Okanagan College Media Release    

Okanagan College students and staff from the department of Communications will host a weeklong media education and awareness event, Free Media, from Tuesday, Sept. 30 until Saturday, Oct. 4 that will feature a keynote presentation by award-winning journalist, filmmaker and University of Washington digital media professor, Hanson Hosein.

Hanson Hosein

Hosein’s professional experience includes fieldwork as a journalist for CBC, MSNBC.com, and NBC Nightly News, where he won an Emmy for his work on “The Fall of Kosovo.”

His film Independent America: The Two-Lane Search for Mom & Pop was an early exercise in the use of digital technology in storytelling and ongoing interaction with its audience. Self-produced and self-financed while living in Kelowna BC, the award-winning documentary has also been featured by Yahoo!, USA Today, BusinessWeek, Variety, ABC News, National Public Radio, and has been broadcast by NHK Japan, SBS Australia and the Sundance Channel.

Hosein will give a series of keynote addresses on Friday, Oct. 3. The first will take place in Vernon at the Kalamalka campus lecture theatre at 11 a.m. Later that day he will address students, staff and community members in Kelowna at the Kelowna campus lecture theatre at 6:30 p.m. Prior to Hosein’s keynote address in Kelowna, Okanagan College’s multimedia club will launch its new zine, OC Zine (www.oczine.net) with a party that starts at 5 p.m. in the Kelowna campus greenspace.

Open air documentary film screenings will take place in the Kelowna campus courtyard at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 30, Oct. 1 and Oct. 2. All events are free, all ages, and open to the public.

The event will offer a forum for mainstream and independent media professionals, including an esteemed collection of journalists, writers, broadcasters, artists, activists and publishers, to engage with the public on issues related to the media and how it contributes, or not, to a free and democratic society.

Free Media will conclude on Saturday with two panel discussions including: Media and Culture and Media and Democracy. For more information about the event, contact Sharon Josephson at 762-5445 ext. 2237 or email sjosephson@okanagan.bc.ca.