Airwaves & Liberty

Deadline: May 15, 2008

The Funding Exchange’s ( http://www.fex.org/ ) Paul Robeson Fund for Independent Media supports media activism and grassroots organizing by funding the pre-production and distribution of social issue film and video projects as well as the production and distribution of radio projects made by local, state, national, or international organizations and individual media producers.

The fund invites applications for projects of all genres that address critical social and political issues, combine intellectual clarity with creative use of the medium, and demonstrate understanding of how the production will be used for progressive social justice organizing.

The fund makes grants to radio projects in all production stages and to film and video projects in the pre-production or distribution stages only. The fund does not support production or post-production costs for film and video projects. The fund does not provide support to project budgets or projects of organizations with annual budgets of more than $500,000.

The maximum grant award is $20,000; most grants range between $5,000 to $15,000.

See the Funding Exchange Web site to download complete program guidelines and an application form.

RFP Link:
http://fconline.foundationcenter.org/pnd/15012097/fex

For additional RFPs in Arts and Culture, visit:
http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/rfp/cat_arts.jhtml

From Julie Shapiro at Third Coast Festival:

We’ve just announced this year’s Third Coast Festival audio challenge, and hope folks from the community radio universe will take a look and consider submitting something, and help us spread the word to folks at your stations and beyond. This project’s for anyone and everyone!

Radio Ephemera’s a collaboration with the Prelinger Library (San Francisco, CA) and aims to inspire short audio stories based on printed ephemera from the early 1900s. Submissions will be accepted until August 3rd; four will be chosen as the 2008 TCF ShortDocs, and those producers will be invited to Chicago to present their work at our annual Conference.

You can read all about it, and hear a short piece explaining more, here: www.thirdcoastfestival.org

And I’m happy to answer any/all questions…

Cheers,
Julie Shapiro

* * * * *
third coast international audio festival
jshapiro(at)thirdcoastfestival.org

For those of you who follow Pacifica workings, you’ll know that Greg Guma served as Pacifica’s Executive Director from January 2006 to August 2007. He’s got a neat little blog over at Maverick Media, where he talks about “life inside and outside media politics and the alternative press.”

In Greg’s first post, he writes that “in the weeks ahead, this space will present an inside look at Pacifica Radio, the original listener-sponsored network,as well as a history of the alternative press and media politics from the 1960s to the present day.” Always a writer, Greg is working on a book on precisely this subject. Evidently, he’ll be releasing serialized portions of it on his blog.

Newly digitized for broadcast from the Pacifica Radio Archives:

This week, the Supreme Court has taken up the issue of the Second Amendment and gun control laws, for the first time in almost 70 years. Pacifica Radio Archives is proud to present the Bill of Rights Radio Education Project: The Second Amendment - Interpretations and Misinterpretations, produced by Adi Gevins and David Selvin in 1982. 30 minutes.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD

For more information, please call Pacifica Radio Archives at 800.735.0230. www.PacificaRadioArchives.org

Program notes:
Guns, Weapons: The Right to Bear Arms. Ten of thousands of people are killed every year in the United States by guns. Hundreds of thousands are wounded. Countless others are threatened by them. Are all these deaths and injuries the price we must pay to preserve our constitutional right to bear arms? Or does the Second Amendment only guarantee that right to a specifically organized militia? Produced by David Selvin. Executive Produced by Adi Gevins.

I announced on this blog a couple weeks ago that Nicole Sawaya has returned as Pacifica’s Executive Director. Her return was timed fortuitously - Pacifica station managers and national staff happened to be scheduled for an in-person retreat in Houston last week. Nicole was able to join us, lead our discussions, and share some of her own vision with the group.

KPFT Program Director has posted a few impressions about the meetings and Nicole’s return at his blog. Here’s the first bit:

Nicole Sawaya has taken on an almost mythical stature in Pacifica.

Hailed for her vision before she started as the Pacifica Foundation’s new executive director, Sawaya was almost as quickly the subject of many an anonymous post after seemingly vanishing from the scene nearly as quickly as she began.

To many listeners, the executive director issue is of not much interest, and this may be a post you skip. For others curious about Pacifica internals, you will be fascinated, I am sure.

Matthew Lasar and others have written extensively about Pacifica facing significant challenges, including legal, financial and governance issues. In an interview posted on this site, outgoing ED Greg Guma spoke openly of the strife he has encountered in the organization. In contrast to the warring during Guma’s tenure, Sawaya was hired with unanimous board support and good feelings all around. I will spare you the rest of the vague but dramatic backstory. Current and others have already poured ink over the Sawaya adventure in the last few months.

Except for her selection meeting at a Pacifica National Board hoedown in Berkeley, most staff, including me, had not met Nicole. But I am excited to say I just spent a chunk of the week with her and other Pacifica staff. At Nicole’s encouragement, I wanted to blog about my impressions.

But really, what on earth is a new executive director landing first in Houston for?

Most of Pacifica key management and national staff met in Houston this week to address programming, financial and administrative topics before the network. The meeting was originally scheduled by interim ED Dan Siegel, who was to facilitate it. When the announcement about Nicole Sawaya’s return was made, she became the convener. She gave us ideas, dialogged with management from around the network and helped direct our conversations.

My interpretation is simply one of a PD who got to spend a few days around our new ED, to converse with her, observe her style of leadership, and tune in to her way of thinking; I would not consider my interpretation gospel, but I think my assertions are fair.

To read the rest, check out “Sawaya Becomes Reality” at Ernesto’s blog.

I’ll see if I can find some time to add a few thoughts of my own, but not sure if I’ll be able to — pretty busy working on projects that have come out of those Houston meetings!

SPECIAL LIVE COVERAGE: WINTER SOLDIER
Pacifica Radio will provide full three-day live coverage of the historic “Winter Soldier” event. This is perhaps the most important anti-war event in the United States in decades.

DATES & TIMES:
Friday, March 14th - 9am-7pm EST (6am-4pm PST)
Saturday, March 15th - 9am-7pm EST (6am-4pm PST)
Sunday, March 16th - 10am-4pm EST (7am-1pm PST)

LIVE DISTRIBUTION:
– Carried on dozens of Pacifica stations and affiliates
– Streamed live at pacifica.org and warcomeshome.org

CO-ANCHORED BY:
– Aimee Allison, former Army medic and KPFA Morning Show host
– Aaron Glantz, journalist and author of “How America Lost Iraq”

DESCRIPTION OF EVENT:
In 1971, a courageous group of veterans exposed the criminal nature of the Vietnam War in an event called Winter Soldier.

This weekend, members of Iraq Veterans Against the War will give first-person accounts of what is really happening day in and day out, on the ground. The event will bring together veterans from across the country to testify about their experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan - and present video and photographic evidence of war crimes they have witnessed.

In addition, there will be panels of scholars, veterans, journalists, and other specialists to give context to the testimony. These panels will cover everything from the history of the GI resistance movement to the fight for veterans’ health benefits and support.

New Media Women Entrepreneurs Initiative to Fund Journalism Start-Ups Grants of $10,000 each will be given to women and women-led teams working to generate ideas and improve recruitment and retention for women in journalism….

http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/rfp/rfp_item.jhtml?id=207400002

Deadline: May 1, 2008

Came across a column by Eric Alterman and George Zornick called “Think Again: FCC vs. The Public,” published yesterday at the Center for American Progress site. It reads, in part:

In recent years, and particularly since 2000, big media has had their way, like some mustachioed cartoon villain, and its aide-de-camp has almost always been the FCC. The agency has repeatedly pursued relaxed ownership rules, declined to investigate the involvement of telecommunications companies in warrantless wiretapping, and moved to protect and enhance the interests of large media conglomerates.

The rush toward media deregulation was already afoot when George W. Bush took office in January 2001. Ownership caps on radio stations were removed in 1996 following a bitter battle in Congress that was never once mentioned on the nightly news. (In fact, the only times the words “Telecommunications Act of 1996″ were ever mentioned on broadcast TV were once by Ted Koppel and once by Lisa Simpson. I swear I’m not making this up).

The act led to a dramatic reduction in the number of station owners-there are 30 percent fewer radio stations now than in 1996, and one company, Clear Channel, owns more than 1,200.

You can read the full article at http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/03/fcc_vs_public.html. I was also just forwarded a response, written by Dr. Carolyn M. Byerly, professor in the Howard University Department of Journalism. She writes:

Alterman & Zornick’s article on the FCC under the Bush presidency does a decent overview of the politics associated with media regulation, but totally buries the gender and race truths buried in those politics. I just dropped Mr. Alterman a note mentioning that deregulation has not affected everyone evenly. Female and racial minority broadcast ownership has declined under both Telecomm Act of 1996 (a Clinton-era gift) and the Bush-dominated FCC. Single-digit ownership is not acceptable in a nation that calls itself a democracy. I offer these insights on the heels of Black History Month (Feb) and the eve of International Women’s Day (tomorrow, March 8).

Got this note from Hannah Sassaman today:

Hey folks — as promised, here is the Prometheus Radio Project job posting for a new campaign director! I’m happy to answer any questions about this, but remember to send your resumes, cover letters, writing samples, and references to info[at]prometheusradio.org.

We’d love your informatin by March 30th, though this job will be open until we find the right new member of the Prometheus family.

Forward this to any seasoned activist with a passion for community radio and social justice.

Thanks,
Hannah Sassaman
Prometheus Radio Project

- - - - -

The Prometheus Radio Project is looking for an experienced community organizer to join our staff as our campaign director.

The Prometheus Radio Project is a grassroots organization that works to expand and protect community radio stations, and to promote a more democratic and accountable media in the United States and around the world. From Black Panther-led community centers in Tanzania to farmworker groups in Oregon, we help groups build their own radio stations as tools for their
vital social justice organizing.

Every day, we advocate for these groups and their stations, help them organize with allies near and far for their rights, and work with them to keep their stations thriving and to help leaders teach new radio pioneers the skills needed to own your own media. We help community groups navigate the Federal Communications Commission and the radio licensing process, and we provide technical assistance to groups building radio stations. We also advocate in Congress and at the FCC to protect community radio, and actively participate in the broader campaign for a better media. We are tireless in our fight to make community radio stations and other appropriate technologies available to every neighborhood, every city, every town that needs them.

As we reflect on almost ten years of political organizing to establish, defend, and expand community radio in the United States, the Prometheus Radio Project is searching for a Campaign Director. This person will communicate with the leaders of the media reform and media justice movement, with community radio stations, and with social movements working to build a just country and a just world.

In concert with these people and groups, the Campaign Director will design campaigns to expand community media and keep corporate media accountable in the United States and around the world. From creating tools to help people file comments at the FCC, to executing legislative campaigns and organizing tours, to working with the entire Prometheus collective to plan the strategic future of the organization and its role in community radio, this person will have an opportunity to lead strong and successful efforts to put media in the hands of communities who need it.

As a part of a collective-run organization, this person will have the opportunity to help build systems which ensure the sustainability of theorganization and the movement of which it is a part, and to participate in the shared political education of a very beautiful group of people.

This job is based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and we cannot currently consider telecommuters.

Duties Include:

- community and grassroots organizing in small groups and with large organizations

- building coalitions with the ability to win policy battles and gains for affected groups

- crafting communications for supporters, community media, and corporate media outlets

- representing Prometheus or community radio goals in local, national, and international coalitions

- leading and managing the time and tasks of designated volunteers and interns

- serving as a mentor/liason between interns, volunteers and staff

Required skills/experience:

- Very self-motivated and self-directed, with a strong ability to juggle several projects at once

- Organizing experience with diverse communities

- Demonstrated success designing, managing, and winning organizing campaigns

- Demonstrated success promoting goals and messages with a constituency, with press, and to allies

- Strong word processing skills and experience with spreadsheet or database software

- Passion for community media and for building a just world

Helpful skills/attributes include:

- Fluency in languages besides English

- Public speaking

- Experience managing website content or designing websites

- International organizing experience

- Community radio experience

- Knowledge and experience with consensus decision-making

- We tend to travel fairly often. Having a driver’s license and car is a plus

Prometheus is an egalitarian office, where all full-time staff earn equal hourly pay. We currently pay eleven dollars per hour, up to 40 hours per week. The pay may go up if we are successful in fundraising. We offer medical and dental coverage. Everyone takes a turn mopping the floor and taking out the trash. Hours are flexible, though as an activist organization we all work very hard. Our office is located in West Philadelphia, in the community center basement of the Calvary Methodist Church. Be ready to smell delicious cooking, hear the shouts of children learning martial arts, people singing gospel, or holding a self-help meeting.

Everyone from every kind of background is welcome to apply — don’t be shy!

Please be advised that while everyone is invited to apply, we need an experienced organizer for this position and will likely not be interviewing folks without very strong experience (as a professional or volunteer) in organizing,communications, or campaigns.

To apply, send a resume, cover letter, and two writing samples to info[at]prometheusradio.org, and include “Campaign Director Job Applicant” in the subject line. First evaluation deadline is March 30th. We will keep this call open until we find the right person for the position.

Our web site — http://www.prometheusradio.org — can tell you more about us!

Apply at http://www.freepress.net/conference/=scholarship08
Deadline: March 31, 2008

Dear Friend,
The fourth National Conference for Media Reform is set for June 6-8, 2008 in Minneapolis, MN. The event will be an exciting, inspiring three-day gathering for people who are concerned about the state of our media and committed to working for change. The conference will convene thousands of activists, educators, media makers, journalists, policymakers and concerned citizens to discuss how to create a better media system.

In order to maximize the range of voices represented at the conference, Free Press has raised funds to offer travel scholarships and registration fee waivers to offset attendance costs for a number of individuals who would otherwise be unable to attend.

Please go to http://www.freepress.net/conference/=scholarship08 for more information and to apply. The scholarship application deadline is March 31, 2008. Those without Internet access may call 1-877-888-1533, ext. 603 to make alternate arrangements to submit an application offline.

Free Press is committed to supporting increased participation by people from constituencies traditionally under-represented in media policy work, particularly people of color, youth and grassroots organizers. We also seek broad geographic representation. We will prioritize scholarship applications from individuals who contribute to the diversity of conference participants.

The National Conference for Media Reform will present ideas and strategies for winning the fight for better media and connect you with thousands of media reformers from across the nation. Whether you have been a media reform activist for years or are new to the movement, all are welcome. This year the conference program will focus on five core tracks:

• Media Policy
• Media Reform Activism and Movement Building
• Journalism and Independent Media
• Civil Rights, Social Justice & Media
• The Next Frontier

For more information on the conference program, speakers, and up-to-date conference details, please visit www.freepress.net/conference.

We hope to see you in Minneapolis!

Warm Wishes,
Jordan Berg
Outreach Coordinator
Free Press
www.freepress.net/conference