I wonder what these peoples' take on the Internet is? If the net isn't a "democratic public sphere", what is?

Date: Fri, 16 Jan 1998 13:56:01 -0800 (PST) Reply-To: cda96-l@willamette.edu Originator: cda96-l@willamette.edu Sender: cda96-l@willamette.edu Precedence: bulk From: "T. L. Kelly" <room101@teleport.com> To: Multiple recipients of list <cda96-l@willamette.edu> Subject: call for proposals: "Media, Democracy and the Public Sphere" in June 1998

The Union for Democratic Communications (UDC) invites participation in its next international meeting, June 11-14, 1998, in San Francisco, California, addressing the topic "Media, Democracy and the Public Sphere."

UDC welcomes papers, audiovisual works, panels, workshops and projects that break with traditional, monological approaches, to promote dialogue and interaction around questions of critical communications and media activism, as suggested below. Please send proposals for presentations by no later than MARCH 1, 1998, to:

Prof. Bernadette Barker-Plummer 1998 UDC Conference Chair Department of Communication University of San Francisco 2130 Fulton Street San Francisco, CA 94117 email: barkerplum@usfca.edu

The UDC steering committee suggests the following perspectives on the conference topic, "Media, Democracy and the Public Sphere": the mass media are flourishing today; a democratic public sphere is not. What, then, are the possibilities of resolving the conflicts between a "mass" media and a "democratic" public sphere?

Facets of this question which participants may wish to address include the concept of "the public interest"; the role of public media systems in the creation of a democratic public sphere; the role of media policy in helping or hindering democracy; the role of media in (trans)national"democratization" processes; the dissemination of radical claims through alternative, community and mainstream media; the ways in which the everyday media practices of the public help or hinder the creation of a democratic public sphere; the education of media workers in the interest of democracy; and the utilization of information technolgies for and against democracy.

The host institution is arranging affordable conference housing on the campus of the University of San Francisco, which, however, requires timely registration. Please send in your proposal early to faciliate rapid notification of acceptances in early March! The San Francisco host committee is also scheduling plenary sessions with featured speakers and joint evening outings into the city. This promises to be an very engaged and productive gathering of international media activists, practitioners, theorists and historians. Please contact Prof. Barker-Plummer, conference chair, with any questions: barkerplum@usfca.edu

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