Media Reclamation Project

in this email:

1) Nov 20 review
- recap
- call for feedback
- prize winner: report online
- audio online
- more info on speakers’ media
2) Next meeting
- want to get involved?
3) Future plans
- movie night at OCP
- workshop at Peterborough conference
- printing of anarchist newspaper

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1) NOV 20: BECOMING A CITIZEN-JOURNALIST

We would like to thank all for helping make this event a success. Based on the number of programs we handed out, we had approx 65 people at the event.

At this point, we would like to ask you for feedback: please tell us what you liked, what you thought could have been approved, and also any suggestions you have for future events or projects (read the rest of this message to see what we’ve already got planned). You can email us (just click ‘reply’) or phone at 613 230-3076 (you’ll most likely be speaking to an OPIRG staff person).

We would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate Elizabeth Lapointe for being the first person to publish a report of the event on to ottawa.indymedia.org – she wins a one-year subscription to the Peace and Environment News paper. The report can be read at http://ottawa.indymedia.org/en/2007/11/6217.shtml – please feel free to add your own comments.

Also, the three speeches are now available online, at http://spacesplacesandfaces.ca/?page_id=65 … this is courtesy of the good folks at Spaces, Places and Faces (radio show on Thurs 7am-8am, CKCU 93.1 FM)

And if you’re interested in seeing or hearing more from our speakers, you can find Giacomo Panico’s website (which includes podcasts of his radio show) at http://www.giacomopanico.com/ … and if you’d like to find out where to pick up copies of The Spectrum, email spectrum@storm.ca

2) MEDIA MATTERS NEXT MEETING AND GETTING INVOLVED

We are having our next meeting on Tuesday Nov 27 at 10:30 am, at OPIRG’s offices, located on the 3rd floor of 631 King Edward (north of Somerset).

We will be debriefing the Nov 20 event, as well discussing future projects (keep reading…)

If you are interested in getting involved, feel free to come out to our meeting, or if you can’t make it, please contact us. We can work to set up a meeting time that will work with your personal schedule. We would love to have more people participating in the work we’re doing!

3) FUTURE PROJECTS

One thing we are organizing is a showing of the movie “Un Poquito de Tanta Verdad (A Little Bit of So Much Truth)”, a movie about the community in Oaxaco, Mexico taking over the media in 2006. More information about the movie is available at http://www.corrugate.org/un_poquito_de_tanta_verdad/un_poquito_de_tanta_verdad

This movie would be part of the winter line-up of Ottawa Cinema Politica, a weekly series of film screenings that happens every Friday evening (while classes are on) at the University of Ottawa (?in MacDonald Hall?). To get on OCP’s weekly email list, contact dgr@uottawa.ca (say you were referred by Media Matters!). To see a listing of the films, visit http://www.cinemapolitica.org/ottawa

Another thing we are looking to set up is a session at the Building Solidarity conference happening in at Trent University in Peterborough, on Feb 9-10 2008. We will be submitting a proposal for a workshop about organizing independent community media and communication (deadline is Nov 30).

A third project we are looking at is the support of printing and distribution of a new Ontario-wide anarchist newspaper, Linchpin. This is a project of Common Cause, a newly-formed anarchist organization looking to join people across Ontario. The first edition of the paper has just been released, and there is a meeting on Wed Nov 28 to discuss organizing an Ottawa group of Common Cause, and what to do locally with the Linchpin paper. To start with, Linchpin will be distributed as a .pdf file, but also has a website, http://linchpin.ca

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Thanks for your interest, support and time!
Please contact us (hit ‘reply’) if you have any input at all – we’d love to hear from you.

Carmen, Greg and Sarah
the Media Matters team

in this email:
1) report back from Imagine Ottawa Social Forum
2) Oct 30 Indymedia event
3) Nov 20 event preparation
4) new anarchist paper (and anarchist assembly nov17)
5) Ottawa Cinema Politica – media film?
6) Media Democracy Day article
7) next meeting

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1) REPORT BACK FROM SOCIAL FORUM

The social forum was a good time and great event. Sarah and Greg staffed the table from about 8:30 until 1:30, as well as taking in a couple workshops. People stopped by to take pamphlets, posters, articles, papers (PEN and Dominion), and buttons (CKCU). Special mention goes to a former Indymedia and OPIRG volunteer, former and current community radio hosts (check CKCU 93.1fm on Monday’s from 8-9 for a show on sustainability), a rep of http://cbc.ca, the person running the sites http://greenottawa.ca and http://planetfriendly.net, and a Carleton prof who was giving a workshop on citizen journalism. We had 8 new people sign up to Media Matters (welcome all!).

This was the 2nd annual social forum and we are looking forward to next years.

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2) INDYMEDIA EVENT – TUES OCT 30 @ 7PM

Ottawa Indymedia is hosting an event, “Independent Media in a Time of War, pt2″ this coming Tuesday in Fauteux Hall (room 147) on the University of Ottawa campus. There will be film as well as speaker Joanne St. Lewis of the University of Ottawa.

Media Matters will give a brief intro at the event, as well as having a table (set-up at 6:30).

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3) NOV 20 EVENT PREPARATION

For our event “Becoming a Citizen-Journalist” happening Tues Nov 20 at the Ottawa Public Library, we have two speakers confirmed so far (editor of The Spectrum newspaper, station manager for CKCU) and Sarah is looking into leads we have for a third.

For promotion, an article has submitted it to a number of community newspapers. We will submit a press release to our new contact at cbc.ca, the campus newspapers, and other channels, as well as submitting a short event announcement to other channels such as CKCU and CHUO. We have a poster (30 given out at the social forum) which we should make more copies of and plan on how to distribute them to good locations. We can also look at making it into an event on Facebook and inviting people in that way (anyone want to take this on?). Any other ideas for getting the word out about this event?

We will also need to think about providing refreshements at the event, as an after-time for socializing is promised in the article.

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4) NEW ANARCHIST PAPER (AND NOV 17 ASSEMBLY)

There is a new Ontario-wide anarchist coalition and with it, a new Ontario-wide anarchist publication. We have been in contact and are told that the first issue will be out mid-November and they would like help with distribution. Not sure if they will have a physical product or an electronic .pdf file for printing. For more info on the initiative, see http://ottawa.indymedia.org/en/2007/10/5965.shtml

In Ottawa, there is a periodical Anarchist Assembly meeting. The next one is Sat Nov 17, a perfect time to organize around distribution of the paper? For more see http://ottawa.indymedia.org/en/2007/10/6055.shtml

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5) CINEMA POLITICA – MEDIA FILM?

We have submitted an idea for a film to Denis Rancourt for showing as part of next term’s OCP lineup. The film is http://www.corrugate.org/un_poquito_de_tanta_verdad/un_poquito_de_tanta_verdad, which was shown as part of Media Democracy Day in both Vancouver and Montreal.

He needs to see a copy before he approves it – this means we need to secure a copy somehow …

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6) MEDIA DEMOCRACY DAY ARTICLE

See the following Rabble.ca article by Steve Anderson on this year’s MDD: http://rabble.ca/news_full_story.shtml?x=63420

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7) NEXT MEETING

The best time for our next meeting would be the week of Nov 5-9, once Sarah is back from Toronto. If you’re interested in coming to a meeting (at OPIRG-Ottawa, 631 King Edward) please email back with times that work for you that week, and we’ll schedule something that people can make.

Of course, we can have an informal meeting at the Oct 30 Indymedia event for everyone who makes it out.  See you there!?