Media Release School of Communication, Simon Fraser University 8888 University Drive Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6 For Immediate

Release November 1, 2011

Media Democracy Day Screens Documentary War Made Easy on Remembrance Day & Discusses Civic Engagement
Vancouver, BC On Friday, November 11th, Media Democracy Days (MDD) will be hosting a screening of the documentary film War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death in support of Remembrance Day. Renowned media scholar Dr. Sut Jhally, founder of the Media Education Foundation, will introduce the screening. Dr. Jhally will provide a critical reflection on the historical narratives and images of war, while seriously considering the enormous role played by our contemporary military-media-industrial complex in manufacturing citizen support for war. This screening will be taking place at the Pacific Cinematheque, there is no charge for this event and doors open at 6:30pm. Additionally, during MDDs Saturday program, an exciting array of thought-provoking panels will be taking place, such as the panel entitled: ShitHarperDid, Slutwalk & Leadnow: New Directions in Civic Engagement. This panel will explore ideas surrounding citizen engagement in grassroots organizing of movements that have taken place recently. This panel will be moderated by Phillip Djwa, a creative artist and digital media producer, and speakers will include Cam Dales, co-founder of shitharperdid.com, Katie Raso, organizer of Vancouvers SlutWalk and Tria Donaldson, Communications Coordinator at Leadnow.ca. About Media Democracy Day: Launched simultaneously in Vancouver and Toronto in 2001, MDD responded to a growing global media democratization movement. This movement seeks to create a more participatory media system by supporting independent and public service media production, celebrating innovation and creating dialogue around the politics and biases linked to our increasingly corporate and concentrated media. To learn more, visit http://www.mediademocracyday.org About the School of Communication: For more than 35 years, the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University has fostered the development of critical, interdisciplinary approaches to the study of media and technology with a commitment to social theory and political economy. Led by an award-winning team of educators, the School of Communication is at the leading edge of media policy research, technological innovation and cultural transformation on a global scale. For more information, visit http://cmns.sfu.ca About OpenMedia.ca: OpenMedia.ca is a national, non-partisan, non-profit public engagement organization working to advance and support an open and innovative communications system in Canada. Our primary goal is to increase public awareness and informed participation in Canadian media, cultural, information and telecommunication policy formation. More at: http://openmedia.ca

 About Vancouver Public Library: Vancouver Public Library is one of Canada's largest library systems and is dedicated to meeting the lifelong learning, reading, recreation and information needs of the people of Vancouver. Annually, the landmark Central Library and 20 neighbourhood branches serve over 5 million visitors who borrow almost 10 million items, including books, CDs, DVDs, magazines and countless online resources. For more information about the Library, call 604-331-3603 or visit http://www.vpl.ca ### Media Contact: Gala Milne, Lead Coordinator, Media Democracy Day 2011 Office: (778) 782.7353 mddcoordinator@gmail.com More information: www.mediademocracyday.org