Media, Politics and Protest Camps in the Occupy Social Movement

2012-01-27 10:30
2012-01-27 20:00



Friday, January 27th, 2012

10:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Institute for Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies, 3487 Peel
[Workshop venue]

6:00 p.m.
- 8:00 p.m., Grande Bibliothèque auditorium, 475 Maisonneuve Est [Keynote and Panel venue]
 
In May 2011, renowned economist Joseph E. Stiglitz wrote an article titled “Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%” in that month’s issue of Vanity Fair. His message of extreme inequality in US society and the historical consequences resulting from the polarization of wealth in the hands of a few, resonated in the Occupy protests that began in Wall Street early last fall. “We are the 99%” fast became the motto of the social movement that transgressed New York boundaries and evolved into a worldwide movement, with more than 80 countries and one thousand cities witnessing their own manifestation of protest camps in the months that followed.

Despite the phenomenal scope of civil society in the Occupy movement, Stiglitz’ warning that the 1% will only belatedly awaken to the importance of maintaining the welfare of the largest slice of the population will, in all likelihood, be realized. Nonetheless, many compelling issues have been borne from the protests: from the mainstream media’s initial disregard of the events to the communication of activists within the camps and the policing methods adopted by each city. Media@McGill will be hosting a free public event on Friday, January 27, 2012 to address many of the media, political and social themes that have transpired during the months-long Occupy protests.

New Blog Entry: Challenging the Information Landscape

A new Media@McGill blog entry is now available.

"Challenging the Information Landscape: WikiLeaks' effect on the Media, Activism and Politics" brings together some of the main points made by panelists during our most recent event, Beyond WikiLeaks: Journalism, Activism and Politics One Year after Cablegate.

Read More.

Beyond Wikileaks and Miranda July event audio files now available

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Two recent M@M events -- Beyond Wikileaks: Journalism, Politics and Activism one year after Cablegate, and Miranda July's launch of her new book It Chooses You -- were audio-recorded. These recordings are now available for download from our site, or you can subscribe to all of our audio recordings on your iPod, via the M@M podcast channel on iTunes.

AUDIO: Beyond Wikileaks: Journalism, Politics and Activism one year after Cablegate. (~47MB)

AUDIO: Miranda July's launch of her new book It Chooses You. (~72MB)

Beyond Wikileaks: Journalism, Politics and Activism one year after Cablegate

2011-11-29 16:00
2011-11-29 18:00
beyondwikileaks

Tuesday, November 29, 4:00 pm
Thomson House Ballroom, 3650 McTavish (map)

On 28 November 2010, WikiLeaks and a small number of media partners released thousands of U.S. embassy diplomatic cables in what came to be referred to as 'Cablegate'. International diplomacy, journalism, and broader society were shaken by this extremely public disclosure of classified cables, which had been sent to the U.S. Department of State by its consulates, embassies, and diplomatic missions around the world. Among numerous other revelations, the cables exposed U.S. government war crimes, government corruption in North Africa, and misdealing within the financial sector, igniting an intense debate on the future of diplomacy and the media.

The Gadfly in the Ointment: 100 Years of Questioning the Status Quo

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UPDATE: An audio recording of this event is now available for download. You can download an MP3 of the event (~55MB) or you can retrieve it as a podcast from our iTunes channel.

With the appearance of former and current gadflies among the panel speakers for this combined Media@McGill and McGill Development and Alumni Relations event, the discussion on the precarious future of the gadfly press promised to be a spirited one.