Contact: Twin Cities Media Alliance: Richard Broderick, richb@lakecast.com

Concerned about the news media? You are not alone. Americans all across the political spectrum are increasingly dissatisfied with - and distrustful of - the performance of local and national news sources. A Citizen Media Fair to be held June 4 from 1 to 5 p.m. at Hamline University’s Klas Center will bring together journalists, media activists and concerned citizens to talk about what citizens can do to increase media accountability, quality and diversity. The fast-paced program will feature panel discussions, hands-on workshops, screenings of documentaries on the news media, and a keynote address by Air America Minnesota talk show host Wendy Wilde. The Klas Center is located on the Hamline University campus at Taylor Ave. near Snelling.

In our first panel,  Star Tribune Reader Representative Kate Parry, Gary Gilson, executive director of the Minnesota News Council,  conservative blogger Scott Johnson of PowerLineBlog.com, and Rob Levine of Cursor.org  project will offer constructive suggestions about what citizens can do to hold the media accountable.

"Don't hate the media - become the media" is the theme of the second panel, which will give people concrete ways to stop being passive consumers and become active media producers. Panelists will include Pam Colby of the Minneapolis Telecommunications Network, Janis Lane-Ewart, executive director of KFAI Community Radio; public affairs programming producer John Slade of the Counter Propaganda Coalition. and Twin Cities IndyMedia; and documentary producer (Blogumentary) and blogger Chuck Olsen.

Following the panel discussions, participants can attend one of six different workshops held at the nearby Learning Center, or stay at the Klas Center for screenings of media documentaries such as "Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism," and Danny Schechter’s "Weapons of Mass Deception." Running concurrently from 3 to 4 p.m., will be workshops on "How to Be a Glocal Journalist," "Children, Families and the Media," and "Taking Action on Media Reform (Locally and Nationally.)" And from 4 to 5 p.m.: "Getting on TV with Community Access Cable"; "The Internet Media Revolution: Blogs, Email, Indymedia;" and "Corporate Media: How and Why They Fail Us."

The Citizen Media Fair is hosted by the Hamline University Department of Political Science, and sponsored by the Twin Cities Media Alliance (www.tcmediaalliance.org), Free Media Greens (www.mngreens.org), Minnesota Media Reform (www.MinnesotaMediaReform.org), and the Counter Propaganda Coalition (www.counterprop.org).