Public Media

Assessing the Damage

Stevie Converse — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 08:02:21 -0700

State video franchise laws have swept the nation in the past few years, including passage of the Cable and Video Competition Law of 2007 in Illinois. The change from regulation by local governments to state law has resulted in harm to public benefits in many states around the nation.

Video Sharing Capability to Debut at ACM Conference

Stevie Converse — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 07:58:26 -0700

The Server Standards Work Group (SSWG) of the Alliance for Community Media (ACM) announced today that they will debut a new Video File Sharing Social Network at the Alliance For Community Media’s International Conference and Exhibition held here from July 9-12.

Cable Franchising Bills No Help to Consumers, Says Survey

Stevie Converse — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 06:19:27 -0700

State cable franchising bills have not led to lower cable rates, and support for public access channels has eroded in those states with such schemes, according to a survey conducted by the Alliance for Community Media and the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors.

Put the Public Back into Public Broadcasting

Stevie Converse — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 08:24:08 -0700

As The Post editorialized on June 18, Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast are in danger of losing their "precious public asset" - WXEL. We agree.

Court Backs Cable Competition

Stevie Converse — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 06:47:42 -0700

A federal appeals court on Friday upheld the Federal Communications Commission’s authority to set rules meant to make it easier for new cable television competitors to gain local franchises.

Media Minutes: June 27, 2008

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0700

The Black Stake, and All Our Stakes, in the Media Justice Movement

Stevie Converse — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 10:35:28 -0700

Mass media determine public consciousness. But in the US, where mass media are owned and operated almost entirely by and in the interest of a greedy and irresponsible corporate elite, who keep the issues of control and governance of the internet, cable, broadcast and other media off the table.

Tell Congress to Save Public Broadcasting

Megan Tady — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 08:23:38 -0700

Throwing the remote at the TV or yelling at the radio after another unbelievable comment from a TV anchor (terrorist fist-bump, anyone?) sure does help to relieve some pent up frustration against the news media. But a busted remote certainly won’t get us any closer to getting more real news on our airwaves.

Low Power to the People

Stevie Converse — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 05:54:57 -0700

Money talks on the radio. The airwaves are full of voices backed by the millions of dollars it takes to buy a commercial radio station. Clear Channel Communications, for example, owns more than 1,200 of them. But how do America's smaller, average-income voices get heard?

New York FiOS Deal Approval Expected Soon

Stevie Converse — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 04:34:51 -0700

Verizon expects New York City officials to approve its FiOS cable franchising deal by next month, a top executive said Wednesday.

CPB Statement on the House Appropriations Subcommittee's Proposed Funding Levels for 2009 and 2011

Stevie Converse — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 08:48:18 -0700

Today, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education ("Labor-HHS") approved the Fiscal Year 2009 appropriations bill that provides funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).

House Committee OKs Advance Funds for Public Broadcasting

Stevie Converse — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 08:45:24 -0700

What a difference a new Congress makes.

A House Appropriations Subcommittee has not only continued to grant the Corporation for Public Broadcasting advance funding, it has agreed to a $430 million appropriation for FY 2011 that is $10 million more than 2010.

Louisiana Senate Approves Video Franchise Bill

Stevie Converse — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 04:48:36 -0700

[Editor's note: This is an excerpt from the article.]

The Senate gave final legislative approval to a change in the way cable television providers win franchise rights in Louisiana.

Signal Interference: Tuning into the definition of 'Corporate Media'

Stevie Converse — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 07:21:51 -0700

There was an awkward moment at the end of “Minnesota Model: Countering Corporate Media,” a panel discussion at this weekend’s National Conference on Media Reform.

Alas, I must admit that I was the one who caused it.

AT&T Access Plan Challenged

Stevie Converse — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 06:40:33 -0700

AT&T's plan for public access on its U-verse video service -- which the company calls "innovative" and critics call inadequate -- is being challenged in Illinois.

Are You Addicted to Public Access Television?

Stevie Converse — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 05:54:11 -0700

This is a column for the real intellectuals. The book-reading, newspaper-devouring, spectacle-wearing, square-peg types you want as your Trivial Pursuit partner.

You know, the ones who watch public access television.

Selling a War

Stevie Converse — Fri, 30 May 2008 08:22:22 -0700

The U.S. House of Representatives has angrily and appropriately lashed out at a Pentagon program that used retired senior military officers as propaganda surrogates to sell the Iraq war.

Burlington Debates Dropping Al Jazeera

Stevie Converse — Fri, 30 May 2008 08:10:19 -0700

The municipally-owned telecommunications company launched two years ago by Vermont’s largest city – Burlington, also known as the “People’s Republic” – is struggling with a divisive dispute over whether to continue airing Al Jazeera English, the 24-hour news and public affairs channel headquartered in Qatar.

Media Minutes: May 30, 2008

Fri, 30 May 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Media Minutes (2008-05-30)

candace — Thu, 29 May 2008 14:10:48 -0700

Native Public Media is committed to bringing Native American voices to media policymakers in Washington. And in a guest commentary, Free Press executive director Josh Silver discusses the House vote to ban Pentagon propaganda and the mainstream media’s failure to report the story.