Letter from Seoul:Mediact

Thanks to many people's support..... Mr. Hee-moon Cho, the chairperson of KOFIC has been recently fired by Ministry of Culture, Sports and Toursim. (as of Nov. 8, 2010) He was absolutely responsible for all the problems and regressions that KOFIC has caused during last 1 year. So this dismissal surely means a victory when seen from the film/media movement's perspective but we need to see who will be the next person to take charge after him.  And moreover, KOFIC's 2011 budget plan contains many serious problems including total budget cutting of film production support for independent films and art films. MCST/KOFIC is also planning to run the media center and independent film theaters for themselves based on the low performance of these facitilies this year. This means a regression in terms of autonomous governance model of these public facilities, which used to be run by civil society so far.  And KOFIC doesn't seem to have enough capability of running these public media facilities well, either. So judging from KOFIC's current budget plan, it seems that 2011 will be another tough year.

2.
Mediact is doing their best to survive and keep a hopeful spirit. Now we are trying to be more systematic in building a more sustainable operating structure and expanding our supporters and fundraising/revenue sources. For example, we are trying to get the status of "preliminary social enterprise" so that we can get fund from the Seoul City government. We are also contacting Mapogu local government if they can fund our activities, too. Of course, these are done with the perspective of advocating and strengthening public media policies and buidling networks with local civil organizations...

We are also keeping our eye on the 2011 budget of Korea Broadcasting and Communications Committee esp. regarding their participatory/citizen media related activities. Recently they have submitted 2011 budget plan which contains budget cutting of public access program by 40% from 2.5 million USD in 2010 to 1.5 million USD in 2011...

And besides working for winning public funds, we are also considering fundraising from the private sector such as enterprise sponsorships.We are considering over the implications and terms of these sponsorships...

We are also trying to expand our individual supporters. We have now reached 120 regular donors who submit a monthly payment. I hope you guys can spread the word and recommend your friends for possible monetary support for MediACT using fb MediACT 3.0 Cause page.
http://www.causes.com/causes/496849
http://www.mediact.org/web/etc/pop_sponform5.php

And celebrating our 200th day of survival since the re-opening in Sangam-dong, we are having a little event with our supporters on December 19th, 2010.  (Actually the exact date of 200th is Nov. 29 but we needed some time to prepare for the event because we wanted to involve our community members in the preparation stage.)  On this day, we will be holding a flea market and a screening of films made by Mediact students.

So these are some of the current news about Mediact and its struggle. Hope this was of interest to you and please forward the message to those who would be interested in.
best regards,
jihyun kim
Media policy and research dept.

MediACThttp://www.medioact.org/

Waves of Change Map

We are working on setting up an interactive map for the Waves of Change Project.  This will be a page embedded in the new Deep Dish site which is now being redesigned.  We have over 300 potential posts of video, audio files and graphics which will be an on-going Waves of Change project. Meanwhile we are posting a few samples of our material to this Google map. This is the link to the test site:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=109520517858965396132.00048838d78b7d003adb8


If you have comments or suggestions, please comment below or write deedeehalleck at gmail or nicole.hummel at gmail and let us know how to make it better.

What is Community Media?

Request for Assistance for Mediact in Korea

Lee Myung-bak's New Right government in S. Korea is taking disturbing steps to limit freedom of expression, shut down independent media, and defund media, arts, and cultural organizations across the country. The latest blow is an attack on public media center MediAct, which has played a key part in the democratization of Korea's media system since the end of the dictatorship, trained thousands of people in media production, and developed many successful media policy proposals to open up Korea's mediascape to diverse voices.

Please take action now to express international support for MediAct.
Background:
MediAct in Korea has long worked as a vital role to support alternative and independent film and video production, a critical citizens’ media monitoring movement, and an independent, democratic trade union movement since the late 1980s wave of democracy movement in Korea.

However, in the past two years, the mediascape and culture sector in South Korea has undergone some drastic changes under the Lee Myung-bak regime/New Right that has taken power as of 2008.

Now MediAct is facing the crisis of a shut down with the massive and politically motivated budget cutting by Korean government. Thus, we need international voices to condemn the Korean government's attack against the independent media environment in Korea.

1) Sign http://www.gopetition.com/online/33662.html
Media and democracy in South Korea: Save Mediact

2) For updates: Join ACT NOW to save MediAct & Independent Media in Korea! facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=273091817582&ref=nf

3) Call KOFIC's Chairman Cho, Hee Moon 82-2-958-7521
or email: mentor21@kofic.or.kr
cc: snowmt@kofic.or.kr

More info:
Mediact website: http://www.mediact.org
English Intro:
http://tinyurl.com/ygtsoq5
Related Interviews:
http://tinyurl.com/yk36jrl

Peoples' Production House Takes Part in Community Media Gathering in Seoul

Photo by Ellie Rennie
People's Production House attended an international seminar on community media in Seoul, Korea, December 17-18, 2008. The seminar, was organized by Korean community media centers Mediact and CAMF and sponsored by the Broadcasting-Telecommunication Commission.

“This is an honor for People's Production House and our innovative integration of participatory media production and media policy advocacy,” PPH Interim Executive Director Don Rojas said. “We are excited to discuss our local work in an international context and to learn from the other participants.”

Participants are traveling from Korea, the United States, Canada, Japan, United Kingdom, and Australia to discuss the role of community media and media activism in this time of media convergence. The other participants from the United States are Hye-Jung Park of the Funding Exchange, Joel Kelsey from Consumers Union, Louis Massiah from Scribe Video Center, and Sasha Costanza-Chock from the USC Annenberg School for Communication.For Korean participants, as for those from the US, this discussion takes place during a moment of great political transition, though the media activists in Korea are shifting to a less hospitable regime, while the incoming US President is more supportive of progressive media policies. MediAct emerged from the successful social movements in Korea that overthrew the military dictatorship. Over the years, it has provided fundamental infrastructure for participatory media democracy and secured government support for community radio, public access on cable and satellite, and local media centers.

MediAct is part of a National Media Activist Network in Korea responding to two overlapping challenges. First, the new President is pushing neoliberal reforms, including an assault on public media and restrictions on Korea's advanced broadband infrastructure. The second challenge is the fast process of media convergence. The speed of technological and industrial developments have created a situation where the traditional regulatory framework has become obsolete. Commercial interests are placing immense pressure on community media as a public activity.

People's Production House Co-Director Kat Aaron and Policy Director Joshua Breitbart will be presenting the organization's successful multimedia and media policy training program for youth and community media organizers. We will be looking to learn strategies for synthesizing various methods of media activism, integrating media production with social movements, and forming national alliances for promoting media policy reform. Together, all participants will also be discussing the challenges and opportunities for funding in this economic, political, and technological moment.

Community Radios, For Whom?

Korean Broadcasting Commission's Research of Demand before the Official Launching of Community Radios.
Community radios are now on the first stage in Korea. For the last 3 years, eight community radio stations have been running on pilot broadcasting. But the official launching has been postponed due to the delay of legal procedure and technological problems. KBC's original plan was to start official community radios in 2006 after one-year of pilot broadcasting in 2005.
KBC has recently announced that they would permit regular community radios in 2008. They started with holding several hearings and forums. However, KBC's approach written on "Policy on Community Radios" gives a lot of anxiety to radio groups. The most serious problem is about frequency bands. KBC's paper, "Research of demand for available frequency bands" sets a limit that if community radio groups cannot find a frequency band by themselves, they cannot apply for the business. It is a very difficult work for a small radio group to search and secure their frequency band in Korea where analogue frequency bands are very scarce. Media activists have demanded the solution of this problem for years, but KBC has ignored it. Now KBC tries to avoid responsibility and put the burden on the individual radio group.
The standard for selecting radio groups is also a problem. The main condition is, the groups have to secure enough financial resources and get support from local government. It is harsh for the nonprofit small-size local radios. If the standard gets accepted, lots of small radios will not be able to launch their services. Even if some radios can survive, most of them will fall to be broadcasters for promotion of rich groups and local governments.
The present community radio policy can be summarized into one phrase, "No Support, Regulations Only". KBC has announced that they will cut the fund they have provided for the pilot community radios, in spite of the fact that official financial support is necessary for the running of the nonprofit, public interest-based radios. Not only financial problem but also output limit is another urgent obstacle to jump over. KBC does not accept 10w output range while 10w is legally permitted. Jamming is their excuse. In this situation, solutions to strengthen community radios are urgent now that neo-liberalism has been threatening public interest of media.
Recently, communication radio groups have begun to organize actions to protest against KBC's policy, in solidarity with media activists. They issued a statement against KBC's research of demand and held an emergent forum to discuss how to resist KBC's plan. 2008 will be a significant year for the future of community radios in Korea. by CHAE-EUN PARK, staff of policy & research dept. in MEDIACT Trans. by Moon-a

Korea's RTV Celebrates 5th Anniversary

RTV is the first public access channel in Korea. It is celebrating its fifth year of broadcasting.This project grew out of the work of Mediact, an impressive media center in the heart of Seoul.These sorts of flower towers are a Korean tradition. There was an entire row of them sent by corporations who do business with the channel.To celebrate the anniversary, there was a seminar on community media, with international guests: Catherine from Vive TV in Venezuela, Adilson Cabral from Brazil, Myung Joon Kim from Korea, Ellie Rennie from Australia, DeeDee Halleck from US, Supinya Kiangnarong from Thailand, Kate Coyer from Hungary and the US and Jon Stout from the US. This is a trio from the US, Brazil and Thailand. Supinya Kiangnarong has been struggling to get freedom of expression in Thailand.Myung Joon Kim, coordinator of Mediact, the Korean media center, explains the exhibit of five years of Mediact's work.

MEDIACT IN KOREA

From Mediact's Web Page:
The Media Center is part of the public cultural infrastructure, aimed at raising the nation's media literacy, which is necessary for the 21st century era of visual information. The Media Center has its own independent film theater, a 'cinematheque' where visitors can watch and talk about a variety of visual material. Equipped with a wide range of tools used in the digital media environment, the Media Center enables professionals and amateurs to produce their own visual material and to attend media education programs. The Media Center is also involved in the research, study, collection, management and preservation of existing media resources. In other words, it is a comprehensive media culture center.http://www.mediact.orgMigrant Workers Television has a regular slot on a public access cable channel and on satellite in Korea.