Calling all change agents!

Here are some new ideas for creating (old and new) media change...

Within the Center

• Donate to the Center for Digital Democracy! Your support enables our valuable research and advocacy efforts to ensuring that the public interest is a fundamental part of the new digital communications landscape.

• Tell about your successes! CDD is looking for a few good stories to post on our website about organizations and models aiming to achieve social change goals by using new media tools. To highlight your model project or to give your organization's insights about adapting in a new media evironment, please email us

Beyond the Center

• Become a creator – be it by blog, newspaper, radio, podcast, video, or multimedia art installation, create something that adds a new perspective to the media stream (Check out our Models for Change section for good ideas)

• Join or start a local chapter of your favorite media advocacy organization

• Write an op-ed about a relevant media topic and submit it to your local newspaper or magazine

• Meet with local representatives to discuss the limited options for broadband or other media/communications options

• Organize your local media network – bloggers, community media centers, independent radio producers, local newspaper journalists and supporters unite! Learn the leverage the resources you already have available locally. Share information among your fellow local media advocates across multiple channels. Have monthly meetings, create a listserve or a newsletter – do anything to keep in touch with your network of change agents
  
• Track the media

• Propose a new media/Internet-focused curriculum to your local school board or university (See how these educational institutions are integrating new media into everyday learning)

• Create a video (or some other artistic piece) about how media could serve you better. Post it online and distribute it to independent media centers

• Be a local news watchdog. Keep a record of the kinds of stories reported by local news affiliates. Compare your record with the important things happening in your community that were not reported during that time. Send your lists to the local news affiliate and inquire about significant discrepancies. Spread the word (i.e. blog, podcast, radio interview) about stories that continue to be neglected in the mainstream media

• Call in to a radio station and request that they play more local artists

• Explain to a small business owner who relies on the Internet why net neutrality benefits them

• Offer your tech-savvy services to a socially conscious organization

• Start your own radio station

• Participate in a mapping project (community media, broadband deployment, wireless networks)

• Create a Meet Up group or make a specific media reform Change goal

• Connect with other techies

• Create your ideal, democratic media environment in a virtual world like Second Life

• Massive digitizing project – Work with a local organization with loads of valuable content that is only available offline and help upload it to an online site so that their work is permantly archived

• Create an online video or use other creative, new media platforms to question public candidates about how they plan on supporting a democratic media system

• Sign an online petition...create online petitions