Democracy demands that citizens check and watch their government, but citizens also need to be vigilant over their media if they want to preserve democracy. That was the message that I heard over and over again at a conference on Media Reform held in Madison, Wisconsin in early November. The conference was an amazing gathering of Congress-people, FCC commissioners, community radio and television leaders, media activists, authors and scholars. Six hundred people were expected, but eighteen hundred people enrolled and attended. Those attending the conference were especially troubled by the recent FCC decision that allows corporations to own a larger percentage of the media in any given market. This decision has brought Democrats and Republicans together in attempt to overturn what the FCC has done. Clear Com Radio was cited as an example of this merger trend. This corporate giant continues to grow and control more and more radio markets. Characteristic of the problem was an incident that happened soon after the United States invaded Iraq. A member of the pop group the Dixie Chicks made an anti-Bush comment. Because of that, Clear Com banned their music from all of their radio stations. What happens to our free speech rights when the media is dominated in such a way? Many of these stations offer no local voices or news. What happens in Minot, North Dakota when an emergency announcement needs to go on a popular radio station and local control of the station does not exist? I was very excited to find that in workshop after workshop, public access television was discussed. The message was that public access TV is important and must be defended. While I was in Madison, the local public access station, which is 25 years old, was embattled with the City of Madison for funding in 2004. The local community radio station was leading the fight to defend Madison public access TV. I have since found, through research, that the public access station in Madison prevailed and retained their funding for 2004. Finally, I was amazed at the media I saw at the conference. In particular, I enjoyed a documentary done in New Mexico about the use of community radio in Chiapas, Mexico. Another favorite video of mine was a collaboration of many independent producers in San Francisco. They documented the city on the day the United States began the invasion of Iraq. I did not know how impacted the Bay Area was by protests that day.  It was amazing to see all the footage from all over the city. If you want to find out more about this conference, visit the web site, www.mediareform.net/index.php.  Many of the lectures and speeches are available for viewing at this site. -Pam Colby