If all goes according to plan, the newly formed Progressive Media Network will link several media forms that will motivate people to become active, seniors Jeremy Gragert and Andrew Werthmann said.
The different media to be used by the network include TV, radio, Internet, film and a print publication.
Werthmann, the founder of the network, said the it is continuing to grow and is a collective effort between many individuals.
“It will be based around issues and it will be based around community involvement,” Gragert said. “The purpose of it is to get as many people involved as possible.”
Werthmann also said the network itself is non-partisan, but admitted many progressive ideals are considered Democratic.
“What differentiates it is the realization that we can only meet the ideals of our country if we get involved,” he said.
Former College Republicans Chair Evan Perrault said it doesn’t bother him that many of the messages may be liberal.
“I’m not really worried about it,” Perrault said. “Having those ideas around will only help generate discussion.”
Freshman Andrew Nicolai agreed.
“As much as I may disagree with the politics of the Progressive Media Network, I’ve got to applaud (Werthmann’s) efforts,” Nicolai said. “This poses a challenge for more conservative students on campus. We have to start mobilizing our troops and getting our word out, which we plan on doing.”
Though the group is just in the beginning stages now, the film series debuts tonight with the showing of “Wal-Mart: The High Price of Low Costs” at 7:30 p.m. in Hibbard 102.
Film Executive junior Ben Seidman said films will be shown every two weeks related to progressive topics that will be educational and entertaining.
“I think that film is a wonderful medium to communicate with our generation,” Seidman said. “And I think through some good progressive films, we can get out some of the issues that the other aspects of the Progressive Media Network are involved in.”
PMN also includes Werthmann’s weekly radio show on WHYS from 7:30 to 9 a.m. every Monday. Its Web site will be up and running within a couple weeks. Senior Brandon Buchanan will have a show on public access television.
PMN has about 15 people, including five executives, involved so far, Werthmann said, and hopes to eventually reach close to 30,000 people across the Chippewa Valley through the different mediums.
A big part of that will be the print publication, which they hope to put out beginning sometime next year.
“It will cost the most, and that’s why it hasn’t come out yet,” Gragert said. “It will have to do with what people want to talk about and the need for it.”
The group has raised about $8,000 through grants from organizations such as the Bremer Foundation, which awarded $3,000 because the group met the foundation’s mission of promoting human rights, according to the foundation.
And the money will be well spent because, Werthmann said, the network will help build communities to “create a better tomorrow.”
“The fact is, our country is not on a sustainable road,” Werthmann said. “The Progressive Media Network . can help people connect to issues that are facing them, and help them realize that they actually can make a difference.”
