You may have already heard of OpenMedia.ca, a Canadian based grassroots organization that works towards promoting an open and affordable Internet. The organization’s mission is to engage individuals through online campaigns focusing on media and communication policy, to educate through online resources and events, and to empower individuals with the tools and information that allow citizens to advance their vision of OpenMedia.
This week’s campus celebrity is the McGill student chapter of OpenMedia and the hard working team behind the club. I sat down with Open Media McGill’s co-directors, Alexandra Esenler and Stella Habib, to get the low down on Open Media McGill’s revival on campus and how they are striving towards increasing students’ interests in media, technology and information policy.
Alexandra and Stella, both seniors at McGill, have been working hard to promote their club on campus since they took on their position as co-director this summer. Their primary goal is to increase student awareness within the McGill community and then incite students to join the cause.
Alexandra and Stella were first introduced to the topic of media governance and Internet policy through a communication class at McGill, COMS 493: Advanced Issues in Media Governance. Their professor Dr. Becky Lentz opened their eyes to the subject and furthered their curiosity, and eventually both girls became familiar with OpenMedia and immediately wanted to become involved with McGill`s chapter of the organization. Luck would have it that the previous directors were graduating, which meant that both girls were able to take on a leading role within the club and push their vision of OpenMedia McGill forward.
Indeed, the club has definitely been making its mark on the campus club scene with their executive team growing, and an increasing number of students joining their blogger team, which primarily focuses on updating the website with informative posts about Open Media. OpenMedia McGill’s main outlet is its online blog, where you can find information about the club, who they are and what they do, as well as links to other resources and possible internship opportunities, and past and future event information. OpenMedia McGill strives to remain as neutral and open as possible, a quality that has differentiates them from other student based activist groups. The reality is that many people are uniformed about the issues related to media governance, despite the fact that today’s society is essentially dependent on all types of media in our everyday life. Because it is a relatively new club, OpenMedia McGill has been teaming of with other on campus clubs such as TV McGill and CKUT radio to help spread their message.
More recently, the club has been organizing some great events for its members, but also for the larger student community. Last September’s field trip to the CRTC (Canadian Radio-Television Telecommunication Commission) hearing in Montreal on the Bell/Astral merger, was a great success for OpenMedia McGill, and they hope to attend more similar events in the future. Being able to attend public hearings where both sides of a merger present their case to the public was a great way for OpenMedia McGill to illustrate the issues it deals with and wants to promote, through a very current and local example.
Since becoming co-directors, Alexandra and Stella’s passion and interest for the subject has continued to grow, and with graduation right around the corner, both are looking towards pursuing graduate degrees in the field of media governance and Internet policy or even attend law school. They credit their communication studies class and OpenMedia McGill for helping them find something they are truly passionate about!
Be sure to check out their website for more information: http://openmediamcgill.wordpress.com/Â and OpenMedia.ca:Â http://openmedia.ca/
Picture:Â http://openmediamcgill.wordpress.com/
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