April 8, 2011

The uprisings in Egypt, Tunisia and elsewhere in the Middle East demonstrate the incredible power of social media as an instrument for political and social change. Our Rudman Institute for Entertainment Industry Studies in partnership with the Rudman Media Production Center at Temple University and the National Constitution Center will present The Rise of Digital Democracy on Tuesday, April 12th at 6:30 PM in the F.M. Kirby Auditorium at the National Constitution Center.

The Rise of Digital Democracy will examine how social media such as Facebook, Twitter and You Tube, along with web and television coverage by Al Jazeera, made possible totally unexpected regime change and protests in a number of countries where autocratic governments were previously seen as firmly in control. Equally surprising was that these political revolts came about not through the actions of radicals or fundamentalists, but through seemingly impromptu uprisings that drew together broad segments of societies unified by their desire for a voice in how they’re governed and their desire for less corrupt governments.

We’ve assembled an important group of media experts, journalists and advocates: Tony Burman, Al Jazeera’s head of strategy for the Americas and former Managing Director of Al Jazeera English; Charles Sennott, Executive Editor and co-Founder of GlobalPost, formerly the Boston Globe’s Middle East Bureau Chief and London Bureau Chief; andNadine Wahab, Executive Director of the Egyptian Association for Change – USA and an administrator (along with Wael Ghonim) of the “We Are All Khaled Said” Facebook page which contributed to many Egyptians participating in the protests.  Jennifer Preston, New York Times reporter and its first Social Media Editor, will moderate the panel. Admission is free, but reservations are required. Please call 215-409-6700 or order online here.