[WSIS CS-Plenary] Need interns? Research? Get the "Necessary Knowledge" you need

[Rik Panganiban]

Dear Colleagues,

This is the "pre-announcement" of the new project on media reform  
that I am now coordinating. Apologies for cross-posting and dupes.


- Rik Panganiban, Program Coordinator, Social Science Research Council

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‘Necessary Knowledge’ Opportunities for Advocacy Groups Working on  
Media Policy



We are pleased to announce the first "Necessary Knowledge for a  
Democratic Public Sphere” projects. NKDPS is designed to build  
connections between advocates and academics working on public  
interest media policy issues.  The first round of projects will  
provide a number of different opportunities for you to connect with  
interns and researchers who can help you in your current campaigns  
and projects.

We need to know what you need. This email is a request for specific  
information about your potential need for student interns -- which we  
will then publicize to media and communications schools -- and to  
alert you about our upcoming Research Bounty program, which will  
enable advocacy groups to seek researchers and funding for critical  
research projects.



1)   Do You Need Interns?

  If you are interested in hosting and working with graduate student  
interns, please email us at MediaHub at ssrc.org with the following  
information:

·           Name of organization, location, website, contact person

·           Duration of available internship: start & end dates,  
hours/week needed, flexibility of hours, etc.

·           Brief description of intern duties/projects: what will  
they be doing? what will they be working on?

·           Any requirements as far as experience, skills,  
educational level? (specific computer skills? policy/research/ 
advocacy expertise?)

·           Please specify if you can provide:

o          office space (or is this for a virtual/telecommute intern?)

o          a computer (or do they need their own?)

o          any sort of stipend (i.e. wages/compensation,  
transportation, meals, work-study arrangement, or any other benefits  
or perks)

o          arrangements to receive school/class credit

  Please respond to these questions as completely and briefly as you  
can.  We will publicize all submitted intern opportunities to a wide  
network of media/communications departments, professors, schools and  
academic associations.  In future rounds, this capacity will also be  
integrated into the online Media Research Hub launching in early Spring.

(Of course the more interesting/exciting the work is and the  
availability of any stipends will increase the likelihood of getting  
interns!)

  Send your Call for Interns to MediaHub at ssrc.org by April 10  to be  
including in our outreach for summer interns.




2)  Do You Need Research?

The Research Bounties program will enable advocacy groups to post  
online research requests related to current campaigns and organizing/ 
activist initiatives. These requests will be vetted by a peer-review  
panel of activists and academics who will assign "bounties" or prizes  
of up to $8000 for the completion of selected projects.  Projects and  
bounties will be published as open calls to the research community,  
producing both new knowledge and new researcher/advocacy collaborations.

In 2006, the Bounties will focus primarily, but not exclusively, on  
research related to the rewrite of the Telecommunications Act.  We  
are interested in (1) projects with clear strategic applications to  
contemporary media and communications policy debates; (2)  
participatory research that builds capacity within advocacy groups  
and communities; and (3) projects that examine at under-researched  
issues, such as the racial and economic disparities associated with  
media policy andinfrastructure.

We will notify you in the coming months when the online application  
process is open.  We will also provide more detail on the process and  
criteria. In the meantime, we are hoping to prime the pump by  
encouraging you to think about research projects relevant to your  
campaigns and projects—specifically those that would benefit from  
collaboration with academics and scholars. A clear sense of the time  
frame, data/analysis needed, potential costs and organizational  
contribution to the research (data, staff/volunteers, resources,  
etc.) will be important.  With this information in hand it should be  
relatively easy for you to post a project for the bounty competition,  
as well as make your work visible to other possible academic  
collaborators.

If you have any questions about the Research Bounties, or any part of  
this program, please feel free to contact us (see below). We look  
forward to supporting your work for media policies that serve the  
public interest, community needs and social justice.



3) More About ‘Necessary Knowledge’

  The full range of “Necessary Knowledge for a Democratic Public  
Sphere” projects will include:

·           An ‘Internship Network’: to match graduate students with  
advocacy organizations.

·           The ‘Research Bounty’ project: which will place cash  
prizes on advocate-defined research needs.

·           A ‘Resource Database’: an online, community-editable  
database that will map the media and communications field: people,  
institutions, networks, research materials, and topics.

·           The ‘Data Consortium’: which will work to improve access  
for non-profit and educational actors to commercially-produced  
datasets used in media policy.

  All of these projects and resources will be hosted on the soon-to- 
be-launched ‘Media Research Hub’—http://www.mediaresearchhub.org —  
our online clearinghouse and community site for media,  
communications, and information policy.

We’ll keep you apprised of news and developments, and hope for your  
participation and feedback as the process gets underway.  Please  
forward this email to anyone else in your network who might be  
interested.

  In the meantime, all best wishes,



The NKDPS team

Joe Karaganis (Social Science Research Council)

Aliza Dichter (CIMA)

Catherine Borgman-Arboleda (CIMA)

Philip Napoli (Fordham University)



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Necessary Knowledge for a Democratic Public Sphere," is a project of  
the not-for-profit Social Science Research Council in partnership  
with CIMA: Center for International Media Action and the Donald  
McGannon Communication Research Center atFordham University. It has  
been developed in collaboration with local, national and  
international advocates and academics and is supported by the  
Knowledge, Culture and Creativity program of the Ford Foundation.



FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT:  http://www.mediaresearchhub.org  or  
EMAIL:  MediaHub at ssrc.org

JOIN OUR MAILING LIST FOR FUTURE UPDATES, FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES AND  
MORE! Email your contact info to:  MediaHub at ssrc.org.  Please write  
“mailing list” in the subject line.




Necessary Knowledge for a Democratic Public Sphere

Social Science Research Council

810 Seventh Avenue, 31st Floor

New York NY 10019

PH: 212.377.2700

FX: 212.377.2727

email: mediahub at ssrc.org

Web: www.mediaresearchhub.org



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