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7.23.2008 - 04:45pm ET

CSR News from:	The Aspen Institute
News Categories:	Research, Reports & Publications
	CSR - General

Media Impact on Information Needs and Democratic Values to be Examined by Knight Commission and Aspen Institute

Trends, Access, Quality, and Presidential Candidate Policies to be Studied in Aspen, CO August 9-12.

(CSRwire) WHAT:

The Annual Aspen Institute Forum on Communications and Society (FOCAS) (www.aspeninstitute.org/focas) will be held in conjunction with the second meeting of the Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy (www.knightcomm.org). The Commission's mandate is to determine community information needs, trends that affect how community information needs are met, and how public policy and private initiatives can better meet these needs.

Saturday August 9th - The Knight Commission will convene to examine the current and future state of journalism including the growth of citizen journalism. Click here to view the full agenda.

Sunday August 10th - Tuesday August 12th - The Knight Commissioners and 40 other invited members to FOCAS will discuss how the media facilitates citizen engagement, the information rights and responsibilities of citizens, and the role of media in the electoral process. Participants will develop recommendations for citizens, media, and public institutions to serve the goals of American democracy better. Click here to view the full agenda.

WHO: Participants include:

Jonathan Adelstein, FCC Commissioner
Madeleine Albright, Principal, The Albright Group
John Carroll, Former Editor Los Angeles Times
Reed Hundt, Former FCC Chairman
Alberto Ibargüen, President, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Henry Jenkins, Director, Comparative Media Studies and Professor, MIT
Paula Kerger, President, Public Broadcasting Service
Michael Lomax, CEO, United Negro College Fund
Marissa Mayer, Vice President, Google
Craig Newmark, Founder, Craigslist
Theodore B. Olson, Former Solicitor General of the United States
Philip Rosedale, Founder, Second Life
William Dean Singleton, Vice Chairman & CEO, MediaNews Group

WHEN: Saturday August 9 - Tuesday August 12, 2008

WHERE: Aspen, CO - Doerr-Hosier Center at the Aspen Institute Aspen Meadows Campus
1000 North Third Street, Aspen, Colorado 81611

WEBCAST: The Knight Commission will be webcast live and available for future viewing at www.knightcomm.org and FOCAS will be webcast live on www.aspeninstitute.tv.

TO ATTEND OR SCHEDULE PHONE INTERVIEWS CONTACT:

Sarah Snodgress
Tel. 202.736.5818
Email: sarah.snodgress@aspeninstitute.org
RSVP REQUIRED

The Knight Commission on the Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy is a 15-member commission assembled to recommend both public and private measures that would help American communities better meet their information needs. The Commission’s research-based approach will examine the following three questions: What are the information needs of communities in our American democracy? What are the current trends affecting how community information needs are met? And what changes will ensure that community information needs will be better met in the future?

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation promotes excellence in journalism worldwide and invests in the vitality of 26 U.S. communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. Knight Foundation focuses on ideas and projects that create transformational change. Nearly 20 years ago, the Knight Foundation created the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics. That first Knight Commission has helped restore intercollegiate athletics to the control of university presidents.

The Aspen Institute, founded in 1950, is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering enlightened leadership and open-minded dialogue. Its seminars, policy programs, conferences and leadership development initiatives seek to promote nonpartisan inquiry and timeless values. The Institute is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with campuses in Aspen, Colo., and on the Wye River near the shores of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. Its international network includes partner Aspen Institutes in Berlin, Rome, Lyon, Tokyo, New Delhi, and Bucharest, and leadership initiatives in Africa, Central America, and India. The Communications and Society Program is one of 21 policy programs at the Aspen Institute. It addresses the societal and democratic impact of the communications and information sectors.

For more information please contact:

Sarah Snodgress
The Aspen Institute
202-736-5818
www.aspeninstitute.org

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