Ithaca College

Laura Flanders hosts one of the most successful Web-based television shows. Josh Silver heads the nation’s largest media reform group. Both are experts on the rapidly changing media environment. The duo will unite to give a free public talk — “Independent Media and Critical Journalism: How Do We Get There?” — on Thursday, March 11, at 8 p.m. in Ithaca College’s Emerson Suites.

Flanders currently hosts “GritTV,” a daily news show seen widely on the Internet and on the Free Speech TV satellite channel. She previously hosted radio programs on the Air America network as well as for “The Nation” magazine and the media watch group FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting). She is the author of the books “Blue Grit,” about grassroots social change; “Bushwomen: Tales of a Cynical Species,” about women serving in President George W. Bush’s cabinet; and “Real Majority, Media Minority: The Cost of Sidelining Women in Reporting,” a collection of essays.

Silver is the cofounder and executive director of Free Press, a nonpartisan, nonprofit group which works for diverse and independent media ownership, strong public media and universal access to communication. He oversees all programs, campaigns, fundraising and special projects for the organization, which is an active proponent of Net neutrality and maintains the activist websites StopBigMedia.com and SaveTheInternet.com. He has published extensively on media policy, campaign finance and other public policy issues.

The lecture is sponsored by the Park Center for Independent Media (PCIM) with support from the Park Foundation. Based in the Roy H. Park School of Communications at Ithaca College, PCIM is a national center for the study of media outlets that create and distribute content outside traditional corporate structures.