Media Scholar Robert Jensen to give lecture and workshop in Rochester 1/21-1/22/05
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Media scholar and activist Robert Jensen will be in Rochester 1/21-1/22/05 to give a lecture on media and the crisis of democracy and a workshop for activists on getting the media to pay attention to their issues.
Media scholar Robert Jensen,
associate professor of journalism at the University of Texas, Austin,
will give a lecture on media and the crisis of democracy the evening of
Jan. 21, and a workshop for activists on getting “A Word In
Edgewise: Working with Mainstream Media†during the daytime 1/22
(details to be finalized soon):
with UT Professor Robert Jensen
feeling used, abused, or ignored by the news media? Do you have trouble
getting journalists to pay attention to issues and events you think are
important? This media-training workshop will cover the basics of
working with journalists and the news media. We'll go over the basics
of news releases, news conferences, and event planning; strategies to
use when you are interviewed; and effective letter and op/ed writing.
Drawing on his experience as a working journalist, academic, and
activist/critic, Robert Jensen will suggest ways to better understand
journalists so that activists can more effectively get their messages
out through mainstream commercial news media.
The events are being sponsored by Metro
Justice. The lecture will be free
and open to the public, with donations requested. There will be a
sliding scale fee for the media workshop of $10-$20; however,
scholarships are available and no one will be turned away for lack of
ability to pay.
Jensen is the author of Citizens of the
Empire: The Struggle to Claim
Our Humanity (City Lights,
2004); Writing
Dissent: Taking Radical Ideas
from the Margins to the Mainstream (Peter Lang, 2002); co-author with
Gail Dines and Ann Russo of Pornography: The
Production and Consumption
of Inequality (Routledge,
1998); and co-editor with David S. Allen of
Freeing
the First Amendment: Critical Perspectives on Freedom of
Expression (New York
University Press, 1995).
Jensen joined the University of Texas
at Austin faculty in 1992
after completing his Ph.D. on media law and ethics in the School of
Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota. He
teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in media law, ethics, and
politics. Prior to his academic career, he worked as a professional
journalist for a decade.
In his research, Jensen draws on a
variety of critical theories. Much
of his work has focused on pornography and the radical feminist
critique of sexuality. In more recent work, he has addressed questions
of race through a critique of white privilege and institutionalized
racism.
In addition to teaching and research,
Jensen writes for popular media,
both alternative and mainstream. His opinion and analytic pieces on
such subjects as foreign policy, politics, and race have appeared in
papers around the country. He also is involved in a number of activist
groups working against U.S. military and economic domination of the
rest of the world.
I personally came into contact with
Jensen when I was editor of the Journal of
Communication Inquiry at the
University of Iowa. He submitted a paper that I eventually published in
the journal in 1987. Recently I had the pleasure of running into him
again at the Midwest Social Forum in Wisconsin last June. He is
an excellent speaker and has some terrific strategies for helping
various organizations to get their voices heard.
I am sure Rochester area grassroots
organizations will benefit greatly from Jensen's lecture and the
workshop. If you are interested in the workshop, be sure to let us know
soon, as space will be limited.
Please feel free to contact me or Metro Justice for further details.
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Georgia NeSmith, Ph.D.
http://homepage.mac.com/georgia.nesmith
http://georgia_nesmith.tripod.com
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