Media Democracy Days (MDD)

Why Restarting MDD Matters Now 

MDD has not been organized since before the pandemic. In today’s media landscape, the urgency to revive Media Democracy Days cannot be overstated. The rise of misinformation, algorithm-driven echo chambers, and concentrated media ownership threatens democratic discourse and informed citizenship. Communities need spaces to critically engage with these challenges, develop media literacy, and advocate for equitable communication systems. Restarting MDD will empower diverse voices, foster resilience against disinformation, and catalyze collaborative solutions at a time when public trust in media is at a historic low. 

MDD has always been about building community, so we hope you’ll join us.

Event Schedule and Itinerary

May 28th Fireside Chat

A fireside chat between people in the public media space based around these questions:

  • What are the big challenges facing public media today? 
  • What should citizens care about media democracy 
  • What does media democracy mean today?  
  • What infrastructures do we need to foster for civic engagement 
  • What's the role of government in insuring and sustaining media democracy at the national, regional and local levels? 

October 23rd-24th Media Democracies Days

More details to come! 

History of MDD

Since 2001, our annual conference, MDD, has become the signature event for alternative, independent, and democratic media in Canada. MDD has since expanded into a multi-day event presented by the School of Communication at SFU.

Our advocacy is backed by our rich history of research into media democracy, through projects such as NewsWatch Canada and the Global Media Monitoring Project.

Throughout this history, we have approached the project of media reform with a three-pronged ambition:

  • Know the media by engaging in critical, progressive, cross-cultural, and intergenerational policy dialogue
  • Be the media by working directly with local media makers to produce messages that intervene in cultural and political life
  • Change the media by collaborating with community members to create progressive coalitions and actionable political goals.