The Knowledge Exchange Program: Strengthening Collaboration between Grassroots and D.C.-based Media Policy Advocates

By Hye-Jung Park, Program Officer for the Media Justice Fund at the Funding Exchange

For the past several years, media reform workers have convened at national gatherings to discuss strategies for achieving a more fair and democratic media system in the U.S.  At each meeting, key participants asserted the need to collaborate further and build broader coalitions in the media policy sector.  To work toward this goal, Consumers Union and the Funding Exchange’s Media Justice Fund initiated a dialogue between grassroots organizations and D.C.-based policy groups to explore the best practices of collaboration and knowledge sharing.

The Knowledge Exchange Program was suggested by Becky Lentz, a former Program Officer at the Ford Foundation, and bloomed out of a subsequent conversation between me and Gene Kimmelman at Consumers Union.  We believe this work has created an excellent example of how a principled partnership can have a powerful impact on the national media and communications landscape.   

Over a two-year period, the Knowledge Exchange Program held three weeklong exposure programs: the first two sessions were held in Washington, D.C., and the third took place in Oakland, Calif., a stronghold of media activism and grassroots policy work.  At the gatherings, participants were exposed to various models and strategies for media policy change and exchanged information and insight about their respective approaches.  (See list of participating organizations at end of article.)

Each Knowledge Exchange included a range of activities: visits with key policymakers on the Hill and at the FCC, roundtable discussions on different policy approaches, and site visits to important community media institutions.  Participants held meetings with the staff of Congressmen Dingell, Doyle, and Dorgan, as well as the staff of FCC Commissioners Adelstein and Copps.  These interactions provided opportunities to develop a fuller understanding of the Digital TV transition, media ownership issues, and regulatory opportunities to expand affordable broadband.

Drawing on the rich breadth of experience among the group, daily policy roundtable discussions allowed space for mutual learning and debate.  One such conversation focused on developing a shared understanding of the thorny issues surrounding policies to enact Affordable Broadband, from the perspectives of both urban and rural constituents.  The group worked to come to a consensus about what a broad coalition’s shared goals might be in this policy area, following presentations by Edyael Casaperalta, Center for Rural Strategies; Joel Kelsey, Consumers Union; and Joshua Breitbart, People’s Production House.

During the Oakland session, hosted by the Center for Media Justice, the group also conducted site visits to model community media projects: the Digital Inclusion Program run by the San Francisco Department of Telecommunications & Information Services, the Bay Area’s Community Technology Network, and KPFA-FM in Berkeley, the first listener-sponsored community radio station in the United States. 

To guide the process, the participating organizations established empirical measurements at the beginning of the program to foster consensus building and to maintain accountability to agreed upon goals.  Program staff surveyed participants before and after each Exchange to inform the agenda and structure each subsequent one based on the feedback.  The Center for International Media Action conducted final assessments of participants, indicating what was accomplished and what might be improved to achieve mutually agreed upon campaign goals.

Grassroots participants reported increased understanding of specific policy issues, such as municipal wireless and the Digital TV transition, and much greater understanding of the overall policymaking process.  They acknowledged new possibilities for the advancement of social justice agendas through increased connections with D.C.-based advocates.  

Peggy Berryhill, Director of Services and Planning at Native Public Media, shared: "It was valuable to share our experience and learn from other organizations about how they are engaging people in different contexts.  Most of us in Native media, are dealing with a different context because much of our community is in rural areas and because of how policy advocacy differs for sovereign nations."

Edyael Casaperalta, Program Associate with the Center for Rural Strategies, added: “The Knowledge Exchange was really the basis for me to learn about media policy issues, in particular broadband for rural communities and White Spaces.  With this new knowledge and the new relationships built with other organizations and D.C.-based advocates during the Exchange, I was able to focus my work around our White Spaces campaign.”  [“White spaces” are the unused television frequencies between TV channels 2 to 51, which policy advocates recently succeeded in getting opened up for broader use.]

On the other side of the table, the D.C.-based participants came away with greater knowledge of the priorities of grassroots groups, and of what they will need to do to build effective national and local collaborations.

Joel Kelsey, Policy Analyst with Consumers Union, stated: “The Knowledge Exchange has significantly informed my work.  I have a trusted set of grassroots advisors that I connect with regularly to discuss strategy and approach.”

Beth McConnell, Executive Director of the Media and Democracy Coalition, said:  “Initially, we thought an expert in D.C. would write the Internet White Paper for the new Congress, then we’d send it to local organizing groups to endorse.  Through my involvement with the Knowledge Exchange Program, and the relationships born out of the experience, I realized that this isn’t how the Coalition should go about this project.  I came to understand that local organizations needed to be involved in a much deeper way, and so we integrated their participation in the white paper from the beginning.”

Since their time together in D.C. and Oakland, participants have continued to work together, exchanging information integral to advocacy work, and they have made themselves and their resources available to one another.

In each instance, we found the Knowledge Exchange Program to truly be a work in progress, with missteps occurring among participants and staff.  Nonetheless, at the end of each Exchange, participants have walked away with a better understanding of how each group works, and with a more informed notion of how to bring positive, constructive input to the next session and to the media change movement.

The Media Justice Fund and Consumers Union are in the midst of a full evaluation of  the Knowledge Exchange Program and are discussing future plans.  We believe that this effort is an important first step toward building lasting collaboration in the media policy sector, and we look forward to sharing the model so that other groups can build on our efforts.

Participating Organizations in the Knowledge Exchange Program:

Media and Democracy Coalition
Texas Media Empowerment Project
Manhattan Neighborhood Network
Native Public Media
Center for Media Justice (formerly the Youth Media Council)
Media Mobilizing Project
Reclaim the Media
Appalshop
People’s Production House
Media Access Project
Free Press
Center for Rural Strategies
Main Street Project
Allied Media Projects
Media Alliance
Consumers Union