MinMon Interview: Josh Silver on the National Conference on Media Reform

The media landscape in the Twin Cities has changed dramatically over the last year, and that’s exactly why the organizers of the upcoming  National Conference for Media Reform chose Minneapolis as the site of its 2008 event.

This past year the Twin Cities media market has perilously held on to its two-newspaper status and seen the end of print publication of the weekly magazine The Rake, while enterprising upstarts The UpTake and MinnPost joined Minnesota Monitor in providing compelling community journalism on the Web.

“This community has experienced the damaging impact of consolidation,” said Josh Silver, executive director of Free Press, the national, nonpartisan media-reform group that organizes the conference. “But also the growth of a vibrant noncommercial, community and ethnic media sector.”

This three-day conference begins this Friday at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Event organizers are expecting thousands of journalists, educators, policymakers and media activists to convene and discuss the future of media. The conference boasts an impressive list of prominent media reformers, including Arianna Huffington, Dan Rather, Naomi Klein and Lawrence Lessig, as well as many local media leaders, including Minnesota Monitor’s Paul Schmelzer and Robin Marty, as well as over 60 panels and workshops with a focus on the media reform movement, the future of media system, new technology and media policy.

In a conversation with Minnesota Monitor, Silver offered a preview of the conference and a few of the topics to be addressed.

Listen: Josh Silver previews the 2008 National Conference for Media Reform (1:14)

Listen: Silver on community journalism and the Internet (1:31)

Listen: Silver on media consolidation and its impact on journalism (2:15)