Media Policy Meets Cultural Policy: Bedtime Stories for the Digital Age
[Source: October 19, 2010]
A Conversation with Michelle Coffey and Helen De Michiel, moderated by Alyce Myatt
Grantmakers in the Arts Annual Conference
Chicago, IL
Tuesday, October 19, 2010, 9:30 am
On October, 19, 2010 GFEM presented Media Policy Meets Cultural Policy: Bedtime Stories for the Digital Age at the Grantmakers in the Arts Annual Conference in Chicago.
Session description: Media Policy Meets Cultural Policy: Bedtime Stories for the Digital Age
Rarely do the advocates meet, but there is much common ground. In the spirit of "better together" we conducted a participatory session to elevate the intersections of the arts and social justice and media justice movements. The aim was to identify opportunities for the sharing of best practices and to foster collaborations that enable both art and social justice and media justice practitioners to more effectively use media, more artfully craft their messages and more efficiently reach their target audiences. Session presenters Helen De Michiel of NAMAC and Michelle Coffey of the Lambent Foundation considered such common issues as representation, access to audiences and mainstream vs. marginal.
Vision to Action
Not sure what your immediate next steps should be in the realm of arts advocacy? Consider these two easy and enjoyable action items:
1. Put Arts Advocacy Day on your calendar:
Arts Advocacy Day, April 4–5, 2011
http://www.artsusa.org/events
Omni Shoreham Hotel
Washington, DC
2. Set aside support to travel with your grantees to Arts Advocacy Day
We also hope you will review the following advocacy, arts and media policy resources which were offered to session participants.
Framing Publications and Articles
The Future of Digital Infrastructure for the Creative Economy
Future of Music Coalition, Fractured Atlas, and NAMAC, March 15, 2010
This paper briefly examines some of the challenges and opportunities presented by the digital era, and also suggests how the development and maintenance of certain digital infrastructure is critical to a successful and resilient 21st-century arts and cultural sector.
For Digital Democracy, The Nation, August 26, 2010
If citizens do not engage—and fast—decisions made now about how we communicate could warp every political debate in the future.
Investing in Change: Why Supporting Advocacy Makes Sense for Foundations, Atlantic Philanthropies, May 16, 2008
This publication explores the experiences of a growing number of funders around the world that are committed to supporting advocacy as a strategy to advance social change.
Internet Connectivity Statistics
In Mississippi, disconnected communities tend to be economically depressed communities of color. Communities with no high speed Internet access are majority people of color. As the number of Internet providers goes up, the percentage of people of color in the area goes down. In MS zip codes with 8 or more Internet providers, people of color represent only 20% of the population.
Almost half of African-Americans who lack access to the Internet have annual incomes below $20,000, and two-thirds cited cost as the primary barrier to service adoption. Fifty-three percent expressed interest in securing broadband if it were less expensive. [From Broadband in the MS Delta A 21st Century Racial Justice, Issue 3 (2010) available at www.centerforsocialinclusion.org: http://bit.ly/bvf5Hw]
Only 48% of Los Angeles households have Internet at home. [From ZeroDivide.org at http://bit.ly/9yLXM2]
Just over half of Latinos (52%) in California say they have home computers, far lower than the percentage of Asians (89%), whites (87%), and blacks (75%) who do. Only 39 percent of Latinos have a home broadband connection, compared to 75 percent of whites, 74 percent of Asians, and 62 percent of blacks. [From Californians Expand Use of Computers, Internet, Broadband—But Digital Divide Leaves Many Behind, Public Policy Institute of California, along with ZeroDivide: http://bit.ly/dkw0xK]
Forty percent of Philadelphians do not have Internet access in their homes because the cost of broadband is too high. [From Todd Wolfson, Co-Founder, Media Mobilizing Project]
Data on Mobile Use and Reach
Pew Internet & American Life Project - Mobile Access 2010
African-Americans and English-speaking Latinos continue to be among the most active users of the mobile web. Cell phone ownership is higher among African-Americans and Latinos than among whites (87% vs. 80%) and minority cell phone owners take advantage of a much greater range of their phones’ features compared with white mobile phone users. In total, 64% of African-Americans access the Internet from a laptop or mobile phone, a seven-point increase from the 57% who did so at a similar point in 2009.
Pew Internet & American Life - Technology Trends Among People of Color
Pew Hispanic Center - How Young Latinos Communicate with Friends in the Digital Age
Using Technology To Reach Marginalized Communities
MobileActive.org
Tapping the 4.5 billion mobile phone subscriptions to help NGOs communicate, reach and deliver services through mobile technology. They provide excellent resources, white papers, studies and links.
Mobile Health Outreach via Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Mobile Outreach - Homelessness, Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Other mobile outreach examples: Maternal and Child Health
First nation-wide mobile health effort aimed at encouraging healthy pregnancies and healthy babies: http://www.text4baby.org/about.html. Read an article about the project on Fiercewireless.com, Feb 4, 2010: http://bit.ly/9Ba3dI.
Advocacy
Building Public Will: Five-phase Communication Approach to Sustainable Change
Metropolitan Group, 2009
This paper outlines Metropolitan Group's public will-building model, utilized to create initiatives that engage the audience in formative research, and then marries high-profile media strategies with grassroots social movement techniques to create long-term social change.
Dynamic Families: How Small Family Foundations Decide to Make Big Changes Through Public Policy
Sillerman Center for the Advancement of Philanthropy, 2009
The paper examines the questions: How robust is small family foundation involvement in policy grantmaking? What led these foundations to policy grantmaking and why do they feel it is worthwhile? What challenges of policy grantmaking may be particular to small family foundations? How have small family foundations measured success in their policy grantmaking? What informs the practice or is likely to improve the efficacy of small foundations in policy philanthropy?
Foundations and Public Policy Grantmaking
The James Irvine Foundation, March 2008
This publication explores the range of ways private foundations can engage in public policy and proposes a framework for public policy grantmaking with specific lessons that foundations should keep in mind when considering policy-related grantmaking.
Power in Policy: A Funder's Guide to Advocacy and Civic Participation
Grantmakers for Effective Organizations/Fieldstone Alliance, 2007, Price: $37.95
Written primarily by foundation practitioners for foundations, it is the first book that makes a strong case for why advocacy and civic participation are fundamental roles for foundations, shares insights, lessons, and perspectives from foundation leaders and legal and philanthropic experts on how to engage in, talk about, and incorporate advocacy into philanthropy—and the nature of their role in the policymaking arena, and answers frequently asked questions including, “How does my foundation assess various risks?” “How do we organizationally prepare for public policy work, and develop partnerships and advocacy strategies?” Presents clearly and concisely key policy principles, legal rules, and evaluation methods.
What Makes an Effective Advocacy Organization? A Framework for Determining Advocacy Capacity
TCC Group/The California Endowment, 2009
In this paper, TCC Group outlines a model for evaluating organizational capacity for advocacy organizations and describes in detail the capacities that are critical to advocacy and how they interrelate to each other.
Words to Give By: Leading Voices in Advocacy Funding
Alliance for Justice/Council on Foundations, 2008
Why should foundations support advocacy? Read how 23 philanthropic leaders answer this question in a compilation of inspiring interviews.
Media Access Project
Media Access Project (MAP) is a nonprofit law firm and advocacy organization. MAP’s attorneys work on behalf of the public to promote freedom of expression, independent media, and low-cost, universal access to communications services.
Free Press
Free Press is a national, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization working to reform the media. Through education, organizing and advocacy, Free Press promotes diverse and independent media ownership, strong public media, quality journalism, and universal access to communications.
Public Knowledge
Public Knowledge is a Washington, D.C.-based public interest group working to defend citizens' rights in the emerging digital culture.
Center for Digital Democracy
The Center for Digital Democracy (CDD) is dedicated to ensuring that the public interest is a fundamental part of the new digital communications landscape. From open broadband networks, to free or low-cost universal Internet access, to diverse ownership of new media outlets, to privacy and other consumer safeguards, CDD works to promote an electronic media system that fosters democratic expression and human rights.
Center for Media Justice
The Center for Media Justice is a media strategy and action center that uses strategic communications and media activism to build a powerful movement for racial justice, economic equity, and human rights.
Institute for Sustainable Communities
The Institute for Sustainable Communities works to give ordinary people—who are passionate about and committed to a cause—the tools, skills, and support they need to make their vision happen.
Association of Small Foundations Legislative Guide
The Association of Small Foundations (ASF) is a membership organization for donors, trustees, employees and consultants of foundations that have few or no staff. ASF enhances the power of small foundation giving by providing the donors, trustees, and staff of member foundations with peer learning opportunities, targeted tools and resources, and a collective voice in and beyond the philanthropic community.
Atlantic Philanthropies
The Atlantic Philanthropies is dedicated to bringing about lasting changes in the lives of people who are disadvantaged by their economic situation, race, nationality, gender, age, disabilities, immigration status, sexual orientation, political affiliation or religion.
Center for Lobbying in the Public Interest
CLPI works to promote nonprofit advocacy and create systemic change in three related ways: Messaging and Outreach, Training and Presentations, Protecting and Expanding Nonprofit Lobbying Rights.
Conference of Southwest Foundations Legislative Update Webpage
The Conference of Southwest Foundations is a nonprofit membership association of grantmaking organizations that includes Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas and provides a forum for the exchange of ideas, experiences and expertise among grantmakers, and resources to enhance the ability of each organization to fulfill its charitable mission.
GrantCraft
GrantCraft collects practical wisdom from grantmakers and turns it into guides, workshops, videos, and other tools to help grantmakers hone their craft, offering frameworks to help organize work, make it more strategic, and benchmark effectiveness.
Grantmakers for Effective Organizations
Understanding that grantmakers are successful only to the extent that their grantees achieve meaningful results, GEO promotes strategies and practices that contribute to grantee success.
National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy
An independent watchdog of foundations, NCRP promotes philanthropy that serves the public good, is responsive to people and communities with the least wealth and opportunity, and is held accountable to the highest standards of integrity and openness.
Thomas
In the spirit of Thomas Jefferson, legislative information from the Library of Congress.
More on Advocacy Rules for Foundations
Council on Foundations - Legal Brief: What the Law Allows: An overview of the laws that govern what private foundations can and can't do regarding involvement in the public policy process.
Alliance for Justice - offers many resources related to advocacy rules under the tab “For Non-Profits and Foundations.”
Other advocacy-related resources available through the Council on Foundations website are:
Foundations for Civic Impact: Advocacy and Civic Engagement Toolkit for Community Foundations
Foundations for Civic Impact: Advocacy and Civic Engagement Toolkit for Private Foundations
IRS: Funding Nonprofits That Lobby
What Community Foundations Need to Know About Getting Involved in Public Policy
Sample Ways Foundations May Engage in Advocacy
Broadband Access Resources For Foundations
Benton Foundation - Broadband Benefits Project
Benton Foundation - BTOP Toolkit: Philanthropy's Role in Creating a Connected America
Blandin Foundation Broadband Initiative on broadband access and availability in rural Minnesota
