How Old School Could Meet New School

"Could people below thirty raise their hands?" asked Mark Lloyd at the national Media Reform Conference in St. Louis. In a crowded room of about 50, eight hands slowly rose.

"People, this is your movement!" Lloyd, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, charged.

The recent conference -- held May 13-15 and organized by Free Press -- was both a milestone in grassroots organizing and a tribute to populism. More than 2,500 people from 50 states and eight countries came together, barely fitting into over 50 panels. There were community media producers, low-power radio station builders, city-owned internet advocates, hip-hop activists, lawyers, countless concerned citizens and some of the best-known voices in progressive media, including Bill Moyers, Naomi Klein, Al Franken, Davey D, and Jim Hightower.

Free Press, a national, media reform non-profit and conference organizer, cited increasing the diversity of participants as "one of the top priorities." The group put together an Outreach Committee including Youth Media Council, Clamor Magazine, and Media Tank to bring in younger faces and interests to this year's gathering. The Outreach Committee awarded $50,000 in scholarships and fee-waivers to youth and low-income activists.

But similar to most progressive movements, young people under 30 -- especially young people of color -- were an obvious minority. The median age of most participants hung stubbornly above 40.

Getting young people to give up their school breaks for a policy conference is not an easy task, though Free Press should be commended for attracting as broad a range as it did. The Youth Caucus that gathered about 40 partakers, revealed a broad cross-section from different sides of the map. There were 14-year-old high school students who in some cases heard about media reform for the first time, as well as 30-year-old veteran student organizers.

"Josh Breitbart from Clamor magazine invited me and got me a scholarship," explained Gavin Leonard, 24. Gavin heads Elementz, a Cincinnati-based hip hop arts center for low-income youth aged 14-24. Located in the city's Over-the-Rhine district, Elementz provides a free arts after-school program in a neighborhood where over 70 percent of residents are African-American and close to 90 percent of them live below the poverty level.

Jeanne Frith, 21, is majoring in Theater and Peace and Conflict studies at Cornell College. Jeanne belongs to a progressive student group of about 500. "I really enjoyed the conference. My friend told me about this," Frith said.

Colin Rhinesmith, 31, co-founded one of the first student-led media reform groups, called SCAMM (Students Concerned About Mass Media), at Emerson College this year. He got an invitation from Earl Dax, who heads student organizing efforts at Media Tank. "I wanted to see how people were talking about media reform ... in a clear and simple language. Students and youth have no idea what reform and policy means," says Colin.

Cynthia Blancaflor, 27, heard about the conference from Youth Media Council. She is an artist, singer and video coordinator for Oakland-based Youth Sounds. "It was useful to learn who calls the shots, to learn about consolidation and the recent FCC rules being pulled out," says Cynthia.

Why should media reform groups spend limited resources and energy on engaging youth?

"Historically, if you look at major social change movements, students were always at the forefront of it," Dax explains about why he chose to volunteer his time to organize students within media reform. "Students are one segment of society that is insulated from the real world responsibilities--high-paying jobs, mortgages. They can risk taking a confrontational stance."

As a genuinely grassroots, bi-partisan effort, the media reform movement is a unique success story. Free Press has become its de-facto national voice, and it's engagement with grassroots organizations around the country helped place media as the number two concern among Americans, according to recent surveys.