The Importance and Future of Independent Media, Emerson Suites, I.C.

Tues, Sept. 16, 7:30pm, Emerson Suites, Ithaca College (open to the public)

In the wake of harassment and jailing of independent journalists like Amy Goodman outside the Republican Convention in Minnesota, the topic of indy media has never been more pressing.

Few journalists have caused the resignation of a member of the president’s cabinet. Fewer still have done so by blogging. Josh Marshall and colleagues at the Talking Points Memo/TPM Muckraker blogs won this year’s Polk Award in legal reporting for their relentless coverage of the politically-motivated firings of U.S. Attorneys by the White House. The coverage led to Congressional hearings and the ultimate resignation of the Attorney General.

Marshall is speaking at Ithaca College on the importance of independent media in this era of technological change and crisis in mainstream media crisis. He built his blog network from a one-person operation into one of the most important journalistic sites on the Internet – with a growing staff and active readers who support and contribute to its investigations. Marshall has been credited with “re-inventing investigative reporting” by emphasizing “collaboration over competition and working with readers and through the collective weight of many news sources to expose government misconduct.” In 2002, Marshall’s blogging played a role in the resignation of Trent Lott from his post as Senate Majority leader, after remarks embracing a segregationist.

Marshall speech is part of the inaugural symposium of the Park Center for Independent Media.