GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENT
Please distribute widely to Scholars in Law, Communications and Media Studies, Information Studies, Political Science, Sociology, History, American Studies, and more….
Free Press and the Illinois Initiative for Media Policy Research (IIMPR) are hosting the kick-off meeting of the
ACADEMIC BRAIN TRUST
CONNECTING SCHOLARS TO MEDIA ACTIVISTS AND POLICYMAKERS
Kick-Off Brainstorming Session
Thursday, May 12, 2005
4-7 PM
Millennium Hotel
St. Louis, Missouri
Session Held in Advance of the
2nd National Conference for Media Reform (May 13-15)
Featuring FCC members: Michael Copps, Jonathan Adelstein
Members of Congress: Diane Watson, Bernie Sanders
Also: Jim Hightower, Amy Goodman, Naomi Klein, Al Franken, Juan Gonzalez, Bill Fletcher, Jr., Janine Jackson, Laura Flanders
Hundreds of journalists, artists and independent media producers
And: More media activists than you can shake a stick at
For details: http://www.freepress.net/conference/
WHY DO WE NEED AN ACADEMIC BRAIN TRUST?
Collectively, academic researchers and scholars across many disciplines comprise a grossly underutilized wealth of experience and knowledge that is desperately needed right now in policy fights across the country and across the globe. As public interest advocates and activists wage lonely, under-funded campaigns around public broadcasting, media ownership, Internet access, global media policy, copyright, commercialism, and other important issues, there has been a noticeable lack of input from the considerable talent in the field of communication and media studies. It is a weak spot for those committed to improving the media system, and it is a weak spot for the academic community as a whole.
The time to engage the larger scholarly community is now. A number of crucial policy debates over the next few years will define our media system for a generation, and have tremendous effect upon our democratic culture. As scholars and researchers, it is our responsibility to personally engage with these debates and to assist citizen participation in deliberations on media policies that are critical to the health of our democracy. To encourage civic engagement around these issues, it is imperative that we jumpstart media scholarship in the public interest, and work to link our best research and our research skills with the public.
The Academic Brain Trust is open to scholars from all fields employing all possible methodologies. It is open to faculty and grad students. It assumes no particular political views, only a belief that the crucial media policies that shape our media system should be the result of widespread informed public participation, and that scholars have an important role in the process. Although Free Press and IIMPR are hosting the kick-off session, the future of the Academic Brain Trust will be determined by those who participate and take leadership of this important opportunity.
OVER 50 SCHOLARS HAVE COMMITTED TO ATTENDING THE KICK-OFF SESSION OF THE ACADEMIC BRAIN TRUST PLEASE JOIN US!
For more information on the KICK-OFF BRAINSTORMING SESSION of the ACADEMIC BRAIN TRUST visit our website: http://academicbraintrust.org/
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Graduate students and junior faculty, particularly women and persons from communities of color in the U.S., are encouraged to apply for a limited number of travel grants that may be available, depending on the timely receipt of applications, to attend the kick-off session of the Academic Brain Trust and the 2nd National Conference for Media Reform.
(These travel grants are different from the scholarships Free Press is providing to the 2nd National Conference for Media Reform. The deadline for applying for Free Press scholarships was March 15, 2005. The Academic Brain Trust travel grants are specifically for graduate students and junior faculty. People are permitted to apply for both, but can only accept one.)
The deadline to qualify for these travel grants is Monday April 4 by 6PM eastern time. Click here to learn more and apply: http://academicbraintrust.org/
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