Community-driven media organizations in Denver and Boulder are planning to provide activists and citizen journalists covering the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in August with a variety of resources, including a free computer lab, live radio and web feeds, production training and access to public television channels during the event.
A recent post on the blog DNC Disruption 08, a self-described “online clearinghouse for radical and progressive groups” planning to organize at the convention, goes into detail about plans by local organization Denver Open Media and radio station KGNU to give members of the public tools to help them become the media when the Democrats and national press are in Denver:
Denver Open Media [DOM] will be opening its channels and webstreaming to the entire community during the DNC. DOM is temporarily waiving annual membership fee required to cablecast content on Denver’s local access channels, 56, 57, and 219. For the week of the DNC every voice can be heard in Denver and throughout the world via the Internet!
Denver Open Media will also be broadcasting live from our studios at 700 Kalamath following each day of the convention, from 5-9pm, allowing any independent journalist to drop-in and share photos, video and audio recordings, and in-person accounts of the day live on TV.
…
In addition, KGNU and Denver Open Media will be announcing special access to their video and radio resources for visiting independent media producers interested in covering the DNC, with live TV, Radio, and internet broadcasts. KGNU will be broadcasting live on the radio from 6-10pm from their Denver facility at 700 Kalamath, with drop-in interview slots open from 6-7pm daily.
Citizen journalism is not a new concept for Denver Open Media, which is composed of the Mile High City’s public access channels and is managed by Deproduction, a nonprofit that specializes in providing media trainings and resources to the public.
KGNU, a non-commercial Denver-Boulder radio station supported by listener donations, also has a 30-year history in the activist community as being a medium for alternative voices and news.
Along with both radio and television access, citizen journalists in Denver during the convention will also have daily access to a computer lab for Internet or production needs, thanks in part to Colorado Indy Media, a media outlet (with no relation to the Colorado Independent) for "the creation of radical, accurate, and passionate tellings of truth."