Past Projects » Preview Forums

Preview Forums

  1. Race & Media Forum on The News We Need: Finding Balance in an Age of Spin. Forty-nine people attended the February 23, 2005 gathering, representing Madison's communities of color as well as print and electronic media. Discussion centered on how the media and communities of color can interact more effectively. It also focused on development of the Clearinghouse on Race/Media issues. This forum was sponsored by the Preview Forums, with funds from the Ford Foundation.

    This forum was the first of ongoing quarterly meetings with the goal of creating better understanding between communities of color and the local media. The purpose is to create understanding and relationships that will result in more textured coverage of these communities. The forums were begun as a result of Recommendation 18 of the City of Madison Task Force on Race Relations which suggested the Madison Equal Opportunities Commission (MEOC) organize regular meetings among the local media associations, representatives of various media and representatives of Madison's communities of color. The first of those forums was held February 22, 2000 and the last of the MEOC organized meetings was held in November, 2003.

  2. The News We Need in an Age of Spin Conference was held on May 7, 2005. 130 people attended this event held at Edgewood College in Madison.

    This conference focused on the news we need from both a local and national perspective. The local focus was on television media since it carries the largest market share and there are multiple outlets in Madison. We invited representatives from CBS, ABC and NBC as well as public television and Free Speech TV.

    Three speakers addressed national media issues. They were:

    • John Nichols, Capital Times, "Tragedy and Farce: How American Media Undermines Democracy, Community and Progress, and What We Should Do About It"
    • Bob Chase, United Church of Christ, "When the Media Pulls the Plug: Two Case Studies, Then and Now"
    • Dean Baker, Center for Economic & Policy Research, "The Economics of Bad News"

    The planning committee wanted to do more than describe media issues, so the afternoon program was dedicated to bringing people together to connect around local and national efforts at media reform.

    The following concrete outcomes from the two 2005 Preview Forums were identified:

    • The Madison Race & Media Quarterly Forums have been revived as a result of the Preview Forums event. They now continue quarterly.
    • The Clearinghouse for Race & Media Issues was created.
    • A list of all Race & Media participants was created with contact information and electronically shared with all who attended (or mailed out to those who do not have Internet access). This community connection will be expanded at future quarterly forums.
    • Preview Forums work is connecting Madison media representatives directly to new groups of residents, including communities of color.

For more information:

Collaborative Partners:

Kathy Bissen, Program Manager, Wisconsin Public Television; Phil Haslanger, Managing Editor, Capital Times Newspaper; Gloria Jones-Bey, Nursing faculty, Edgewood College; Mike McCabe, Executive Director, Wisconsin Democracy Campaign; John Nichols, Editorial Page Editor, Capital Times Newspaper, Shauna Rhone, Webpage, The Capital Times ; Beth Tryon, Human Issues Program, Edgewood College.