Citizen Media: Perspectives from Thought Leaders

A big thank you to the more than 50 Twitterers who joined @Changemakers for a #SocEntChat about Citizen Media on July 14! It was one of our most lively and energetic Twitter chats to date.
 
For those of you who are interested in citizen media, and related questions about how media and technology are intersecting with our daily lives, here are a few of my favorite thought-provoking and inspiring videos on the topic:

A Historic Moment in the Arab World: Wadah Khanfar, director general of Al Jazeera, discusses an optimistic view of what is transpiring in the Arab world, and the role of media.
 
Let’s Take Back the Internet: Rebecca MacKinnon, co-founder of Global Voices and senior fellow at the New America Foundation, describes the expanding struggle for freedom and control in cyberspace, and the importance of citizens demanding that their governments protect free speech and the right to internet connectivity. 
 
Listening to Global Voices: Ethan Zuckerman, co-founder of Global Voices, talks about how to open up your world of information to include news in languages you don’t even know.
 
The State of (and Future of) American Media: Alisa Miller, CEO of Public Radio International (PRI), discusses why American media is showing less about the rest of the world than ever before. Great visuals!
 
Fighting Injustice with Video (WITNESS): Peter Gabriel, co-founder of WITNESS, on why empowering people to tell their own stories is critical to protecting human rights. 
 
Do you have ideas on how to improve citizen media? Enter our Citizen Media competition -- the deadline is September 14, 2011!