Do the media represent you?  Chances are they don't.  When over 90% of all media outlets are owned by white men, it's no wonder that so many perspectives on TV, the radio, and the newspaper are blatantly homogenous.  Media justice is not only about strengthening our democracy through diversity, but media justice is also a cornerstone civil rights issue.

If you're interested in this topic, please be sure to check out an upcoming event about minority and female media ownership.  It will be a town hall format in both Washington DC and Denver, with both cities interacting live via satellite.  If you're out of the geographic reach of either of those areas, then you can attend by watching the whole event in real-time on the internet.

Join author, commentator, and talk show host Tavis Smiley, Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, FCC Commissioner Michael Copps, and other distinguished speakers for a one-of-a-kind event on the importance of media diversity.  Mark your calendars on June 29th starting at 10AM/Noon (MST/EST) and learn how you can work for a more diverse media!

Here's a post from Katie, one of our stellar new interns - Kirstin

Today the Center for American Progress held a panel on the Hill entitled "Local Media Diversity Matters to All Americans," focusing on diversity in ownership of media outlets and the focus (or lack thereof) on local news and public affairs. Moderator Mark Lloyd, of the Center for American Progress, debuted the Center's latest study of media diversity, "Local Media Diversity Matters: Measure Media Diversity According to Democratic Values, Not Market Values," which proposes a new "Metric for Local Media Diversity" which includes a series of measurements of local media diversity that utilize existing resources and are easy for the government to implement and the public to understand.

The panel started with a keynote address from Representative Xavier Becerra (D-CA), in which he spoke about the threat of media consolidation to media diversity and the need to reclaim the public airwaves.  Rep. Becerra also announced "this congress will be different"; specifically, Becerra assured us that this 110th Congress will be more firm and aggressive in its oversight of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which is charged with protecting the public interest.