November 30, 2008Newsletter

Welcome back from Thanksgiving! I was lucky enough to spend the end of November at the Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country, the great women at IDFA , and the European Filmmakers approach to fair use.

November was a big month for us. We released our Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education. It helps teachers and students use copyrighted material without fear to learn about their own culture.

We also wrapped up our Human Rights Film Series with a visit from Oscar-nominated filmmaker Sam Pollard as well as the KatrinaRitaVille Express and their FEMA trailer. We showed a segment of Sam's documentary mini-series When the Levees Broke.Greater DC Cares was also there to offer local ways to get involved in the Hurricane Katrina efforts. Coming Soon: video excerpts of all four filmmaker's discussions!

Have you signed up for Making Your Media Metter yet? We're looking forward to seeing you there!
My best to you,
Pat Aufderheide

How can media makers connect their ethical and aesthetic values with their financial needs?
The Center for Social Media invites established and aspiring filmmakers, non-profit communications leaders, funders, and students to our 5th annual Making Your Media Matter conference. This is a perfect opportunity to learn and share cutting-edge practices for creating media that matters.

Where: American University's Katzen Arts Center
4400 Massachusetts Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20016

Click here to register. Registration is $100, $50 for students. Please note that a student ID will be required upon check-in.

Keynote speakers include: Gordon Quinn and George Stoney.

Keep watching our Website for updated information on the conference and registration. Be sure to join our network for Making Your Media Matter, and begin making contacts with other attendees today!

Best of INPUT Screenings 2009

As a partnering organization, we are pleased to announce the line up< for the 2009 Best of Input screenings held in Washington DC from January 27 to February 1, 2009.

INPUT, the International Public Television Screening Conference, is a week-long producers' screening and discussion showcase that has been held in cities around the world since 1978. This unique public television event is the only international conference that focuses specifically on the innovative programs produced by public broadcasters.To check out the line up visit our Website here.

Call For Papers: IP and Gender

The 6th Annual Symposium on "IP/Gender: Mapping the Connections", cosponsored by the Center for Social Media, seeks papers on female subcultures and their relationship to intellectual property and copyright regimes, with a particular emphasis on fan works and culture. Appropriate topics include: fan arts, including fan fiction, arts, music, film, crafts, and videos; and fan communities: including clubs, forums, lists, websites, wikis, discussion groups, rec sites, and other creative, celebratory, or analytical communities. Read on to find out how to apply.

Burma VJ: Reporting From a Closed Country

The two-award winner at the International Documentary Film Festival this November was Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country. It's a great example of both the power of citizen journalism and the power of storytelling.Read more here>>>

Inflection Point: Investing in Public Media

The nation is in a moment of intense speculation, as the market enters uncharted territory and we transition from one administration to the next. It's a window in which big, game-changing ideas might catch hold as both investors and policymakers seek new directions. In campaign speeches, President-elect Obama has expressed support for a "public media 2.0," but so far has provided few details. Here are a few suggestions about the future of public media>>>.

Crowdsourcing the first 100 days

Now that the election is finally over, all the energy that was poured into making social media for the various campaigns is being redirected to citizen-driven agenda setting.The White House 2, ObamaCTO, Change.gov, and Rebuildtheparty.comare just a few current projects. Read about them here>>>

South Caucasus Public Media

How can public media develop in regions where governments are hostile to press freedoms? A look at emerging projects in the South Caucasus--a region of independent former Soviet countries linked both geographically and historically--offers some clues.

We have created a list of five notable public media projects: Institute for Reporter's Freedom and Safety, Caucasus Center of Peacemaking Initiatives, Internews, the South Caucasus blogosphere, and lastly everyone's favorite: Facebook.Read more here>>>

Social Media Innovation Camps

How are media-makers, nonprofits and citizens learning to use social media tools for public engagement? After conducting a survey of the kind of workshops and skills training taking place in this space, it's apparent that the approaches being taken vary widely depending on who's doing the training. Our Media Fellow, JD Lasica groups these trainings into three categories: New Media Training, Grassroots Media Training, and Corporate Social Media. Read more here>>>

"White Spaces" and Public Media?

This past month, media and consumer advocates have been trumpeting an FCC decision to make so-called "white spaces"--buffer zones in the communications spectrum between broadcast TV channels--available for providing wireless broadband access. How will this directly support the creation of public media?Read more here>>>

Code of Best Practices in Media Literacy Education

This document is a code of best practices that helps educators using media literacy concepts and techniques to interpret the copyright doctrine of fair use. Fair use is the right to use copyrighted material without permission or payment under some circumstances-especially when the cultural or social benefits of the use are predominant. It is a general right that applies even in situations where the law provides no specific authorization for the use in question-as it does for certain narrowly defined classroom activities.

This guide identifies five principles that represent the media literacy education community's current consensus about acceptable practices for the fair use of copyrighted materials, wherever and however it occurs: in K-12 education, in higher education, in nonprofit organizations that offer programs for children and youth, and in adult education.  Read the entire publication here>>>

European Filmmakers and Fair Use

As U.S. documentary filmmakers have increasingly benefited from the copyright doctrine of fair use, European documentary filmmakers have cast about for how to similarly benefit. The trouble is, instead of the broad and flexible fair use doctrine, the many European nations instead have a variety of specific and inflexible exceptions and limitations. But even so, in November Europeans have figured out some first steps, showcased at the annual meeting of the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam. Read more here>>>

Fair Use Question of the Month

Every month, the Center for Social Media answers a new question concerning fair use in documentary filmmaking. This month's question deals with copyright for mysteriously found archival material. More here>>>

So You Think You Can Be President?

This campaign season was lively, intense, and the inspiration for a wide array of online video. The evolution of online video became nationally relevant with this election season, and here is one of our favorites. Watch Jonathan McIntosh's So You Think You Can Be President?

Fair Use Mash Up Videos

For filmmakers working in the digital era, understanding how to use fair use to incorporate online video and other sources into your work is a critical skill. In American University Professor Larry Engel's Advanced Documentary Technique class, ten grad students used the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Online Video to try to create mashup videos that uphold the Fair Use principles. Take a look at the videos and decide how well (or not) they did!

Media That Matters Documentary Film Festival Call for Entries from Arts Engine

Submit your film now for the chance to be one of the final twelve jury-selected films and become part of our outreach and distribution efforts to create social change through film. Following a New York City Premiere, an Awards Ceremony and industry networking events in June 2009, your film will take part in the Media That Matters international, multi-platform campaign with DVD distribution, broadcasts, streaming and hundreds of screenings across the globe! Arts Engine will create accompanying discussion guides and screening materials to promote conversation and encourage educators, activists and organizations alike to take action around your film. All finalists will be awarded $1000 to assist in future filmmaking efforts.
Deadline: ALL materials must be postmarked by: January 9th, 2009.

Volunteer Screeners

SILVERDOCS, the "pre-eminent documentary festival in the US" (Screen International) seeks Volunteer Screeners to be an integral part of the programming team. Screeners review a minimum of 40 feature and short (combined) documentaries submitted to SILVERDOCS 2009. Potential Screeners should have a critical eye and knowledge of film, and be able to write articulate and concise evaluations of the films they review. Screeners must have a DVD player, reliable Internet access, and a qualified point-of-view. Regular access to a multi-region DVD player is a plus. Screeners are required to pick up films for review at the AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring, MD during regular business hours.
Deadline is December 19th.For more information look here!

Vote on Every Human Has Rights Media Awards

Our friends at Internews have announced a great public media project titled Every Human Has Rights Media Awards, organized on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). They have asked the public to vote on the Public Prize. Visit their Website and vote!

Bruce Gilden's Visit -A Night of Storytelling

On Wednesday November 19th Magnum Photographer Bruce Gilden spoke to a crowd filled theater as part of the Centers' Camera as Catalyst lecture series. Topics included Coney Island, Fashion photography, Haiti and the beginnings of his next project- foreclosures.Read more here>>

ONE NATION FILM CONTEST - Call for Submissions

The One Nation Many Voices Online Film Contest is offering $50,000 in prizes for short videos (Five minutes or under) illuminating the American-Muslim experience. Everyone in the U.S. is invited to compete, regardless of race or religion, so grab a camera, visit their Website for the complete Rules and Regulations, and get filming! The deadline is December 31st 2008.