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A National Media Reform Organization in Canada is born.
Dear Friend,
Media ownership in Canada is more concentrated than almost anywhere else in the industrialized world. InJune 2006, the Standing Senate Committee on Transport and Communications’
Report on the Canadian News Media
concluded that there are “areas where the concentration of ownership has reached levels thatfew other countries would consider acceptable.” Out of concern for the undemocratic nature of our mediasystem, the Campaign for Democratic Media (CDM) was born.In the summer of 2007, a diverse network of public interest organizations and people concerned about mediareform and media policy formation in Canada, assembled with a unified goal in mind: to fight for mediademocracy in Canada. Since our inception, CDM has launched national campaigns such as
Stop the Big Media Takeover
and
SaveOurNet.ca
, and local campaigns for community media including
Radio One for All
.We have taken on digital media issues, organized the biggest Media Democracy Day to date in Vancouver,and created a strong presence politically, including staging a
Net Neutrality Rally
on Parliament Hill.At present, there is a battle brewing between big telecom companies and the Canadian public over the issueof Net Neutrality. On November 20
th
, 2008, the CRTC announced that it would allow Bell Canada tocontinue its controversial Internet throttling practices. The CRTC is abdicating its responsibility to theCanadian people and putting us on a path towards a more closed Internet defined by the interests of bigtelecom companies. If big telecom wins, a small cartel of corporate gatekeepers will control the cost of, andaccess to, web-based content. But if we win, we will have open access to unlimited possibilities for independent and alternative media content and innovation.We have built a strong coalition consisting of tremendous diversity and we are building momentum inCanada. In the last year, the media democracy movement has pushed net neutrality from obscurity, to thesubject of national media coverage by
Global TV, CBC, The Toronto Star
and other media outlets.Social change is propelled by open public discussion, which is currently being suffocated by undemocraticmedia. However, history shows that when confronted with robust, civic engagement around media issues, politicians and policy makers bow to popular pressure. We’re up against some of the most powerful interestsin the country, but with our growing network of organizations, coalitions, and people, we can successfully build a democratic media system in Canada!
Steve AndersonNational Coordinator
Campaign for Democratic Media
From the National Coordinator
Annual Report 2008
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