Berkman Center Events Next Week

Next week, we have several exciting events at Berkman:

We the Media: The Rise of Grassroots, Open-Source Journalism, and the Coming Era of the Citizen Activist
Monday, 2/13, 7 pm, Kennedy School of Government, Malkin Penthouse, Littauer Building 4th Floor.

A public talk by Dan Gillmor -- CitizenMedia.org founder & director, author of "We the Media," and Berkman fellow -- with respondents Alex Jones, Director of the Joan Shorenstein Center, and David Berlind, Executive Editor of ZDNet. This event is cosponsored by the Shorenstein Center for Press, Politics and Public Policy at the Kennedy School. From Dan:

As technology collides with journalism, democratizing the tools of media creation and distribution, news is evolving from a lecture into a conversation. As individuals become more engaged with the news and its creation, they will be taking steps beyond simply being better informed -- a journey toward enhanced civic activism as well. This talk, the first in a series of four, explains recent developments in grassroots media and why they are so important to the notion of an informed citizenry.

Transparency, Accountability and Congress: Breaking Down the Firewall
Berkman Tuesday Luncheon Series – RSVP required as space is limited, to rsvp@cyber.harvard.edu
Tuesday, 2/14, 12:30 pm, Berkman Center

If, as Justice Brandeis once said, "sunlight is the best disinfectant," then one big reason for the systemic corruption of Congress is that so much of what our public representatives do is hidden from public view. The press, the Fourth Estate, can barely keep up--especially when budgets for serious investigative journalism are shrinking. But new technology and the power of citizen networks offer a way to bring greater transparency and accountability to Congress. Come join the founders of the Sunlight Foundation in an informal and invigorating discussion of how we can restore health to our democracy.

Guests are Ellen Miller and Mike Klein of the Sunlight Foundation, and Micah Sifry and Andrew Rasiej of Personal Democracy Forum.

Set Top Cop: Hollywood's Secret War on Your Living Room
Wednesday, 2/15, 6 pm, Emerson Hall 105, Harvard College

Cory Doctorow, science fiction author, activist, journalist, & co-editor of BoingBoing.net, will give a public talk on DRM (Digital Rights/Restrictions Management) in media and how artists and the public can work to preserve freely accessible culture. This event is cosponsored with the Harvard Computer Society and Harvard Free Culture.

Interested in being on Berkman’s events mailing list? Sign up by emailing rsvp@cyber.harvard.edu.