May 2, 2008Newsletter

We hope you're enjoying the beauty of spring. The staff has been furiously busy with the 2008 Beyond Broadcast conference, which is taking place on June 17. In this newsletter you'll find more details on who will be there and how you can take part in this highly participatory discussion on digital mapping, locative media, and other emerging trends in public media. I had a busy month, at Doc Aviv in Tel-Aviv, Israel, and at HotDocs in Toronto; check out my field reports on new international developoments in fair use and social documentary. Stay tuned as well for details on Center events taking place at this summer's upcoming SILVERDOCS Film Festival. See you soon!

Register Now! - Beyond Broadcast 2008
WHEN: June 17
Read all about it below, in "The Future of Public Media" section, and visit the conference website for more information and registration.
Register now!

Special Film Screening - At the Death House Door

WHEN: May 14, 2008 at 7pm
WHERE: AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center
8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring, MD
(Located just two blocks north of Metro's Red Line station in Silver Spring.)
TICKETS: Visit www.afi.com/silver

Moderated by Kojo Nnamdi, host of The Kojo Nnamdi Show on WAMU 88.5FM

At the Death House Door follows the remarkable career journey of Carroll Pickett, who served 15 years as the death house chaplain to the infamous "Walls" prison unit in Huntsville, Texas. During that time he presided over 95 executions, including the very first lethal injection done anywhere in the world. After each execution, Pickett recorded an audiotape account of that fateful day. The film also tells the story of Carlos De Luna, a convict whose execution bothered Pickett more than any other. Pickett firmly believed the man was innocent and two Chicago Tribune reporters turn up evidence that strongly suggests he was right.

Beyond Broadcast 2008- Are YOU on the Public Media Map?
How are new mapping tools and geotagging technologies being used to unite communities and tell important stories from around the globe? Find out how you can make your mark on the new media landscape at the 2008 Beyond Broadcast conference on June 17, 2008 in Washington, DC.

Beyond Broadcast has become an annual destination for makers, scholars and policy experts exploring public media for a digital, participatory era. The theme of this year's conference is Mapping Public Media. How do mapping and visualization tools reveal shifts in the public media landscape? Panels, presentations and demos map the emerging landscape. Join us!

Who will be there?

• Keynote speaker Larry Irving, of the Irving Information Group
• Cutting-edge creators of participatory public media from organizations such as the Bay Area Video Coalition, the Center for Locative Media, the National Minority Consortia, New America Media, and PRX
• Public media leaders like NPR CEO Dennis Haarsager, and CPB Board Member Ernest J. Wilson III, plus participants from PBS, NPR, ITVS, P.O.V., American Public Media, WGBH and more
• Media scholars such as Henry Jenkins from M.I.T., Jan Schaffer from J-Lab, and the Center for Social Media's own Pat Aufderheide
• Policymakers and advocates concerned with universal internet access, supporting public media, and fair use issues.

Visit beyondbroadcast.net for updates and more info. Register now!

Mapping the primaries, public media style
The latest in a series that highlights examples of media maps, Future of Public Media Project Director Jessica Clark looks at the role that digital maps have played in the democratic primaries. Be sure to watch our blog for examples of how these new techniques are bringing together audiences and communities across the public media landscape.

Join the Center at the 8th Annual Media that Matters Film Festival!
Join our Associate Director Ann Williams at this year's Media That Matters Film Festival in NYC. The world premiere is Wednesday, May 28 -- be among the first to see this year's 12 inspiring selections! More information is available here.

Not-So-Profitable Doc and Public Broadcasting
Arts Engine executive director Katy Chevigny, a leader in the field of documentary production (and whose timely and watchable film Election Day is part of the stunning summer season on public television series P.O.V., has written a thought-provoking blog entry. She notes that some documentaries are hugely popular (An Inconvenient Truth) and others are highly targeted (Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price). But what happens to the "smaller or artier documentary"? Read more>>

Whose Identity Is It, Anyway?: National Film Board as Public Media
What difference does it make to have government funding for public media? Look at Canada, where the National Film Board (NFB) for more than 60 years has produced films that engage publics on national and cultural issues. The NFB shone at the HotDocs documentary film festival - read Pat Aufderheide's report on documentary at this year's HotDocs film festival. Read more>>

Innovation in Focus - Link TV's "Dear American Voter"
This month, the Center focuses on Link TV's "Dear American Voter" project, an online video platform that is bridging communities on a global level around the US elections and providing a forum for diverse voices and opinions on history-changing events and issues. Like the Center, Link TV is part of the Ford Foundation Future of Public Media Initiative, a group of nonprofit organizations with a common goal to push forward into the future of public media. Read more>>

HotDocs and Copyright Balancing
At HotDocs on April 21, an international panel showcased the importance of exercising the balancing features of copyright, even in countries where fair use does not exist. Read Pat Aufderheide's report from HotDocs, and about the great progress that's been made in the global fair use arena - read more >>

Fair Use Goes International: Israel
Pat Aufderheide reports from the DocAviv Documentary Film Festival last month on the progress that Israel has made in the area of fair use. Read more about these exciting developments - a fair use success story! - and more...

Fair Use FAQ Featured Question of the Month - Using Bookcover & Newspapers
Want your questions on Fair Use answered? Someone else may have already asked. Check out the new Fair Use FAQ, where our most frequently asked questions find answers. This month's featured question: using images of bookcovers and newspapers.

What is Remix Culture? Show us!
TotalRecut.com is hosting a Video Remix Challenge over the next two months and is asking participants to create a short video using Public Domain and Creative Commons work to answer the question: 'What is Remix Culture? Center Director Pat Aufderheide will be acting as a judge in in the contest, along with other media and fair use experts. Entries will be accepted from May 1 until June 2, 2008. Visit http://www.totalrecut.com/contest1.php for more details.

American University School of Communications Visions Awards 2008 - Friday, May 2
AU student work that best showcases the mission to make media that matters will be shown and win awards!
WHERE: Wechsler Theater
Reception at 7:30; Ceremony beginning at 8 pm
Open to all SOC Students: the submission deadline is April 18 for screenplays and April 25 for all other work.
More info: http://soc.american.edu/content.cfm? id=690

Independent Lens Filmocracy Contest - King Corn
Do you care about what you eat and where your food comes from? Enter the PBS Independent Lens Filmocracy Contest! Mix it up and make your statement about food. Find out more at pbs.org/filmocracy. Contest ends May 30, 2008.

2008 National Conference for Media Reform - Minneapolis, June 6-8th
The NCMR is now in its fourth year, and the 2008 conference promises to be the biggest and best one yet, bringing together thousands of activists, students, scholars, policymakers, journalists, celebrities, elected officials, artists and citizens from across the country and around the world.

Special guests at the 2008 NCMR will include legendary journalists Bill Moyers of PBS and Dan Rather, former anchor of CBS News; Arianna Huffington of HuffingtonPost.com; Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez, co-hosts of Democracy Now!; Naomi Klein, author of No Logo and The Shock Doctrine - and many more!

Register online today at www.freepress.net/conference or call us at 877- 888-1533.

Sisters in Cinema 2008 - National Museum of Women in the Arts
This ongoing film & lecture series explores the rich history of women filmmakers of African descent. Go to www.nmwa.org for a full line-up and more information. May 28: Cauleen Smith's Drylongso. Art student Pica sets out to make a Polaroid document of young Black men, a population she believes is an endangered species.