What will we be talking about that the National Conference for Media Reform in Denver, April 5-7 of 2013? Lots of things, but let’s make sure Community Networks are on the agenda!
The National Conference for Media Reform (NCMR) is a great gathering of enthusiastic people who want to build a better media that reflect the values of all America, not just corporate America. Free Press organizes the event every other year.
For the next 10 days, we can vote on what sessions we want to see at the conference — and the process is very easy. Jump over to freepress.net, fill out a simple 3 entry form, click on the confirmation email that is immediately mailed to you, and select the sessions you want to see.
There are a ton of great proposals, but we are really hoping to see a few sessions on community broadband, so we have a few recommendations. Given the importance of the Internet to distributing media, we need to make sure this conference has a strong suite of sessions discussing how we can improve universal access to fast, affordable, and reliable networks.
Our top recco is a session we proposed ourselves, Community Broadband Creates Jobs, Choices, and Cost Savings.
Below are some additional sessions we are also excited to see. Regardless of which sessions are picked (some may be combined), we hope to see you at NCMR!
- How to Connect the 19 Million Americans Without Broadband: Policy Recommendations from Rural Groups
- Beyond Access: Building and Owning Our Own Community Broadband Networks
- Successful Grassroots Organizing Strategies for Engaging the FCC
- Building Community Infrastructure and Technology
- Call Me Maybe? Protecting Basic Phone Service in Your State
- We Built This City: Three Municipalities That Got Better Broadband by Building It Themselves — and What Your Community Can Learn from Them
- Broken Promises: State Cable Franchising’s Detrimental Impact on Broadband Access, Local Media and Community Journalism
- Exposing ALEC: Corporations, Media, and Democracy