It has been a hectic couple weeks since we returned from out west; catch-up sure can be a killer. Either way, I'm not letting my overly-tired ass stay put tonight, tomorrow, or Friday, as Toronto becomes ground zero for some of the most exciting conversation in online news, citizen journalism, and media democracy.

Thanks to Lisa Rundle, I've got ring-side seats for what is sure to be one of the week's more exciting events: CBC's The Future of the Future of News forum. Sparks are sure to fly when Andrew Keen and Leonard Brody go head-to-head on the topic of citizen journalism. Andrew is the author of The Cult of the Amateur -- a book that refuses to accept that the Web is changing the rules -- and Leonard is the founder of Now Public, a Vancouver-based citizen journalism start-up that is catching mainstream attention.

On Thursday and Friday, the Online News Association is holding their 2007 conference here in Toronto at the Sheraton. Both days are jammed with exciting sessions, all being delivered by people that I've been anxious to connect with. It would be hard to get more impressive folks in a room -- everyone from the Washington Post's interactive team (like Adrian Holovaty talking about "The Cutting Edge of Online Data"), to Jay Rosen, Dan Gilmour, and Slashdot's Robin "Roblimo" Miller. I'm not one for autographs... but, hey, why not?

And, If I can skip out of work this afternoon, the ONA is hosting a seminar with recent winners of the Knight News Challenge. No autographs necessary -- just a copy of your winning proposal, please. ;-) Seriously though, my fingers are crossed this year for two organizations that I've been lucky enough to work with -- The Tyee and rabble.ca -- who both submitted applications in the most recent round.

So, if you don't see me at the Jet Fuel this Saturday, you'll know it's because I'm either recovering or working all weekend!

Marc Fest (Director of Communications at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation) asked me to pass this on:

The Knight News Challenge contest awards $5 million for innovative media ideas, however the October 15 application deadline is quickly approaching. The streamlined application takes less than 20 minutes. Anybody worldwide has a chance to win. For more information and to apply visit www.newschallenge.org.

The Knight News Challenge is one of the more innovative funding models that I referenced recently in a post about changing technology funding practices. Their approach to granting -- both the application process and the fast, iterative funding cycles -- is having a catalyzing effect, and a noticeable impact, on the shape of local news around the world.

If you're involved with a citizen or local media project: get that pencil sharpened and start writing.

On Monday night, my partner Melanie took me to see a film that many might call life-changing. Viva Zapatero paints a startling picture of a crippled independent media in modern-day Italy and the implications that has for Italian civil society. It's a documentary told through the personal experience of political satire artist Sabina Guzzanti that lays naked what is possible today in the current political reality of many countries in this world. Unstopped media consolidation, blatant corruption, backward libel laws and the targeting of journalists with lawsuits, spineless public representatives, and coerced publishers and broadcasters all pave the way for censorship, propaganda, and a complete disintegration of the Italian media environment. Again, this is happening today.

The film cleverly avoided turning its lens toward the US but the parallels were uncanny. At one point, one of the people in the film said something to the effect of "when the news is basically a joke, it's time for comedians to start reporting the news." Clearly this brings to mind things like The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and it's US and Canadian equivalents. During some post-film discussion at home, Melanie remembered that the current issue (Winter 2007) of Yes! Magazine had an article on just this topic: Jon Stewart, Journalist or Comedian? The article presents some interesting facts about the comedian-as-journalist phenomenon:

Nearly one in four adults aged 18 to 29 get their election news from watching “The Daily Show” or NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.” Young people who watched “The Daily Show” scored higher on a campaign knowledge test than network news viewers and newspaper readers. All late-night comedy viewers scored higher than network viewers. “Daily Show” viewers scored higher than both.

So, comedy or not, it's clear that real news is an integral part of an informed civil society and functioning democracy. Most of my work over the last year or two has been focused on supporting independent media organizations -- mostly because I'm struck deeply by how important non-corporate media is in the ecosystem of change -- but this film really hit it home. It also left me with a few questions:

• How do we protect independent voices -- publications and journalists -- in Canada from aggressive censorship via lawsuits and legal interventions?
• Do I need to become a lawyer to create the change that I'd like to see in the world?
• What does this mean for a country like Venezuela that's going through what many see as a positive change, but is potentially reacting similarly to dissenting voices in the media?

If the film left me with one feeling it was a fear of how fragile our movement in Canada really is.