In recent weeks we’ve seen everyone from health care reform supporters, tea party patriots, industry lobbyists and immigration activists flood our nation’s capital. But on Tuesday, May 11th, there will be a different crowd in town.

In just a few short weeks, hundreds of the leading thinkers, , policymakers, advocates and activists in the media reform movement will attend the Free Press Summit: Ideas to Action to discuss the future of the Internet, journalism and public media.

Anyone who’s anyone, who knows anyone, whose mom is someone, will be there. Will you?

If you’re frustrated with the recent court decision that put Net Neutrality and the FCC’s National Broadband Plan in jeopardy; if you’re opposed to the Comcast/NBC mega-media merger; if you want to explore how we can support quality reporting that communities can rely on – then you need to join this important event.

This isn’t your average wonky D.C. policy summit– it will be an exciting day of discussion and debate, with an amazing line-up of speakers, including Federal Communications Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, the BBC’s John Tate, journalists Farai Chideya and Jose Antonio Vargas, Josh Silver of Free Press, and Jehmu Greene of the Women’s Media Center. Click here for the entire list of speakers. The event is supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

If you’re passionate about fixing our broken media system, you must mark this on your calendar. Here are more details:

What: Free Press Summit: Ideas to Action
When: Tuesday, May 11, 2010, 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Where: Newseum, Washington, D.C.
Cost: Free – but space is limited, so sign up today!
Register Now to Save Your Seat: Click here.

In addition to all the speakers and the release of compelling new research, the summit will devote the afternoon to interactive breakout sessions built around some critical questions: What policies do we need to create informed communities? What can we learn from local experiments and forward-thinking innovators? How do we engage communities in meeting their needs? How do we take the best ideas and put them into action?

If you can’t make it to D.C. in May, don’t worry – we’ll be streaming many of the speeches live from our website, and holding a rich online dialogue that you can join. We’ll provide more details on this in the weeks to come.

So let’s recap. Why are we holding this event? Because decisions are being made now in Washington that will shape the future of journalism, public media and the Internet. We need to have a seat at the table to ensure we create a media system that protects our needs. So don’t hesitate – get yours today.

Watch a short video highlighting last year’s Summit to get a feel for this year's event.