CEM

I am sitting here at my computer; I have not blogged all week. I have really wanted to write something. The week has been taken up with planning the future of the Center for Emerging Media, so we can become the new public media for our community. It has taken time to raise money and plan productions. I am lucky that despite the uncertainty, Jessica Phillips and Justin Levy, my producers, left WYPR to work with me and build CEM.

So, this morning I was all set to wax forth on Presidential campaigns, Obama and Wright, the property tax wars in Baltimore City, and the future of the bay and the crabs that are trying to survive in it, but I am just not there right now. I will be, though, in the coming days. Right now, I keep reflecting on how this has been an interesting two weeks of lecturing at colleges and emceeing. It has filled me with a joy and hope for our future.

And this morning, I was all set to write, when I went outside to look at the field across from our home. A family of foxes dug its den across the road. The mama fox gave birth to five kits the other week. So instead of writing I went outside with my binoculars to watch the kits cavort with one another, leaping in the air and wrestling. Some wandered over to suckle on their mother, who sat calmly watching over her offspring to ensure their safety.

Then, just as I had my fill of my new neighbors the Foxes, Valerie called me outside again. Her hands were cupped around a baby finch that had left its nest too early. It was huddled up on the windowsill of our den. She called the wild animal rescue lady and now has the baby in one of the carrying cases she keeps around to rescue small things lost or injured. My lady is a reiki master and performed her reiki healing on the young bird. We will see how the young, downy-covered boy fairs today.

The spring is full of life and new birth, as I’m witnessing with the exciting and creative growth of the Center for Emerging Media.

We will be sending our fund drive letter out to you all soon, so you can support your new public media meeting ground in Baltimore. CEM will be doing some interesting things for and with you in the coming months.

Last night, I was the emcee for a Baltimore Green Week event at Morgan State University. The keynote speaker was Van Jones, who is the founder of Green for All. WEAA recorded his talk. It was so inspirational. He is working to bridge the gap between social and environmental justice. His thrust is that building a green economy creates jobs and is the way to start ending inner city poverty in America.

He is right. We have to build industries in this country based on solar and alternative energy technologies. Just retrofitting all the buildings in America can create millions of jobs. He calls for a Green New Deal to stimulate this economy, government stimulus that will release the entrepreneurial spirit to create new jobs and new industry. He is right we have to dream big and push for a new America. Our country needs to be the world leader of the new Green Economy. The earth and our future will not wait. It has to happen now and we have to make it happen.

This week, I also lectured to a graduate communications class at Morgan and moderated a panel of actors, a writer, director and producer from The Wire at the Baltimore Museum of Industry. You can hear The Wire panel right on our site.

Two weeks ago, it was Goucher, this week Morgan, and I continued to be inspired by this generation of twenty-somethings in our midst. They want to do the right thing, are socially committed, and the graduate students I met at Morgan want nothing to do with corporate media. They want to create their own and say what has to be said.

So, all in all, it has been a good week. And next week, well I promise to write more…and want to hear from you.

Have a wonderful weekend…see you at the Flower Mart in Mt. Vernon.

-Marc

Welcome to the Center for Emerging Media's new website!

We're so excited to bring this to you after working on it for a month and a half. This website brings together in one place all our various projects, and also incorporates an interactive forum for our listeners to interact with each other.

If you have any questions about how to use this website or where something is located, leave a comment below or send me an email at jes.phillips@gmail.com.

To navigate the website, pay attention to the top menu bar. That will be your number one place to go once you know what you wanted to do. Do you want to read the blog? Click on "Blog". Do you want to listen to CEM programs? Click on "Programs". And so on. Once you make a decision, depending on what you click on, the right column will give you more options. For example, if you click on Programs, the right column will show you what programs we have available for you to listen to. If you click on Blog, the right column will show you archived entries and tags.

Just click around and get to know the site. Please let us know if you have any problems or questions about how this works!

We look forward to seeing you all in the forums and on this blog!
-Jessica

We're so proud and pleased and overwhelmed to announce that this morning the Center for Emerging Media was honored with a 2007 Peabody Award for the series Just Words.  Just Words was a weekly documentary feature series that gave voice to marginalized people-low wage workers, ex felons, recovering addicts, the homeless, and more.  You can listen to it here.

We share the honor this year with some of our colleagues in public radio such as Speaking of Faith, the Brian Lehrer Show, and Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me!  Also honored were television programs such as The Colbert Report and the BBC/Discovery Channel series Planet Earth.  A full list of  2007 winners can be found here.  All the winners ever are listed here.

Thanks for all your support!  We couldn't do without it.

Nina Noble and friends accepting the Emmy for Outstanding Miniseries for HBO's The Corner in 2000.  She is on far left.

I have major sympathy for Nina Noble.  We share a job title (okay, well her title has the fancy 'Executive' in front of it) and people are constantly asking me "What does a producer DO?"  I imagine she gets the same question.  I always like to answer, "I do all the work" and then flash a smile.  If Marc is around, I will usually add jokingly, "...and he gets all the glory." (Fair enough, really, considering he also has to bear the brunt of all the criticism!)

But seriously, Nina Noble had a gigantic job as Executive Producer of The Wire.  From convincing the Port of Baltimore to let them shoot scenes on location to keeping track of the hundreds of characters David Simon and the other writers created, it's a wonder she didn't burn out long ago.  But as she told Marc when she sat down for an interview about the experience of working on The Wire, this is the only job she is suited for.

Click here to stream the interview.  Right click here and select "Save Target As" in order to download this onto your computer.  Want to get this in iTunes?  Instructions are below, just click "Read More". Running time is 40:20.

It’s easy to subscribe to any podcast using iTunes, even ones that aren’t available in the iTunes Store. To subscribe, find and copy the podcast’s feed URL. In the “Advanced” menu, select “Subscribe to Podcast” and paste the feed URL into the dialog box.

The URL for the CEM podcast is
http://www.switchpod.com/users/cem/feed.xml

This way, your ITUNES should update whenever we add a new podcast.

External Links

• David Simon: The Wire Exit Interview from Baltimore City Paper
• Bittersweet Work of Wrapping 'Wire' from The New York Times
• What Does a Producer Do?by Marshall Persinger
• Nina Noble from Internet Movie Database

We're back again today with another fantastic interview for you.  Last week Marc sat down with Robert Chew, the Baltimore native who has portrayed the east Baltimore drug lord Proposition Joe for the past several years on the hit HBO series The Wire.  Prop Joe, as he came to be known, was an iconic figure that represented a time in Baltimore where the drug trade was less violent and bloody, when word was bond, and "The Game" was something very different than what it is today.

Click here to steam that interview.  Or, right click here and choose "Save Target As."  Running time is 34 minutes.  You can read the transcript here.

Click read more for interviews and resources.

• Robert Chew on the Internet Movie Database
• The Arena Players Youtheatre
• An Interview with Prop Joeon The FADER
• Back to School from Baltimore City Paper-this article goes in-depth regarding the coaching Chew provided to the four young men who starred in season four.
• The TV Club talks about Prop Joe's fate (spoiler alert!) on Slate.com
• Wire Watch from Time Magazine (spoiler alert!)