MEDIA RELEASE School of Communication, Simon Fraser University 8888 University Drive Burnaby, British Columbia, V5A 1S6

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Three-day Program Details Released for Media Democracy Days Panel discussions, production workshops, and film screenings will have you questioning, the Canadian media landscape. VANCOUVER, BC October 13, 2011 - The 10th anniversary of Media Democracy Days (MDD) Vancouver aims to encourage media awareness through a diversity of topics and approaches in its 2011 expanded programming. From November 11-13, be prepared for an exclusive screening of War Made Easy with talk from Dr. Sut Jhally; a day of panel discussions and a media fair kicked off with a keynote address from Rabble.ca founder, Judy Rebick; and lastly, a day devoted to dialogue and production workshops on mapping media movements in Vancouver. Whether you are a citizen, a student, a journalist, policy writer, activist, politician, or union worker, Media Democracy Days promises something to pique your interest on issues of media reform. We are making a concerted effort to expand the breadth of our programming to be more inclusive of diverse communities, said Kathleen Cross, chair of the MDD Organizing Committee. In correlation with this, panel topics on Saturday November 12 range from Resistance and Renewal: Unions and public opinion in The Crisis Economy to Lost in Translation? Challenges and the Future of Inclusivity in Diverse Media. Around the world, we can see many examples over the last year of people uniting together in the public interest, said Gala Milne, lead coordinator for this years events. In Vancouver, the work of bold organizations aimed at social change will be highlighted in another MDD panel titled, ShitHarperDid, SlutWalk & LeadNow: New Directions in Civic Engagement. Corporate medias dominant voice affects us all, and fostering civic engagement in media issues is the first step in challenging the status quo, continued Milne. Complete programming details for Media Democracy Days Vancouver 2011 are available online at www.mediademocracydays.org. All events are free to the public but seating is limited and registration is encouraged here: Friday & Saturday: www.mediademocracydays2011.eventbrite.com; and Sunday Workshops: www.mddworkshops.eventbrite.com Media Democracy Days is a partnership project between The SFU School of Communication, OpenMedia.ca and the Vancouver Public Library.

About Media Democracy Day: Launched simultaneously in Vancouver and Toronto in 2001, MDD responded to a growing global media democratization movement. This movement seeks to create a more participatory media system by supporting independent and public service media production, celebrating innovation and creating dialogue around the politics and biases linked to our increasingly corporate and concentrated media. To learn more, visit http://www.mediademocracyday.org. About the School of Communication: For more than 35 years, the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University has fostered the development of critical, interdisciplinary approaches to the study of media and technology with a commitment to social theory and political economy. Led by an award-winning team of educators, the School of Communication is at the leading edge of media policy research, technological innovation and cultural transformation on a global scale. For more information, visit http://cmns.sfu.ca. About OpenMedia.ca: OpenMedia.ca is a national, non-partisan, non-profit public engagement organization working to advance and support an open and innovative communications system in Canada. Our primary goal is to increase public awareness and informed participation in Canadian media, cultural, information and telecommunication policy formation. More at: http://openmedia.ca. About Vancouver Public Library: Vancouver Public Library is one of Canada's largest library systems and is dedicated to meeting the lifelong learning, reading, recreation and information needs of the people of Vancouver. Annually, the landmark Central Library and 20 neighbourhood branches serve over 5 million visitors who borrow almost 10 million items, including books, CDs, DVDs, magazines and countless online resources. For more information about the Library, call 604-331-3603 or visit http://www.vpl.ca Media Contact: Gala Milne, Lead Coordinator, Media Democracy Day 2011 Office: (778) 782.7353 mddcoordinator@gmail.com

More information: www.mediademocracyday.org ###