Fourth Annual NYC Grassroots Media Conference

Feb 24, 2007: 10am- 6pm
New School University

65 5th Ave. at 13th St. | Manhattan, NY

Media and Movements Beyond Borders
Grassroots struggles for justice are usually rooted in their geographic location. Yet - from police brutality on the streets of Queens and government repression in the plazas of Oaxaca, to homelessness and displacement in the Bronx to the Gulf Coast to the rise of slums in Lagos; from hunger and poverty in East New York to famine in Kenya; from wiretapping and police surveillance in our communities and military occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan - there are apparent connections in the ways people all over the world negotiate and counter similar forms of oppression and injustice. Workshops include:
*Solidarity, Not Charity: A Youth Media Workshop on Katrina; *Grassroots Media and Brooklyn's Atlantic Yards Development; *Our World Our Mic: Creating Youth Radio Documentaries; *Prometheus Radio Project and the global community radio movement; *Crossing the Border: Hip Hop liberation, revolution and resistance; *On Public Access and the State of Media: Policies That Affect Us All; *Dead Trees: Small Magazines and Newspapers in the Digital Age; *Black-Community Radio and Media Reform; *Slingshot Hip Hop: From Brooklyn to Palestine; *Art & Activism: the NYC Ghost Bike project; *Youth exploring the Root Causes of Migration; *Podcasting 101: Creating Your Own Podcast; *NODE 101 - learning how to make a videoblog; *Engaging workers through media; *New York's Wireless Future; *Youth Debate Concerns over Internet Filters, Sex Ed & Free Expression; *We are all in Darfur, and Nairobi, & Johannesburg: The African perspective. This year, the NYC Grassroots Media conference seeks to ask: What are the common threads inherent in our global struggles for social change and how does the media contribute to our understanding of the root causes of injustices faced by world communities? From educating ourselves and our government leaders to spreading our messages and recruiting broader and more diverse constituencies into our campaigns, media is central to the struggle for social justice. Therefore, the fight for better access to and representation in the media is essential for advancing peace and justice both at home and abroad. Join us for the 4th annual NYC Grassroots Media Conference as we explore these connections and strategies and work together to demand a media system that will link ourdiverse communities, connect local and international struggles, and fight for social justice across boundaries and beyond borders.

free103point9 Radio Lab panel
Podcasting 101: Creating Your Own Podcast
10 a.m.-11:45 a.m.
Podcasting is a new form of free radio broadcasting which uses the Internet as its mode of distribution. It involves recording your own audio and making it available online for other people to download. Creating a podcast doesn't require having much more gear than a computer and microphone, so it's a technology you can learn without many obstacles. Additionally, since podcasts are suited for play back on any computer or mp3 player, audiences can re-play podcasts anytime or anywhere they want. In this workshop, participants will learn how to create their own podcast. We will lead an in-depth tutorial on how to choose equipment, produce content, and record and publish a podcast. Then, we will create a mock-broadcast as a group to demonstrate how podcasting works. We will also listen to other podcasts and observe their strategies and design. Finally, we will discuss how they are being used to bolster grass-roots media movements both locally and around the world.
Panelists:
Allie Alvarado is a freelance multimedia producer. She has collaborated on several music projects around NYC, with releases on the Social Registry music label. She is currently a member of the beatscape quintet Eystek, and also devotes her time to teaching video and music production in different capacities.
Tianna Kennedy is the free103point9 Special Projects Coordinator and a founding member of the August Sound Coalition. She is also a New York-based cellist, sound and transmission artist, consultant, curator, events coordinator, and writer. Though her projects vary greatly, they are all underscored by her commitment to egalitarian and participatory practices.