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What does media democracy look like, and how can we get there? Each day leading up to the May 13-15 National Conference on Media Reform, MediaChannel.org wants to know what you think about the future of our media.

In collaboration with the "Indy," a free, independent newspaper in Bloomington-Normal, Illinois, MediaChannel.org presents the following interviews with media thought leaders to kick off the discussion.

The Media Cartel
The half-dozen media conglomerates on which the majority of Americans depend or their news, views and entertainment, behave more like a cartel than independent competitors, says media critic Ben Bagdikian. 

Alt Media vs. the Status Quo
In an age when revolutionary art and dissident culture are so quickly commodified by Madison Avenue, how can artists and mediamakers break through with their message?

Josh MacPhee
"We live in a society where our visual landscape is extremely designed, and we interact with thousands of images a day, that all are trying to grab our attention. One can argue that an issue demands 5 pages of 10 point type to be explained, but how are you going to get anyone to read that?"  more...

Eric Galatas
"Television is the dominant medium of public discourse. ... That's why the biggest corporate powers control it. Is it subtle? Not really. Is it as exhaustive as a dissertation? Probably not. Should people steal this particular Promethean fire from the current gods of dominant discourse? Absolutely. "  more...

Howard Zinn
"Editors of mainstream newspapers are themselves limited people, with limited knowledge of history, with a strong tendency to timidity, fearful to challenge people in power, wanting to stay in the good graces of such people."  more...

No News for the Working Class?
In-depth reporting of issues affecting workers and immigrants has nearly disappeared from the American media landscape. Many newspapers no longer have a labor reporter. Business and investment shows multiply on cable television, but where are the workers?

David Moberg
"Most reporters occupy a slightly professionalized niche in the class structure... They are less exposed – so far – to the global pressures bearing down on many workers who make goods that are traded in international markets, and they imagine that their education will give them the power to adapt to changing markets."  more...

Liza Featherstone
"While reporters used to be pretty working-class, often not even college educated, today they tend to be much more privileged, sheltered people. ... The people writing and producing the news don't really identify with the labor movement, or with working-class people. That inevitably affects the coverage."   more...

Kari Lydersen
"Mainstream media is geared toward middle/upper-income, college-educated, often suburban readerships whose editors seem to think want to read largely about their own communities and issues that affect them directly."  more...

Barbara Ehrenreich
"Media in general are interested only in readers who represent 'good demographics' from an advertiser's point of view, meaning affluent."  more...

Discussion:  Is the decline in reporting on labor and immigrant issues reversible?

Why Liberals Are Mad at the MSM
Liberals are angry with the mainstream media, argues John Atcheson, because for the last four years they have utterly failed to hold our leaders accountable to the truth. If the press doesn't challenge those in power, and don’t dig for more information, then politicians, being politicians, will tell ever bigger lies.

A Call to Action: Support the Indy Press
Jennifer Nix has a challenge to progressives: put your money where your mouth is, and help build the independent press. Who will respond?

Jennifer Nix
"If you believe that our media and democracy are in trouble, due to consolidation and corporatization, then it's time to make a commitment to independent media." more...

Sonia Shah
"It is essential for the health of progressive publishing that readers support their local independent stores."  more...

Response:  The sustainability of independent media projects is achievable, writes indy publisher Anne Elizabeth Moore, but celebrity progressives like Michael Moore, Amy Goodman and Al Franken aren’t going to help.

Discussion:  Are progressives ready to get "out of whining mode, and into action mode?"

Where Have the Journalists Gone?
Conservatives and progressives alike lament the "dumbing down" of news. Studies chronicle a marked decrease in foreign news and investigative reporting. Media educators Mark Crispin Miller and Robert Jensen say today's journalism schools are complicit in the "corporatization" of the news media.

Mark Crispin Miller
"J-schools haven't bothered to instruct their students in the sad reality of journalism in America today. "  more...

Robert Jensen
"Most journalism schools have made a kind of corrupt bargain with mainstream corporate commercial news media."  more...

Discussion:  Are journalism schools part of the battleground for building a better media?

Critical Mass for Media Reform?
News Dissector Danny Schechter reflects on what's on this weekend's agenda and what should be.  more...

Discussion:  Is the media system "vulnerable as never before," as Danny writes? What role can bloggers and citizen journalists play in popularizing media reform?