Press for Democracy is a TV NewsMagazine featuring 1/2 hour shows on issues of importance to the community, state, nation, and world. It is written and produced by Janice Markham and Stevi Carroll and hosted by Janice Markham. Each show explores issues of pressing importance through interviews in the studio as well as with existing and original footage. In our Press for Democracy: Film Series we present interviews with progressive filmmakers and provide a format for airing their films.

Press for Democracy entered the independent media landscape in the summer of 2005 as part of the Media Reform committee of Pasadena MoveOn.

Pasadena MoveOn started as a MoveOn.org House Party after the devastating results of the fall 2004 election. The group was sufficiently energized to continue meeting on a monthly basis with the idea of building grassroots political power. One of the most dynamic aspects of Pasadena MoveOn was the Media Reform committee as it began production of a TV NewsMagazine, Pasadena MoveOn Looks at the Issues. As the show began dealing with more statewide and national issues, we decided to change the name to Press for Democracy.

Our shows have dealt with issues ranging from health care to impeachment, from militarism in our schools to electronic voting machines. A complete list of our shows is available here.

Stevi Carroll is co-producer, writer and researcher for Press for Democracy. She holds a BA degree in English from San Francisco State University and an MA in Ethics and Policy Studies from the University of Nevada Las Vegas. While living in Nevada, she was active with Nevada Desert Experience, an anti-nuclear organization, and the Las Vegas Catholic Worker. She was on the founding board of Nevadans Against the Death Penalty. Ms Carroll was the recipient of a National Endowment for the Humanities grant to study Gandhi at Duke University, a Nevada Endowment for the Humanities grant to study women and violence, and the Mediators of Southern Nevada, Inc. Peacemaker of the Year award. After being nominated by some of her students, she is in Who's Who Among America's Teachers. She writes a monthly Death Penalty column for her Amnesty International USA group and has published numerous Op-Ed pieces and articles in local newspapers and newsletters.

Janice Markham is co-producer, writer/researcher and host for Press for Democracy. She is Artistic Director of VOX BOX Arts Collective, a non-profit arts group that presents innovative theater, film, visual art, and educational outreach. Janice creates further art havoc with her husband, Gideon, her frequent collaborator in their various theater, film and music adventures. Janice performs around town on violin in the trio Triumph of the Egg, currently artist-in-residence at the Los Angeles Craft and Folk Arts Museum, and is a founding member of the Mostly Kosher klezmer band. Ms. Markham's writings have been published in numerous literary journals including The New Press literary quarterly and African American Review. In 2009 Janice was proud to be a Netroots Nation Scholarship Recipient to attend the NN conference in Pittsburgh, PA. Besides Janice's dozens of interviews for Press for Democracy, she has also worked with Robert Greenwald's Brave New Conversations series, interviewing David Swanson. Janice is a freelance writer for Disney English, Cartoon Network and Age of Learning.
You can find her latest venture, a literary apparel company with writer Paula Sewell, at www.littlebookwormz.com
Janice is the recipient of the Clifton Webb Acting Award from the graduate acting department at UCLA , and the Ruth Cohen writing award from the masters writing program at USC. Janice lives in Eagle Rock, California, with Gideon and their two daughters, Raina and Czeska. www.janicemarkham.com

Founding Producers:

Conchita Thornton-Marusich is a founding producer of Press for Democracy. An award winning producer, she has worked in different areas of television ranging from network shows, to PBS, to cable programs. Her credits include Coordinating Producer/Writer on The Carol Duvall Show (Home and Garden Channel), Staff Producer for several years at Disney Educational Productions, Director of Development at Marvel Productions, Associate Producer on India Speaks (PBS) and Helicopter (Discovery Channel), Production Coordinator for America's Funniest People (ABC), Research/Story Development for Real People (NBC), and Director on Mundo de Palabras. Her films have won numerous awards including the Golden Apple, the Cine Golden Eagle, the Blue Ribbon Award and First Place from the National Council on Family Relations. Her educational background includes a B.A. from Vassar College, a Masters degree from Occidental College and a Graduate Fellowship in Public Affairs from the CORO Foundation. She was one of the founders of Mothers in Film, a sub committee of Women in Film, and served on the Board of Directors of Women in Film as well as American Women in Radio and Television.

Gloria Garvin, PhD is a founding producer of Press for Democracy. She is an award-winning producer with film and television credits from UCLA Media Center, Psychology Today, Encyclopedia Britannica, Armand Hammer Films, PBS, and the Eric Sevareid Chronicles. Her MA and PhD degrees are in anthropology from UCLA. She has taught in the Anthropology Departments at UCLA and the University of Wisconsin , and is co-founder of Ethical Energy, LLC, an energy company devoted to expanding the crops, technology and governmental policy necessary to support renewable energies.