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5/4/12
1/20/12
Wednesday's massive Internet protest against the Stop Online Piracy Act in the House and the PROTECT IP Act in the Senate was both an historic moment in Internet history and a massive political success. Dozens of Senators and Representatives switched sides, breaking the momentum for the bills and forcing indefinite delays in their passage. Just today, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced that the cloture vote on PIPA, originally scheduled for next Tuesday, will be postponed.
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1/18/12
Earlier this month, Juan González and Joe Torres, authors of the incredible new book News for All the People, joined us for an engaging MDF Talk. News for All the People offers a sweeping account of the class and racial conflicts in American news media, from the first colonial newspaper to the age of the Internet.
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12/22/11
As 2011 roars to a close, I wanted to take a few minutes to recount the incredible year it’s been. There have been major victories and amazing stories—overall an excellent year in the world of media and democracy. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever had the pleasure of writing the word victory so many times in a year-end review.
Here’s a quick look back on the top stories of 2011 and a look forward at the issues that will matter most to MDF in 2012:
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SubscribePress Releases, Blog Posts & Upcoming Events
On January 18, hundreds of organizations and online companies – from MoveOn to Wikipedia to WordPress – blacked out their websites to protest a bill in Congress known as SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act). The bill threatened to permit government censorship of legitimate websites, in all likelihood shutting many nonprofit organizations and businesses out of the Internet.
READ MOREThe Chronicle of Philanthropy has published an article by MDF director Helen Brunner:
Grant Makers Must Heed Technology's Impact on Their Causes
READ MOREHow has the Internet changed grant making?
The Women Donors Network recently invited MDF to give a webinar for its members. We were asked to present the “context” around media democracy issues and offer an overview of the key issues and key players.
Like many grant makers, we spend much of our time thinking about the specific issues and strategies currently in play. This presentation was a nice opportunity to talk about the big picture.
READ MOREMedia Democracy Fund Announces 2011 Grants
Awards Grants Totaling $2.1 Million
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(December 20, 2011 Washington D.C.) The Media Democracy Fund (MDF) has announced final awards of $2.1 Million in its annual grant making cycle of 2011. MDF partners with foundations and donors to ensure that 21st century communications and information systems are open, fair, diverse, and accessible.
READ MOREYesterday, MDF hosted our latest MDF Talk with the fantastic Rebecca MacKinnon. If you missed it, here are some great resources to learn more about her important work:
READ MOREMDF has partnered with Grantmakers in the Arts to produce Appropriart!, a graphic about copyright developed by Susie Cagle. The graphic was originally published in the GIA Reader.
Click here (or on any of the images) to download a PDF of the full graphic.
READ MOREEditors note: this piece was originally published by PhilanTopic, a blog by The Foundation Center's Philanthropy News Digest
READ MOREOn July 9th, funders joined Eli Pariser for an MDF Talk about his recent book, The Filter Bubble: What the Internet is Hiding from You. If you missed our discussion, you can get caught up by watching Eli's TED Talk on the topic:
READ MOREI’ve been practicing communications for more than three decades, but I still sometimes have to pinch myself to realize it’s not just some dream I’m having about how easy it is today to put information out there — via my blog, the Communications Network’s website or occasional emails — compared to the old days when many of us relied on old media tools, which required printing, mailing, or some kind of other physical delivery to reach our intended audiences.
- RT @levjoy: Take a few minutes to watch "Free the Network," fantastic doc about building a network free from corporate control http://t ...
- RT @mediaaction: Come to #AMC2012 Fundraiser - 6/8 - hosted by @PPHmedia to bring #mediajustice track folks to Detroit! http://t.co/pRBz2wWN
- RT @anotherpundit: Press Call: Left, Right, and Center Urge FCC to End Practice of Predatory Prison Phone Rates http://t.co/33TZ8ioR
