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FUTURE OF PUBLIC MEDIA
 Media
that serve the public fulfills a unique role in an open society,
to support and encourage the public life that keeps an open society
alive. It does not simply happen because media exist; people create
public projects and programs with media. Public media are created,
nurtured, and maintained by public support and tax dollars, by creative
collaborations with civil society and for-profit organizations,
and with contributions from foundations.
Public media are changing and evolving from traditional
models such as public broadcasting, the local newspaper, the social
documentary and the local cable access center. They are found in
experimental collaborations with nonprofits on public television’s
digital channels (Minnesota
Channel on TPT), on blogs that aggregate international news
for culturally-blinkered Americans (Global
Voices), in low-power radio serving micro-communities (Prometheus
Radio), in youth media (Scribe
Video Center) and in social mission-entertainment (Participant
Productions).
The Center believes that public media are media that
respond to, encourage and convene members of the public to engage
on the issues and problems that commonly affect them. In this, the
Center follows the lead of the great American philosopher John Dewey
and scholars such as James Carey and Stuart Hall, and in the tradition
of public media's innovators and visionaries. Read
What is Public about Public Media?
The Center explores the changing universe of public
media through:
Events & Convenings
Publications &
Web Resources
Streaming Audio &
Video
Our advisory committee and our fellow grantees in
the Ford Foundation’s Initiative, Global
Perspectives in a Digital Age: Transforming Public Service Media
provide us with valuable orientation to the public media landscape.
Sign up for the Center's newsletter
to receive announcements of new reports and newly scheduled programs
as they become available.
Additionally, the Center will launch a new website
in the coming months that will serve as a virtual meeting space for
this and other Center projects. RSS Feeds, comment spaces and updated
search capacity will help you stay in the loop on public media.
New Resources:
Many
to Many
By Martin Lucas (Quicktime, approx. 12 min.)
In its research on the future of public media, the Center has been
chasing down how new, participatory media are fast becoming a vibrant
part of the public media landscape. As part of this research,
filmmaker Martin Lucas produced a short video showing the new and
growing promise of the "blogosphere." This is more than
individuals publishing their thoughts, it's a veritable global,
public conversation.
Free Culture, Phase 2
Kathryn Montgomery, associate professor in the School of Communication and director of the youth media and democracy project at the Center, last May brought together an eclectic brain trust of 50 young "digital leaders" under 30 years of age who want to create democratic access to art, expression, and governance in a digital age. American University School of Communication is pleased to announce the release of the “Free Culture, Phase 2” conference report, available at www.soc.american.edu. The report showcases the active and effective organizations and movements represented at Free Culture, Phase 2. The report includes:
- - conference discussion themes and samples,
- - cultural collaboration or ‘sharing,’
- - additional analysis and commentary, and
- websites of the organizations represented at the event.
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