The Near Media Co-op celebrated its 30th birthday on Saturday 9 March with a thought-provoking day of talks and workshops on the topic of ‘social justice media’ at the Chanel Centre in Coolock, north Dublin.
Workshops tackled such questions as why social justice issues are not covered in Ireland, and the potential of community media and social media to provide a real alternative to the mainstream.
Attendees were asked to take part via questionnaire in the drafting of a declaration on how the media can put issues of social justice to the forefront. The results of this will be published in the near future.
There were also several guest speakers throughout the day including Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Pat Rabbitte, former RTÉ chair Farrel Corcoran, Nessa Childers MEP and Gavan Titley of NUI Maynooth.
However, Minister Rabbitte drew criticism for not staying for the post-talk Q&A segment, especially in light of a protest against household and water taxes aimed at him outside the building.
