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Grassroots Groups Join the Push for Internet for Everyone

Source: Free Press

FLORENCE, Mass. -- InternetforEveryone.org is pleased to announce that 17 leading "digital inclusion" groups have joined the initiative to connect all Americans to affordable, high-speed Internet.

Working on the front lines of the fight to bridge the digital divide, these grassroots groups include: Appalshop, The Center for Media Justice, The Center for Rural Strategies, The Esperanza Peace and Justice Center, Main Street Project, Manhattan Neighborhood Network, Media Alliance, Media Mobilizing Project, Native Public Media, New Mexico Media Literacy Project, People's Production House, Reclaim the Media, Texas Media Empowerment Project, The Media Justice Fund, The Praxis Project, The United Church of Christ, Office of Communication, Inc., and Twin Cities Media Alliance. They join more than 75 other consumer groups, technology industry leaders, educators and labor unions that have joined the initiative.

"That the Internet has worked wonders for only half of the people in this country tells us that it is in desperate need of repair," said Joshua Breitbart, policy director of New York's People's Production House. "We are all harmed when groups of people are excluded, and we all benefit when more people participate. This broad, unifying campaign is an important step toward transforming the Internet so it works for everyone."

Currently, half of the country still does not subscribe to high-speed Internet. And it's those less fortunate who are being left behind.

"Everybody knows the Internet is the medium of the future, but what good is a digital future if it leaves so many people in the United States behind? The Center for Media Justice joined InternetforEveryone.org to work with our allies and ensure that communications policy creates a fair, fast, and affordable Internet that can be accessed by everyone -- including the nation's poorest and most disenfranchised," said the group's director, Malkia A. Cyril.

The digital divide is also geographic. Nearly 10 million rural households are in areas not served by any broadband provider.

"Internet access is a crucial issue for all communities. But for rural communities -- which are often overlooked and under-resourced -- it's essential," Main Street Project Program Director Amalia Anderson said. "We joined the InternetforEveryone.org initiative so that we could work with our allies across the country and in rural communities to ensure that the Internet is affordable, accessible and meets the needs of all people -- giving residents of all ages, cultures, economic and immigration status the opportunity to more fully participate in all aspects of community life."

Members of InternetforEveryone.org will work together to hold public forums across the country to spark a national dialogue between all of the stakeholders who use the Internet. These forums will build broad support for a national broadband policy that restores America's place as a world technology leader.

"InternetforEveryone.org was formed in the belief that a high-speed Internet connection is essential both to participation in our 21st-century democracy and to success in today's economy," said Timothy Karr, campaign director of Free Press, the organizer of InternetforEveryone.org. "For those communities now beyond the reach of the Internet, getting connected is one way to help leapfrog economic and social disparities and to gain a powerful foothold in contemporary society."

For more information about the initiative, visit http://www.InternetforEveryone.org
For more information about The Center for Media Justice, visit http://centerformediajustice.org/
For more information about Main Street Project, visit http://www.mainstreetproject.org/
For more information about People's Production House, visit http://peoplesproductionhouse.org/
Published on: July 17, 2008
Written by: Free Press

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