Hello everyone! We will have next IAMCR and ALAIC in Mexico. I propose make next Our Media in Bogota. Universidad Javeriana and many others will organize it. Amparo On 8/1/08, G <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > Dear OURMedia/NUESTROSMedios friends, > (apologies for English only. Could anyone give a rough summary in spanish?) > > I just returned from the IAMCR conference and wanted to raise the > possibility of ourmedia/nuestrosmedios 2009 in mexico. Are there any > ourmedia people in mexico who could organize it? > > I know we often have this discussion of whether to organize ourmedia close > to an academic conference, and we have in the last 2 years decided against > it. However, I think this coming year is a particularily good opportunity > and we should reconsider the possibility: > > € IAMCR is currently very ourmedia-friendly > IAMCR just elected a new board with people close to us: Annabelle Sreberny > as president and John Downing and Ruth Teer-Tomaselli as vice-presidents. > IAMCR is generally trying to become more open to grassroots networks, and > re-orient itself back towards a more activist stance in general. The 2009 > conference theme is "Human Rights and communication" and there is talk > about > having at least one keynote speech and perhaps even a plenary session about > alternative/community/citizens media. The community communication section > co-vice chairs are myself and Ellie Rennie and the chair, Per Jauert is > also > very interested in working with ourmedia. > > There are a number of other benefits that should not be dismissed: > > € Cost solidarity > Even if established academics only make up a small part of our consituency, > it is good to have many attend. Every person that can pay a higher > participation fee and their own travel expenses helps cover the cost of > those who cannot. Also academics can often help with fundraising. > > € Promoting OURcause to the wider academic community > Several people at the conference came up to me and asked about ourmedia, > noting that they would love to attend it in the future. They had become > interested in alternative, community and citizens media thanks to the > Barcelona and Porto Alegre conferences (which were back to back with IAMCR > and promoted through the IAMCR network.) > > € Enabling academics to keep their commitment to ourmedia > For established academics, universities will only pay for academic > conferences (for US scholars, even IAMCR is sometimes not prestigious > enough), or they have a limited conference budget. The problem is even > bigger for younger researcher-activists who need IAMCR for their resume, > even if they feel closer to ourmedia. I talked to at least 8 people who > said > they could not come to Ghana for such reasons. Having ourmedia separately > forces many people to choose, often against their own inclination. > > € grassroots-academic synergy > IAMCR organizers may be open to helping ourmedia arrange for space and such > (as I think happened in Porto Alegre,right?). If we have ourmedia before > IAMCR and we come out with some sort of a declaration, we may be able to > get > IAMCR to endorse it. The community communication section is planning social > events and field-trips, which would be perfect to co-organize with > ourmedia, > and help connect academic and grassroots activists, which is part of our > mission after all. > > As I said, I am very sorry not to be able to attend this year for personal > reasons but I am looking forward to updates from Ghana! > > All the best, > G > > PS: IAMCR 2009 will be held july 21-24 at universidad nacional autonoma de > mexico. >