Media Democracy Day in Vancouver 2008

Today is Media Democracy Day across the nation and Vancouver’s festivities are taking place until 6:00pm at the Vancouver Public Library.

Since 1996, there have been several efforts by concerned citizens and media activists to build coalitions to make the media more democratically accountable in the US as well as Canada.
Initially MD Day was organized by local Toronto and Vancouver groups of the CPBF — modeled after its British namesake, a coalition of groups which came together in 1996 to challenge Conrad Black’s takeover of much of Canada’s press, and the threat to diversity posed by media concentration. Early supporters included the Council of Canadians, the CEP union, the Canadian Media Guild, the Graphic Communications International Union, the CLC, and the Periodical Writers Assn. Today, the tradition of MD Day is carried on by local citizens and student groups in Canada and around the world. Events were organized in 2001 in Toronto, Vancouver and Kitchener-Waterloo Canada.

Speakers and presenters in the ‘fair‘ can be found on the Vancouver’s MDD site, check DaveO’s sweet preview post on the Raincity blog and visit the folks from Beyond Robson. The event is free so head on down if you have time (and conveniently there is a pub – or two – between the venue and either the BC Lions or Canucks games later as well).