September 9, 2009Newsletter

Public Media 2.0: Summer Report

The Center for Social Media's Jessica Clark, director of the Future of Public Media Project, has spent the summer expanding upon our report Public Media 2.0: Dynamic, Engaged Publics and talking about the potential of social media to create a more democratic and participatory public space. She was interviewed on KHSU, Dispatches International and Ourblook.com.  Read more here>>>

What role do the 'people formerly known as the audience' take on?

Last week, Jessica Clark moderated a panel at the National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture Conference where she asked the question: What role do the 'people formerly known as the audience' take on? Using the innovative online tool Wordle, she created a image to represent the answers. Check it out here and see how NAMAC audiences see themselves.

Personal Democracy Forum 2009

Jessica Clark and research fellow Nina Keim both attended the Personal Democracy Forum back in July. Nina noted that Twitter was the belle of the ball and Jessica commented on the plethora of innovative civic playtoys. Check out their blog posts here: Jessica's post, Nina's post.

Social Media and Civil Society

We really enjoyed Suw Charman-Anderson's recent blog on Corante, "Why Social Media Is Important to Civil Society." In it she examines our white paper Public Media 2.0:Dynamic Engaged Publics to look at civil society. Anderson says, "Civil society associations, by using social tools, can extend the reach of their web presence and the strength of their network, and form direct relationships with the individuals in their constituency. Social tools can also provide website visitors with something immediate to do, even if it is a small action." Read more here>>>

Public Media 2.0 In The South Caucasus

Last month the Center's project manager Micael Bogar was interviewed by Onnik Krikorian, who writes for the South Caucasus Global Voices Online blog. They discussed the recent surge in participatory media activism trends in the South Caucasus and how this might relate to the emergence of public media 2.0. Since the arrests of activist bloggers Emin Mili and Adnan Hajizade, youth from all over the South Caucasus (and the world) have organized online campaigns to show solidarity. Listen to the interview here.

Movie Monsters, Fair Use and Best Practices in the US

Did you catch Center's director Pat Aufderheide's recent article on the law blog IP Osgoode? In it, Aufderheide addresses the recent court ruling regarding Warren vs. Spurlock in which fair use triumphs. Read it here>>>

Fair Use at the UFVA Conference

Claire Darby, our graduate fellow, attended the University Film and Video Association conference this month. For the past few years, the Center has gone to the conference to promote its Documentary Filmmakers' Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use, and to encourage and educate professors about how they can use the Statement in their own work and their students' work. Darby discussed UFVA's role in promoting a more accurate understanding of fair use among film students. Read more here>>>

Fair Use and Michael Jackson

Take a look at this brilliant little video posted on YouTube. It's a video time travel through the origins of the Michael Jackson moonwalk, reminding us of the collaborative nature of creativity and the way in which we all-yes, even Michael Jackson-stand on the shoulders of giants. Each clip has its own copyright story, but all are great examples of transformative purpose. Want to learn more about transformative purpose of fair use? Read our Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Online Video.

Don't Miss the Fair Use Dance Code

Recently our allies Dance Heritage Coalition released their Statement of Best Practices in Fair Use of Dance-related Materials. As advisors, we're proud to be able to host it on our website as well. Read it here>>>

Fair Use Question of the Month: Using Copyrighted Images on Fan Sites

Every month the Center for Social Media answers a new question concerning fair use. This month's question deals with using copyrighted images on fan sites. Even though these sites are non-commercial, its important to keep the basic principles of fair use in mind. Read more here>>>

'Being Human' Goes Green

Good news from SWScreen, the screen agency for South-West England. They adopted the Code of Best Practices in Sustainable Filmmaking a couple of months back and are encouraging film and TV productions in their region to follow it. Being Human, a BBC drama production about a werewolf, a vampire and a ghost who share an apartment, will now have recycling bins on set and in the offices and is working on using much less paper for scripts and call sheets. OK, it won't make the series carbon neutral, but it's a great first step. Let's hope that the next series goes the whole way. Read more here>>>

Join our HRFS Social Network

We've created a social networking site where those interested in our Human Rights Film Series can network with each other. You can watch film trailers, make comments and promote your work in the field of human rights. Please join in.

Human Rights Film Series Filmmaker Spotlight
--Paco de Onis and Pamela Yates

In anticipation of our upcoming Human Rights Film Series, we present a series of blog posts that feature biographies of our visiting filmmakers. Keep an eye out for more as we ramp up for our kickoff event on October 2nd. Learn more about producer Paco de Onis and director Pamela Yates who will be coming to American University to screen their most recent film, The Reckoning, in the Katzen Center on Thursday, October 29. Read the spotlight feature here>>>

Toronto International Film Festival

September 10-19 marks this year's Toronto International Film Festival. This year's lineup promises to be an exciting one. With 335 films from 64 countries, this is worth the trip north. We'll be debuting our Doc Ethics Report as well! Register here.

Docs In Progress
Documentary Filmmaking from A to Z

September 16-October 21
(Wednesday nights 7-9 pm)

Identify and tell your documentary story effectively while maintaining focus throughout the filmmaking process. Participants will develop a proposal and budget and learn strategies for planning production, editing, and distribution. Open to new filmmakers and those transitioning into independent documentary filmmaking from other parts of the industry.

Media Education Lab's Sports and Media Literacy

On September 19th in Philadelphia, Media Education Lab will host a special event exploring an innovative educational program with Patrick Johnson and Erik Sakamot from Youth Radio in Oakland, California. Find out more here>>>

New NPR Site

Our friends at NPR have unveiled a new website this month! Now it's even easier to combine listening and reading, to follow breaking news, to comment on stories, and to find programming from your NPR station. Check it out here>>>

Soros Documentary Photography Competition

The Open Society Institute invites photographers to submit a body of work for consideration in the Moving Walls 17 group exhibition.

Moving Walls is an exhibition series that features in-depth and nuanced explorations of human rights and social issues.  Thematically linked to OSI's mission, Moving Walls is exhibited at OSI's offices in New York and Washington, DC and includes 7 discrete bodies of work. Complete submissions must be received at OSI-NY by 5pm (Eastern Standard Time) on Friday, October 23, 2009. Get more information here>>>