***UPDATE 2:00PM CTS

I'm sitting in on a panel discussion about How Independent Media Creates Change with an all-star cast of panelists -- Robert Greenwald of Brave New Films, Jane Hamsher of FireDogLake.com, Daisy Hernandez of ColorLines,and Jefferson Moreley of Center for Independent Media, moderated by Tracy Van Slyke of the Media Consortium.

Robert Greenwald led things off by pointing out two Fox News reporters sitting in the front row of the auditorium.  Apparently, Fox is covering over a day of the conference.  Greenwald had harsh words for the folks at Fox for their smear tactics in the past when covering some of the wonderful speakers at the NCMR. So, if you want to see some interesting spin of this conference, be sure to follow the coverage on Fox News.  I wonder how they'll frame the conference, particularly appearances by Dan Rather, Naomi Klein, Arianna Huffington, and others tomorrow night.

Jane Hamsher, who's speaking now, just bashed Fox News too over the false rumors they spread concerning Barack Obama's religion.   

More to come... 

***UPDATE 11:25AM CST

Senator Amy Klobuchar helped kick off the NCMR, though not live, via a taped video message.  While dissapointing, Sen. Klobuchar, after welcoming everyone to Minnesota by quoting Garisson Keillor, did lay out some of the big policy issues that will be debated this weekend:

a) Media cross-ownership

b) Net neutrality

c) Consumer rights in the telecom industry

The consumer rights bill is legislation that Klobuchar has championed to provide oversight over wireless companies. Anyone with a cell phone knows that this oversight is long overdue and more than necessary.

Adrienne Maree Brown of the Ruckus Society energized the audience by signing a short song:

Woke up this morning

With my mind

Set on freedom 

Freedom was on the mind of Free Press's executive director Josh Silver when harped on Scott McClellan saying what we already knew  --the main stream media was complicit in the Bush Administration's march to the disastrous war in Iraq.  Silver coached his terms in a "fight for a democratic, open media..." He lambasted a media that should not belong to Rupert Murdoch or Comcast or Clear Channel, but belongs to us.

Representative Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to the U.S. Congress, the first African-American elected to the House from Minnesota, was preceded by that awful Glen Beck clip. Rep. Ellison then proceeded to absolutely rock the house, just like he did at Campus Progress's National Conference last year --linking campaign donations to legalized bribery.

More to come after lunch... 

------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

Hello, I'll be live blogging this weekend for Campus Progress, along with Kay Steiger, at the National Conference for Media Reform in Minneapolis, MN. 

The line-up of speakers and workshops looks amazing and the opening sessions, with Senator Amy Klobuchar, Adrienne Maree Brown of the Ruckus Society, Representative Keith Ellison, and others, is about to begin.

There's over 3,000 people here from around the country and the energy is palpable to learn how to take back and reform the media.

You can watch the conference from the comfort of your computer via their website, which is webcasting the audio and video of many if not all of the sessions, but stay tuned here for continuous updates on all the action.