February 15, 2005

Annenberg Colloquium: The Politics of Media, Technology and Culture
Annenberg Room 240, 11:30 lunch. 12:15 presentation.
Can an open, democratic culture survive the juggernaut of media consolidation, expansive intellectual property law and restrictive digital technologies that are now remaking the Internet, television and other media? Join author, activist and Lear Center fellow David Bollier and Robert McChesney, communications scholar at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, to discuss the changing politics of the media, technology and culture. Bollier will discuss the many ways that corporations misuse copyright and trademark law to stifle creativity and free speech -- the focus of his new book, Brand Name Bullies (Wiley, 2005) -- and the power of "the commons" as way to assert the the public's larger interests. McChesney will discuss recent developments in the media marketplace that are skewing news coverage, political discourse and cultural expression. He will also describe the advocacy campaigns now being waged by Free Press, the media reform organization that he founded in 2002. Lunch will be served. Reservations required.

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