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The Wall Street Journal reports that Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski will announce on Friday that he will step down from his position as head of the agency.
Free Press President and CEO Craig Aaron made the following statement:
"When Julius Genachowski took office, there were high hopes that he would use his powerful position to promote the public interest. But instead of acting as the people's champion, he’s catered to corporate interests. His tenure has been marked by wavering and caving rather than the strong leadership so needed at this crucial agency.
“Though President Obama promised his FCC chairman would not continue the Bush administration’s failed media ownership policies, Genachowski offered the exact same broken ideas that Bush’s two chairmen pushed. He never faced the public and ignored the overwhelming opposition to his plans.
“Genachowski claimed broadband was his agency's top priority, but he stood by as prices rose and competition dwindled. He claimed to be a staunch defender of the open Internet, but his Net Neutrality policies are full of loopholes and offer no guarantee that the FCC will be able to protect consumers from corporate abuse in the future.
"While there were a few bright moments during the Genachowski years — including the agency’s opposition to the AT&T/T-Mobile merger and the push for more online transparency from broadcasters — the chairman squandered many more opportunities at critical junctures.
“We urge President Obama to nominate a successor who will enact policies that foster real competition, protect diversity and amplify local voices.”
--- original post at http://www.freepress.net/press-release/103103/fcc-chairman-genachowski-step-down ---
SEATOA is aware that many of our members are unable – due to financial or travel limitations – to attend this year’s SEATOA Conference in Charlotte. Therefore - as a special service for our members - we have arranged to “webstream” the Conference sessions listed below.
Community Programming Thursday, March 21st 8:30 AM - 10:00 AM - PEG Basics 1- Garnering Support, Designing Policies & Procedures 10:30 AM - Noon - PEG Basics 2- Budgets, Staffing and Programming 1:45 PM - 3:15 PM - Growing The PEG Audience - Through Marketing and Social Media 3:15 PM - 3:45 PM - Government 2.0 & Public Records- Waking up from the Social Media Nigtmare 4:30 PM - 5:00 PM - Mobility 2013 : Trying to Make Sense of the Chaos 5:00 PM - 5:30 PM - Community-Owned Networks: Finance, Construction & Management
When SCATV (Somerville Community Access TV) launched thirty years ago in Somerville it was one of the first public access TV stations in the country, part of a
When Shirley Bruno and her team at the Public Access TV Corporation began interviewing Great Neck’s World War II veterans, they knew they were documenting local history.
But they also got something they did not expect: a New York Emmy nomination, the first in the station’s 28-year history.
PATV’s documentary “World War II: Our Veterans Stories,” is up for an award in the Emmy’s Military Program category.
Edited down from 33 interviews with residents who served in World War II, the program captures veterans discussing their wartime experiences intercut with historical photographs.
“What you can’t see on broadcast television, you can see here,” said Bruno, the executive producer of the project. “There are so many stories to be told.”
--- more at original post http://www.theislandnow.com/great_neck/news/article_7badf4be-8744-11e2-ba17-0019bb2963f4.html ---
The leaders of several Ulster County towns are pressing the city of Kingston to re-establish its Public Access Commission so that town meetings and other events can be shown live on Time Warner Cable’s Channel 23.
Rosendale Supervisor Jeanne Walsh said last week that she was among six supervisors to ask the city to revive the commission. The others were James Quigley of Ulster, John Coutant of Esopus, Gary Bellows of Hurley, Paul Landi of the town of Kingston and Michael Warren or Marbletown.
Walsh said the six wrote a letter to Kingston Mayor Shayne Gallo, asking, “How do we get this up and running in a healthy way?”
She said the channel could be used to show not only public meetings, but also events like parades. She said broadcasts would have to be approved in advance by each town. “It wouldn’t be a situation where anybody could post anything they want,” she said. --- more at original post http://www.dailyfreeman.com/articles/2013/03/14/news/doc51412cb7c9550269960186.txt?viewmode=fullstory ---
When she was looking around for how to use her training in television production Helen Chatel was inspired to get into community access television. Now the new executive director of the Watertown Community Access Center hopes to inspire others to get involved in community access, too. “It’s a great opportunity for me to build a base (of volunteers) and get the community more involved in making their own shows.” Chatel said. Chatel comes to town from Bolton, Conn., where she served as executive director for a community access center serving about the same number of people, but in seven towns. While applying for the position, Chatel said she was impressed with the WCAC facility, housed in the basement of Watertown High School. “When I came in for the interview and saw the facility I thought, this is an amazing facility,” Chatel said. --- more at original post http://watertown.patch.com/articles/new-director-of-community-access-center-looking-to-inspire-others ---
Like any newsmagazine show on television, this one had a mix of stories on current topics — flu season, a fund-raiser for juvenile diabetes, a theater renovation project, sports, and a movie review. The twist? The program was conceived, written, produced, edited, and presented by students from second to eighth grades. Welcome to “Marblehead Youth News ,’’ which airs on the local cable access station MH-TV. During a recent taping, boys and girls were operating the cameras, directing, working the teleprompter, staffing the tech room, and delivering the news and other stories from the anchor desk. “They just come in and do what they need to do,” said Jon Caswell, the station’s programming coordinator and one of the two adults who help guide the children through the taping. “They listen to directions and pick up everything really quickly,” he said. “It’s seem chaotic, but it always comes together,” said Bryan Nadeau, the station’s production coordinator. “These kids know a lot more than you would think, just by watching TV and growing up in a technical age.” The show was the idea of Darcy Mayers, a mother of three who wanted to provide her sports-involved children and their friends with a “more cerebral” activity. Mayers, who knew the local station trains people from the community to produce their own television shows, approached executive director Joan Goloboy in the summer of 2011 with a proposal for “a news show by kids and for kids.” --- more at original post http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/2013/03/10/marblehead-youth-news-puts-kids-behind-and-front-the-camera/78DI9fgpzYqGSVmjnhD1sL/story.html ---
The city of Laguna Niguel is looking into what it would take to generate a 30-minute program on public-access TV. Mayor Robert Ming proposed expanding local public-access programming on Cox cable Channel 30 (853 in high definition), envisioning production of a new program consisting of 10-minute segments, with possible topics ranging from city services and facilities to round-table discussions. Currently the city uses the channel primarily to broadcast City Council meetings. --- more at original post http://www.ocregister.com/news/city-498412-staff-council.html ---
This nation has a proud history of journalism, long tied most closely to newspapers. But the newspaper industry, as we know, has experienced a severe decline in recent years. The signs of this decline were evident to many of us in my hometown of Detroit back in 1987, when our two highly competitive newspapers, the Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News, announced the formation of a joint operating agreement (JOA). This allowed the two newspapers to combine their business operation, while keeping their editorial staffs separate. Despite reassurances from both news organizations that robust local news coverage would continue, it was pretty clear that change was in the air for the news business, and it remained to be seen how well the local community would be served. Since then, the emergence of digital technology has complicated the landscape for news organizations. While there is great opportunity for innovation in news gathering and dissemination, not to mention the possibility for new nonprofit news enterprises, there are also obstacles posed by outdated regulations. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a report in 2011 entitled, “The Information Needs of Communities: The changing media landscape in a broadband age.” Pointing to the severe cutbacks in newsrooms across the country, the report noted that local communities are losing out on the kind of accountability reporting necessary to make informed decisions on local issues. Nonprofit media, the report suggested, could help address this concern. To further explore the current state of nonprofit media, The Knight Foundation and the Council on Foundations joined forces to create a working group tasked to dig into regulatory obstacles. I was honored to participate on this working group and am pleased that our report, “The IRS and Nonprofit Media: Toward Creating a More Informed Public,” is being released on March 4th. The Internal Revenue Service gets top billing here because the agency is using outdated regulatory approaches in determining tax exemption eligibility for nonprofit news organizations. While some nonprofits like MinnPost have been able to obtain nonprofit status, too many others have been waiting up to three years for the IRS to make a determination. Apparently the IRS does not consider journalism to be educational, an attribute key to tax exemption. --- more at original post http://benton.org/node/146795 --- --- nmwgfinalreport.pdf 2.51 MB http://benton.org/sites/benton.org/files/nmwgfinalreport.pdf
By now you’ve probably read the comments from Time Warner Cable (TWC) CTO Irene Esteves explaining that her company doesn’t plan to build out fiber to the home because there’s no evidence that American consumers actually want super-fast networks. While a lot of people expressed surprise in response to this attitude, it’s actually been a common refrain from the cable industry and its defenders for quite some time now — let’s recall that National Cable & Telecommunications Association CEO Michael Powell recently described achieving gigabit speeds as an “irrelevant exercise in bragging rights.” That this attitude isn’t just consigned to one company but is apparently held by the entire industry indicates that the market for home broadband in the United States is horrendously uncompetitive and is in desperate need of a shakeup. --- more at original post http://bgr.com/2013/03/01/time-warner-cable-criticism-353827/ ---
We all hate the niggling bureaucratic rules of government — until, that is, we see what happens without them. The new contract to operate Redding’s public-access cable channels last week was snared in a healthy debate about transparency as a narrow City Council majority voted to delay a decision pending a new round of interviews. The hangup, in part, was Councilor Gary Cadd’s desire to clarify how potential operators would ensure public access not only to the television station but also to records and meetings where decisions are made. Cadd wants, in essence, for a private nonprofit operator — the Shasta County Arts Council or whichever entity — to comply with the Brown Act, the Public Records Act and other laws that ensure government operates in the public eye and is accountable to the decisions. He’s right to want maximum openness for the public-access station, which operates with what is essentially a city tax on Redding cable-television customers and has been the subject of bitter recent feuds. --- more [ including 51 comments as of 2/27/13 ] at original post http://www.redding.com/news/2013/feb/25/editorial-privatization-might-save-money-but-it/ ---
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On Wednesday, Federal Communications Commissioner Robert McDowell announced his departure from the agency. McDowell, a Republican, has served as an FCC commissioner since 2006.
Free Press President and CEO Craig Aaron made the following statement:
"We congratulate Commissioner McDowell on his decision to leave the FCC. As he considers his next move, we hope he will reject the revolving door and resist becoming another FCC leader who exploits his public service to cash in at the companies he was supposed to regulate.
"We urge the President to nominate a Republican successor who is not simply another cheerleader for the biggest businesses and media monopolists, but who recognizes the free market cannot work if companies are allowed to amass and abuse market power. Competition, diversity and the fostering of local voices shouldn't be partisan issues. These principles — not refereeing between or advocating on behalf of the largest players — are the agency's mission and should guide its work." --- original post at http://www.freepress.net/press-release/103071/free-press-statement-robert-mcdowells-departure-fcc ---
The Community Media Center of the North Bay would close at the end of June and eventually be reborn as an innovative partnership under a proposal heading to the Santa Rosa City Council Tuesday. Citing its tight budget, city staff had planned to cut off funding for the nonprofit center at the end of the month. The center opened in 1997 to broadcast public meetings, manage public access television channels and provide video production training to residents. But after dozens of residents last month pleaded for a way to preserve the public access provided by the media center, the council agreed to take a closer look at the issue. City officials now propose to give the center three additional months of funding before ending the current operation, which they say lacks innovation in an era of smart phones and YouTube. The nonprofit employs about eight people who work in city-rented space and use city-owned equipment. --- http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20130318/ARTICLES/130319523/1036/business?p=all&tc=pgall ---
Thank you so much to over 100 community members who attended CMAP's Grand Opening event at Christopher High School last Thursday! CMAP celebrated ten years of operation at the brand new state-of-the art television and audio recording studio at Christopher High, with local Aztec dancers, a live band from Hollister (The Architecturals), local X-Factor contestant Austin Corini, special guests and elected officials, and some special treats! A live program of the evening's activities will air soon on http://www.cmap.tv --- more at original post http://gilroy.patch.com/blog_posts/cmap-tv-now-open-to-public-at-christopher-high-school-after-grand-opening-event ---
Dear Editor:
I read with cautious optimism how six area town supervisors seek a reassessment of how our communities are served by cable TV franchises (March 4). Readers should take notice, however, of what this means, and pay close attention to developments, as this involves far more than use of public money.
Access to our media outlets was a hard-won victory. Since the dawn of cable TV, the people’s right and ability to be heard over the din of huge corporate interests has diminished greatly. At the same time, we are feeling increasingly detached and powerless from those who are meant to represent our interests at all levels of our government.
Any notion which seeks to "shift the focus" of public access TV to one that is a "government channel" is hardly a happy development, but since it comes as result of apparent disinterest by the public in the exercise of their rights (i.e. investing time and talent), our next best hope is necessarily that our leaders will keep in mind the history and purpose of the enterprise, and will seek ways to serve those interests.
---more at original post
http://www.dailyfreeman.com/articles/2013/03/14/opinion/doc513f862f00bc5058427277.txt?viewmode=fullstory ---
Students at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M in Miami are taking it upon themselves to liven up the schools public access channel with a new weekly broadcast of campus life. "It's entirely student run," says Delayna Fitzgerald, the President of NEO 13. "We perform every job and it's very difficult, but we know how to do it." Fitzgerald says she had an epiphany last fall to turn the college public access station from PowerPoint shows of school events to a revamped tongue-in-cheek news show. But she says it wasn't easy to turn the dream into reality. "We had people who were essentially against us and everything we were trying to do, and told us we couldn't do it and we basically said 'well watch, we can do it with no money and with our own resources,'" says Fitzgerald. Though they do receive a small stipend from the campus for club activities the students use their own free time, computers, software and even microphones to make the weekly 30 minute show happen. --- more at original post http://www.koamtv.com/story/21599781/student-run-tv-program-is-back-on-at-neo-campus ---
The Schenectady Access Cable Council is making a comeback. Two years after it was driven into obscurity when Proctors Theatre was picked to produce public access television, the nonprofit council has set up an editing room and studio in rented space across from City Hall. It plans to produce shows that will be carried by Proctors on the county's three public access channels, and it is also aiming to gain a following on the Internet, said Randall Hogue, the cable council's new executive director. In 2010, then-City Council President Gary McCarthy led the cable council's board and convinced the City Council to allocate $80,000 in Time Warner Cable franchise fees to Proctors, which created a television production arm called Open Stage Media. McCarthy, who would move into the mayor's seat the next year, said the cable council was losing money and Proctors could make higher-quality programming. But the Schenectady Access Cable Council's new members were not pleased that the city expected their nonprofit organization to dissolve. So it kept what was left in its accounts, about $116,000 at 2010's end, vowing to stay in the game. The cable council's reservations were fueled by concerns that the alternative, fringe voices — for which public access is renowned — would be wiped out once Proctors took over. "It's critical to have a venue for people to be able to speak," said the cable council's board president, Lou Ismay. --- more at original post http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/New-life-awaits-public-access-programming-4327729.php ---
The Hadley cable access station is fueled by one man’s passion. When Richard Trueswell, the access coordinator and sole employee of TV-5, began filming Hadley Select Board meetings in 1990, he used a camera borrowed from a friend of his brother. Over the years, the station has gotten more funding and equipment, but it is still a one-man operation. “I usually have someone to back me up when I’m not available to shoot a meeting, but other than that it’s mainly just me,” Trueswell said. In the past two decades, Trueswell, who is 53 and single, has left the station twice, but he has always returned to record his hometown’s business. There are few people — if any — who have attended as many Hadley governmental meetings as he has. He has been covering Select Board meetings for 23 years. Now he films as many as three meetings a week — including the Select Board, the School Committee, the Planning Board and occasionally the Zoning Board of Appeals. He estimates that he has been to more than a thousand meetings. --- more at original post http://www.amherstbulletin.com/home/4608148-95/trueswell-hadley-meetings-station ---
In some ways, media is like food. Food turns into your body, but books, songs, tweets turn into your mind. If you look at the kinds of media Americans consume now, they bear quite a resemblance to products that come from big ag: industrial, barely nutritious, certainly not fostering any connection to people or place. By some measures, radio is the most consolidated form of modern media, with the bulk of stations being owned by only five giant behemoths, pouring a diet of thin Campbell’s Soup into the massive distribution system that returns ad revenue. Radio hasn’t always been like this – as recently as the 1980s, locally-owned and operated radio stations were bona fide community hubs, supporting local music and often playing a part in events and politics. It’s still alive in pockets of the country, where you can still hear diverse, vibrant stations, non-commercial and connected to colleges or public access, as rich and fascinating as a garden: news coverage of local politics, volunteer DJs spinning songs by new bands, talk shows hosted by ethnic groups without other platforms, even kids doing their own shows. This is community radio. --- more at original post http://www.shareable.net/blog/locavore-radio-listening-to-your-neighbors ---
Jabari Moketsi was a radio talk show host at WVGB until the struggling station was sold to a company that broadcasts classic rock. He had no interest in spinning songs by Boston and Bad Company, so he launched his own station, streaming online, to continue serving the African-American community. He’s built up a national following in the four years since, with far more listeners in places like Houston and Seattle than the community he hoped to serve in Beaufort, South Carolina. That is why he, and thousands like him who broadcast online, are so excited by the opportunity to do something far more low-tech: broadcast over the air. “I want to be on the dial because radio is free,” Moketsi said. “Having listeners in Houston or Seattle or New York, that’s good, but does that influence your community where you live? That’s what I’m about.” Now he’ll have his chance. Later this year, the Federal Communications Commission will begin distributing licenses to registered nonprofit organizations that want to start low-power FM radio stations. The goal is to dot the country with 100-watt transmitters, primarily in urban areas, and restore some of the diversity lost to corporate consolidation of radio. “It’s the largest expansion of community radio in this country’s history,” said Ian Smith, program director of Prometheus Radio, which has been lobbying the government for more than a decade to permit such stations. Broadcasting would, ideally, be done in addition to streaming, extending the reach – and effectiveness – of community organizations and activists, some of which also publish newspapers. “Our vision is a nationwide network of multimedia centers that incorporate local radio,” he said. “For radio to maintain its relevancy, it has to be incorporated into a larger toolkit.” This may well be the last distribution of FM radio licenses by the FCC, so competition will be intense. If there are multiple applicants for a single license that all meet the minimal requirements, the FCC will use a points system to help choose who gets a license. Points are awarded to organizations that pledge to air at least eight hours of local programming daily, offer a publicly accessible studio that is staffed 20 hours per week or are affiliated with a Native American tribe, among other things. In the event of a tie, the FCC will ask the two organizations to work out a plan for sharing time on the dial. --- more at original post http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2013/02/the-reprise-of-radio/ ---
For almost three decades, Telluride TV has been sharing music festivals, public meetings, student plays and slices of Telluride life as the town’s public access station. Despite the nearly non-stop local content, a low-end connection on channel 12 had long plagued the station with a spotty picture that could be prone to interference. Thanks to a recent fiber optic upgrade, that is now a thing of the past; Telluride TV is enjoying a clear signal for the first time in 25 years. “It’s huge for us,” said Katie Karow, executive director of Telluride TV. The connection had been a limitation for the station for some time, she said. When she came on board two years ago, “that was one of the first things I wanted to get fixed.” The connection upgrade was part of Time Warner’s franchise agreement, and came together with help from Telluride Town Manager Greg Clifton and Mayor Stu Fraser. The signal upgrade is one piece of a package of recent improvements and expanded programming at Telluride TV. The station has increased its online content, added snow reports on the daily and is preparing to launch a pair of new shows in March, with others in the works. --- more at original post http://telluridenews.com/articles/2013/02/27/arts_and_entertainment/doc512d4b774c8b1636317316.txt ---
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