The Ronald H. Brown Center Receives Ford Foundation Grant For National Media Reform Conference

November 29, 2006

Queens, NY -

The Ronald H. Brown Center for Civil Rights and Economic Development at St. John’s University School of Law received a $10,000 grant from the Ford Foundation’s Knowledge, Creativity and Freedom Program. The grant will fund the travel of a delegation of media diversity experts to the National Media Reform Conference in Memphis, TN on January 12-14, 2007. 

Activists, media makers, educators, journalists, policymakers and concerned citizens will gather at the conference to present ideas and strategies for reforming the media. The Ronald H. Brown Media Diversity Delegation will take part by co-facilitating discussion groups at a Media Diversity Summit at the National Media Reform Conference. Each delegate is required to write a report of their experiences at the conference.

The Ronald H. Brown Media Diversity Delegation includes:

Dr. C. Anthony Bush
Chief Economist
General Counsel’s Office
Federal Communications Commission

Neil Carlson
Writer and Consultant

Akilah Folami
Professor
St. John’s University School of Law

Chanelle Hardy
Attorney
Federal Trade Commission

David Honig
Executive Director
Minority Media and Telecommunications Council

Kevin Howley
Associate Professor
DePauw University

Angela Mae Kupenda
Professor of Law
Mississippi College

Catherine J.K. Sandoval
Assistant Professor of Law
Santa Clara University School of Law

Dr. Maria Simone
Professor
Rowan University

Antwuan Wallace
PhD Candidate
New School University

The delegation will be led by Professor Leonard M. Baynes, the Director of the Ronald H. Brown Center for Civil Rights and Economic Development, who with Malkia Cyril, the Director of the Youth Media Council, will co-facilitate the Media Diversity Summit.  Additionally, Professor Baynes, with Professor Catherine Sandoval, of Santa Clara Law School, will co-facilitate a pre-conference session, sponsored by the Social Science Research Council of Media Scholars, that will explore the relationship between contemporary justice concerns—including racial and gender inequalities—and the ‘content’ of the media.