Media-based organizing: speaking and listening, as a community

Media-based organizing is at the heart of our work at Allied Media Projects. We define media-based organizing as any collaborative process that uses media, art, or technology to address the roots of problems and advances holistic solutions towards a more just and creative world.

Create, Connect, Transform

Media-based organizing is the shared DNA across the network of Allied Media Projects. It is most succinctly summarized by the verbs: create, connect, transform.

Media-based organizing is a community-based process to investigate problems, envision solutions, and then work together to make them real. Through media-based organizing we build new kinds of relationships internally, interpersonally and within our communities.

We transform ourselves from consumers of information to producers, from objects within narratives of exploitation and violence to authors of the transformation of our worlds.

Nine Essential Traits of Media Based Organizing

For nearly two decades, the Allied Media Conference has shaped the vision and practice of media-based organizing. Through our work at the AMC and through our broad network art, media, and technology projects, we have identified the following essential traits of media-based organizing.

  1. Root problem analysis
    Investigating problems to seek out their root causes and their interconnectedness, so that we can reach holistic solutions.
  2. Holistic solution-building
    Generating actions that can be taken to solve problems on the individual, community and systemic levels simultaneously.
  3. Collective vision/purpose-development
    Collaboratively prioritizing and editing a shared vision and purpose.
  4. Essential question-asking
    Asking questions that get to the heart of things, foster curiosity and help us see the roots of problems and envision the most holistic solutions.
  5. Deep listening
    Listening with a willingness to be changed by what we hear. This process uses dialogue as a means of relationship-building.
  6. Facilitative leadership
    Leadership whose purpose is to grow the leadership and vision of others.
  7. Synthesis with integrity
    Weaving together different and sometimes divergent perspectives.
  8. Power / resource-mapping
    Assessing what kinds of power and resources exist in a community and developing strategies to challenge, shift, and create power.
  9. Iteration
    Taking an action, evaluating, reflecting and adapting to do it better the next time.