b. 8 Aug 2002, New Market, TN

Organizing framework for just media representation and rights

As citizen activism for democratic media reform gathered steam in the early 2000s, a number of grassroots organizations began discussing the need to link media policy advocacy to long-term goals of social and economic justice, communications rights, and effective movement-building among communities often marginalized from spheres of power. The term ‘media justice,’ first discussed at a Highlander Center gathering [1] in summer 2002, soon became an organizing focus for regional grassroots media activist groups sharing similar values and working for justice through media policy change, fair media representation, and the use of grassroots media production as a tool for civic empowerment. A number of these organizations now coordinate efforts under the banner of the Media Action Grassroots Network (MAG-Net) [2], linking media justice groups in Oakland, Seattle, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, San Antonio, rural Kentucky and Albuquerque.

See also:
• Media Justice [3]

MAG-Net member organizations:
• MAG-Net home page [4]
• Appalshop [5]
• Center for Media Justice [6]
• Esperanza Peace and Justice Center [7]
• Main Street Project [8]
• Manhattan Neighborhood Network [9]
• Media Mobilizing Project [10]
• New Mexico Media Literacy Project [11]
• Reclaim the Media [12]
• Texas Media Empowerment Project [13]