Elspeth Revere - Speaking at Media Re:public

I have heard the name MacArthur Foundation for as long as I have been watching public television and public radio. To be honest, it didn't mean anything to me. Perhaps it was reverse elitism or something.

I didn't believe that corporations and foundations gave away millions of dollars out of a need to advance the public good or to assist in making this world a better place to be. Nope. I chalk it up to how many ways can you say tax write off or cost of doing business and wait for the show to begin.

I may have to re-think my biases. I attended the Media Re:public conference that was given by The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University. The conference was held at the University of California. I was hip deep in the academia and Journalists and other folks. More on that later.

As I listen to Elspeth talk I realized how many programs I have seen that had been funded or underwritten by the MacArthur Foundation. What I didn't know was the extent that the foundation gave to both U.S. and International organizations.

So this is a seven minute discussion on what the MacArthur Foundation does and why they are interested in participatory media.

Other Resources:

Amy Jussel of Shaping Youth lead me to a twelve publications by the MacArthur Foundation that have an free open access online version.

Amy King over at Amy King's Alias let folks know that the MacArthur Foundation and Guggenheim fellowship winner John Ashbery has been name MTVu Poet Laureate. You can sample his poetry on the MTVu site.