Thank you Juan and all for the updates,

how about posting them (and conference info and photos) on Indymedia India:
india.indymedia.org ?

The editorial collective does not seem active, but the open posting newswire
is working. So please all OM5 participants, post conference info and
updates, reports, photos, videos ("media files") at:

http://prod.india.indymedia.org/india/servlet/OpenMir?do=opensession&session
type=article&language=en

If you cannot manage to post, e-mail me and I will try. :-)
I am trying to contact the editorial team to see if they want to make
ourmedia a feature.

Best,
Gabi





On 12/6/05 22:43, "Couldry,N" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Dear all
>
> It is exciting indeed to hear details of the first day's events at OurMedia/
> Nuestros Medios 5, and I'm only sorry that teaching and other commitments made
> it impossible for me to be there.
>
> OurMedia events are the most inspiring I have attended in my career, and that
> is why I have dedicated my next book (Listening Beyond the Echoes: Media,
> Ethics, Agency in an Uncertain World, Paradigm books, 2006) to the OurMedia
> network. Thanks again to those who responded to my request for thoughts on the
> topic of media ethics back last year, and the very best to all of you at the
> conference
>
> Nick
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: This listserv will be used to facilitate communication among
> alternative media academics [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of
> Juan Salazar
> Sent: 06 December 2005 13:30
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: OM5 day one / NM 5 dia 1
>
>
> Dear all
>
>
>
> Thank you to those who have send their support and greeting to those having
> their own OM conferences in different parts of the world. I don't have time
> tonight to send a translated version, so apologies to the spanish-speaking
> members. We will try again tomorrow, if not we will definitely send the final
> report in spanish and english to be posted on the OM site.
>
>
>
> Here is a brief summary of some of the activities we held today on our first
> day of presentations.
>
>
>
> The opening welcome was offered by Professor K.E.Eapan, founder of the
> department of communication at the University of Bangalore. Professor Eapan
> introduced the conference by briefly making reference to the legacy of
> community studies in India, his involvement in the teaching of communication
> studies since 1952 and the current difficult situation of community media
> studies and policy in India. He pointed out the importance of having a meeting
> like this one here in India.
>
>
>
> Following was Dr Sham P. Thomas, director of the department of communication
> at the UTC in Bangalore who welcomed the participants on behalf of the staff
> of UTC - hosts of the conference.
>
>
>
> The opening address was given by Alfonso Gumucio-Dagron who traced the nature
> of Our Media as a network, not only through a brief summary of the past 4
> conferences, but also by poibnting out some of the challenges that lie ahead.
> As you can see in Alfonso's document -attached- it was clearly a call for
> engaging in dialogue and facilitating the process of networking. The address
> has in a sense set the tone of the conference for the 3 days ahead. For the
> first time OM has been held in Asia, outside of the Americas or Europe; for
> the first time it isn't tied as a pre-conference to any other conference (ICA,
> IAMCR etc); for the first time it has been held over 4 days and has been
> organized without formal structures of funding in place. Alfonso again
> mentioned the unfortunate event of our Colombian colleagues who were
> discriminated by not being given a Visa in time to come.
>
>
>
>
>
> The first day of presentations begun with 2 keynote speakers. Raghu Mainali,
> coordinator of Save Community Radio Nepal and Lawrence Liang a senior
> researcher from Alternative Law Forum, Bangalore.
>
>
>
> Raghu Mainali gave a dramatic account of the delicate situation of independent
> media in Nepal since the events of February, 1st, 2005, particularly through a
> case study of community radio broadcasting amid government repression.
>
>
>
> Lawrence Liang gave an engaging, lucid, humorous account of the position of
> independent media in the Indian scape, situated in a delicate situation
> between the explosion of global corporate Indian media (film industry, IT
> industry etc) and the panoptic gaze of the Indian government
>
>
>
> A long, lively and interesting debate followed where it was decided that the
> conference will end with an OM declaration to be tested in months to
> come...The declaration will be drafted in the next couple of days and
> discussed by the participants on thursday during the last OM round table. In
> principle the declaration will incorporate a note of protest for the
> discrimination to the Colombian colleagues, a note of solidarity and call to
> stop the Nepalese government violent reaction against community radio
> broadcasters in Kathmandu, as well as an appeal to the Indian government to
> provide specific legislation to protect, and legitimize community media in
> India.
>
>
>
> The next two panels were pretty much dedicated to community radio in India.
> The first panel, chaired by Ashish Sen (VOICES), was a critical examination of
> the lack of a suitable legal framework to define, promote and empower
> community radio in India. "General" Narasamma is a local activist from
> Hyderabad and she presented a case study started in 1997 which is currently
> run by 3 Dalit girls in a small village in central India with two 100-watt FM
> radio transmitters that have never been used for fear of government
> repression. The project is an active call to reclaim the media to serve the
> need of farmers and villagers and 150 hrs of material have been produced.
> While the material has never been broadcasted it is played back every two
> weeks at Sanghan meetings with the purpose of raising awareness and debates
> among the community and communicate local content of interest to the
> community. 23,000 people, from 70 communities have signed a petition to the
> Indian government to open commun!
> ity
> radio licences, unfortunately without much impact.
>
>
>
> Rammath Bhat followed with another illustration of a community multimedia
> centre, the Namma Dhwani project set in Buditoke, a small village of 3,000
> people in the border of three states in south-east India. The community is
> characterized as one of the most diverse (culturally, linguistically) in the
> region. The project began in 1999 and has been supported by Voices and UNESCO
> and currently functions as a cable community radio with adjoining telecentre
> and linked to a community services centre. The project carries out activities
> such as capacity building, training and provides a space for marginalized
> people such as scheduled castes and people with disabilities. Topics include
> health, governance, employment, entertainment, education, self-help, legal
> awareness etc...
>
>
>
> Finally Sejan Venniyoor provided an informative history of the struggle for
> legitimizing community radio in India, from the Supreme Court of India's
> declaration in 1995 that the airwaves are public property to a draft community
> radio policy document finalized in October 2005.
>
>
>
> The final panel of the day was a continuation of the same topic with more
> experiences of community radio in India. In a panel chaired by professor Leela
> Rao from Bangalore, we heard presentation by Ganesh Mandekar from Abhivyakti
> Media, Dr. Vinod Pavarala from the University of Hyderabad who shared his
> ethnographic research on community radio uses and needs in poor rural Indian
> villages, particularly with regards to issues of gender and development; Ratna
> Mala a student from M.S University, Tamil Nadu who gave a heartfelt account of
> grassroots networks in tamil nadu, and the concept of democratic media when
> applied to projects involving Dalits. Finally, Jethro Petitt, from the
> Institute of Development Studies at Sussex University, U.K, offered a series
> of cases studies of participatory communication, action  research and the role
> of research in community participation from cases in Nigeria, Uganda, Ethiopia
> and Kenya.
>
>
>
> Ok, more tommorrow
>
>
>
> best wishes
>
>
>
> Juan Salazar