Newsbound explainer: "Super PACs unpacked"

Image: Newsbound.com

Check out Newsbound.com's latest explainer: "Super PACs unpacked." As Newsbound says:

The Center for Responsive Politics estimates that about $6 billion will be spent on this year’s federal elections. While approximately half will come from the campaigns themselves, the rest will be spent by “outside” spending groups such as Super PACs. These groups are raising more money than ever following a series of court rulings in 2010, but their future may be in question beyond the 2012 election.

 The explainer is basically an interactive powerpoint, and it is broken up into three sections:

1. What are PACs in the first place?
2. How did they become super?
3. How influential are they?

What do you think about Newsbound's explainer format?

Previous Newsbound explainers:
Breaking Down The Voter ID Battle
Drone Warfare
How Conventions Turned Into Campaign Commercials

NYT op-ed: Colleges and universities "probably do as much to repress free speech as any other institution in young people’s lives"

Image: NYTimes.com

In a New York Times op-ed today, Greg Lukianoff argues that colleges and universities "probably do as much to repress free speech as any other institution in young people’s lives." He provides examples of "free speech zones" for political protesters, and oaths students sign at some institutions promising (for example) "civility," "inclusiveness," and "kindness." While private institutions have greater leeway in restricting speech, Lukianoff explains that, "In a study of 392 campus speech codes last year, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, where I work, found that 65 percent of the colleges had policies that in our view violated the Constitution’s guarantee of the right to free speech." You can read Lukianoff's full article here.

Does your institution employ similar restrictions on student speech? How are those restrictions received? Any UDCers studying or confronting this topic?

Full episode on the media from Best of the Left

Image: bestoftheleft.com

The award-winning podcast, Best of the Left just published a new episode focused exclusively on the media. The episode features clips from Rachel Maddow, David Pakman, Thom Hartman, The Young Turks, Media Matters, and CounterSpin.

What progressive podcasts do you listen to?

UDCers' work featured in tripleC's "Marx is Back" special issue

May 30, 2012

The open access journal tripleC recently published a special issue titled "Marx is Back." With 29 articles and more than 500 pages, the special issue features several articles from folks that are or have been associated with the Union for Democratic Communications. These include:

Vincent Mosco (who co-edited the special issue with Christian Fuchs)

* Introduction: Marx is Back – The Importance of Marxist Theory and Research for Critical Communication Studies Today

* Marx is Back, But Which One? On Knowledge Labour and Media Practice

Nicole S. Cohen

* Cultural Work as a Site of Struggle: Freelancers and Exploitation

Michelle Rodino-Colocino

* "Feminism" as Ideology: Sarah Palin’s Anti-feminist Feminism and Ideology Critique

Gerald Sussman

* Systemic Propaganda as Ideology and Productive Exchange

Lee Artz

* 21st Century Socialism: Making a State for Revolution

If we're leaving anyone out, please let us know. The full table of contents is available here. 

Great work all, and welcome back, Marx ...

Jeanne Hall lunchtime memorial scheduled for Saturday at UDC 2012

May 3, 2012

The Union for Democratic Communications is organizing a lunchtime memorial for longtime UDC member Jeanne Hall, who tragically and unexpectedly passed away on December 23, 2011 in State College, PA. Jeanne was an Associate Professor in the Media Studies/Film-Video department of Penn State's College of Communications for 20 years, and was co-organizer of UDC conferences at Penn State in 2002 and 2010. She was a passionate believer in the cause of social justice and a dear friend of many members of UDC. The memorial will take place during the conference's Saturday lunch from 12:15 pm to 1:45 pm and will include a DVD slide show and a brief film tribute. Those present at the lunch are welcome to share their memories of Jeanne during the memorial.

Donate to the Jeanne Lynn Hall Fund

April 19, 2012

Jeanne Lynn Hall, Associate Professor of Film-Video and Media Studies at the Pennsylvania State University, passed away December 23, 2011. She had just turned 53. Jeanne was a long-time member of the UDC. She organized both UDC conferences held in State College in 2002 and 2010. She worked very hard to make them a site for us all to come together and share in struggle for social justice and peace. Her personal touches on the conferences included customized folders for members that were especially dear to her. She worked hard on every program manually designing them with her extraordinary artistic talent. Those of you who knew her were fortunate to experience her energy, enthusiasm, warmth and love. Those of you who never met Jeanne might not realize how committed she was to the UDC and her impact in shaping what it is today. 

In honoring her please consider making a contribution to the Jeanne Lynn Hall Fund, which helps subsidize UDC conference travel costs for low income students and activists. You can contribute to the Jeanne Lynn Hall Fund by clicking on the "Donate" button below:

You can also visit here for information about donating by check.

UDC Newsletter -- Issue No. 1

Jan. 23, 2012

Download the Jan. 2012 UDC Newsletter here

Many thanks to John Sullivan for 

his work on this publication.

Call For Nominations -- Dallas Smythe Award

Sept. 23, 2011

The Dallas Smythe Award is given in memory of one of the great pioneers of the study of the political economy of communications and one of the great leaders in the struggle for democratic communications.  At each conference, the Union for Democratic Communications honors a critical media scholar/activist whose work exhibits the spirit of engagement, democracy, teaching, and feistiness to which the UDC is committed.

Past recipients of the Dallas Smythe Award include Robert McChesney, DeeDee Halleck, Herb Schiller, Tom Guback, Santiago Alvarez, Vincent Mosco, Eileen Meehan, Janet Wasko, Ed Herman, Peter Phillips, and Manju Pendakur.

The steering committee is soliciting nominations for the next award, to be presented at the 2012 conference in Tallahassee, FL, May 10-12.

Please send your nominations to Jennifer Proffitt at jproffitt@fsu.edu by November 1, 2011. Please include a description of your nominee’s qualifications and accomplishments.

Call for Papers -- UDC 2012 international conference -- "Climates of Change: Democracy Movements, Media and Global Environments"

Sept. 3, 201

The UDC 2012 international conference will be held May 10-12, 2012, in the Turnbull Center on the Florida State University campus in Tallahassee, Florida. The conference theme is "Climates of Change: Democracy Movements, Media and Global Environments." Pleasevisit the conference website to read the call for papers and consider submitting an abstract. More details to come!

P.S. -- Great work Tallahassee Conference Coordinating Committee

Call For Papers -- Global Media Journal special issue -- "The State of Media Conglomeration: Synergy, Power, Resistance"

Sept. 3, 2011

Here is the call for papers for a Global Media Journal special issue: "The State of Media Conglomeration: Synergy, Power, Resistance." Deadline for Submissions: October 15, 2011

The focus of this special issue of the Global Media Journal-American Edition:  Is “Big Media” dead and buried, or alive and prospering—or both? Read more here...