our proclamation to the county level. This year, we will bring our proclamation to the state of Oregon.
Our proclamation is simple but defines the purpose of Independent Media Week:
INDEPENDENT MEDIA WEEK PROCLAMATION
* An informed citizenry is a cornerstone of democracy.
* An informed citizenry depends on unrestrained press, which provides greater access to information, more points of view and greater diversity of thought and fact.
* The trend toward the consolidation of media ownership has resulted in journalistic practices that hinder public awareness by excluding or
marginalizing minority and dissenting viewpoints.
* Fewer media voices can result in homogenized messaging and the silencing of many points of view.
* Democratic principles support the case for more independent media in this country, not less.
NOW, THEREFORE, I do hereby proclaim the week as INDEPENDENT MEDIA WEEK and encourage all citizens to seek out and explore the rich diversity of independent media available within, and to our community.
We are very excited that Oregon State Representative Peter Buckley has pledged to take our proclamation to the state level in January 2009.
Every year since 2005 in the City of Ashland, the mayor has accepted our request and proclaimed Independent Media Week during a week in April and last year we tried although unsuccessfully to pass our resolution before the Jackson County Board of Commissioners.
We are also proud to have the commitment of Peter Phillips to be the
keynote speaker and highlight of the week’s events. Peter Phillips, director of Project Censored, is an associate professor of sociology at Sonoma State University in California. He is known for his op-ed pieces in the alternative press and independent newspapers nationwide, including Z Magazine and Social Policy. He frequently speaks on censorship and various sociopolitical issues on radio and TV talk shows, including Talk of the Nation, Public Interest, World Radio Network, and Democracy Now!. Project Censored, founded in 1976 by Carl Jensen, has as its principal objective the advocacy for and protection of First Amendment rights and the freedom of information in the United States.
We are fortunate to have a strong coalition of community partners and
organization who help organize activities and programs throughout the week. Each organization takes initiative for their own events and helps provide logistical support and outreach for each other’s events.
Our lead organizational and fiscal umbrella is The Multicultural Association of Southern Oregon (MCASO). MCASO is a volunteer-run organization in Jackson County, Oregon, dedicated to building community.
MCASO have a 15-year history of creating opportunities for people from different backgrounds to gain an appreciation for each other. Through our community radio station KSKQ 94.9 lp FM, we are able to give non-traditional voices access to the airwaves.
Independent Media Week coalition partners also include The Rogue Independent Media Center, S.O.U. Media Collective, Students For Truth, Peace House, KSKQ Community Radio, Disabled United in Direct Empowerment (DUDE), Southern Oregon Jobs with Justice, Citizens for Peace and Justice (Medford), Rogue Valley Community Television, The Brain Labor Report, OPEU District Four Productions and The Women’s Resource Center.
The week’s events begin on Sunday, April 19th with a concert with labor singer George Mann who will be flying in from New York City. The event will be held at the Siskiyou Pub at 7 pm. This event is sponsored by Southern Oregon Jobs with Justice. George Mann has been a union organizer and activist for many years as well as a musician. He grew up playing in rock and roll bands on Long Island and in New York City. He has previously recorded several albums of his songs and performs for many unions and organizations. He is a producer of labor music and has a new solo CD, “Into the Fire.”
During the week we will broadcast coverage over Rogue Valley Community Television (RVTV) and KSKQ Community Radio Station. KSKQ is community owned and operated radio station licensed to broadcast by the FCC. KSKQ empowers the community and strengthens local culture through inclusive programming by providing a forum for artistic expression and social issues. RVTV operates four public and government access cable channels in Southern Oregon. RVTV is wholly owned and operated by Southern Oregon University. RVTV’s mission is to establish, manage and maintain a sustainable organization that provides public, education and government (PEG) access television services on a cooperative basis to the citizens and local governments of Southern Oregon; supports the educational mission of Southern Oregon University; upholds the First Amendment; and offers access to the electronic media to all the members of this community.
On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday several student groups will host a film and discussions at Southern Oregon University. Groups include Students for Truth and the SOU Media Collective as well as the Women’s Resource Center of Southern Oregon. These events will take place in the evenings at Southern Oregon University, Meese Auditorium - Center for the Visual Arts.
Thursday, April 24th there will be a coordination of events with Peace
House in Ashland, Oregon, Citizen’s for Peace and Justice and Iraqi Veterans for Peace in Medford, Oregon and the veterans’ group Stand for Peace in Grants Pass, Oregon.
On Friday we will hold a workshop and discussion on the socio-economics of media culture with local media activists and humanities scholar Peter Phillips. Leading the discussion will be Jeff Golden. Jeff Golden has spent the last 25 years in politics, broadcasting and editorial journalism. After earning a Master’s Degree in Broadcast Communications from Stanford in 1982, Golden returned to Southern Oregon as a public television producer. His political career includes service as a Jackson County (OR) Commissioner, Chief of Staff to the Oregon Senate President, and Environmental Policy aide to the City of Portland. During those years he wrote Forest Blood (Wellstone Books, 1998), the pre-eminent novel of the Northwest timber wars. He hosted The Jefferson Exchange, a daily talk show on public radio and authored the book “Unafraid” exploring what if John F. Kennedy had survived his wounds in Dallas and gone on to serve two full terms in the White House?
On Saturday, KSKQ Community Studio will host a pair of media workshops. “How to Make Radio Happen” - Meet current KSKQ producers and staff and learn how to produce your own radio programs. “Citizen Journalism” - How to use and post to the Rogue Independent Media Center. These will be hands-on workshops designed to train novices to use our local media resources. We hope these workshops will demonstrate the success of our outreach and events.