The New Public Square

How an unheralded network of organizations is making room for diverse voices and true public space in a digital era.

Ear-budded Americans listen to podcasts on virtually any imaginable topic and text message friends and colleagues about everything from grocery lists to leveraged buyouts. This constant connection and limitless expanse of fact and opinion would seem to be the perfect incubator for democratic involvement and participation. Yet as the media sector reinvents itself, there are real questions about how citizens learn about the issues affecting their lives, make choices, and take part in the governance of a continuously changing media environment where enormous sums of money and power are at stake. Over the past five years, the Ford Foundation has renewed its longstanding commitment to the media field. Our objective is to ensure that diverse voices are heard and that citizens have access to media that enrich the way we practice democracy.

Articles in this Series

Plugging in the Public Interest				All Things Reconsidered				Raising New Voices
As technologies delivering our media grow more complex, so do the battles over access and ownership.				The next generation of public media draws up a game plan to attract diverse, new audiences.				Three countries, three journeys toward developing diverse media offerings.
More »				More »				More »

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Frontlines

• Journalists Face Safefty Risks in Mexico
• For Ethnic Media, Generally Good News
• Supporting Artists, Sustaining Communities
• Making Opportunities a Priority
• News Bytes
• High-Speed Access to Opportunity
• The Rap on Hip-Hop
• One Community at a Time
• Combating AIDS: The Southern Strategy
• Timbuktu: Preserving Literary Treasures

Voices

• Difficult Dialogues: Keeping campus speech free in perilous times.

Illustrations by Randy Lyhus