By Goia Von Staden. Originally published in Daily Cal
Councilmember Kate Harrison hosted a town hall meeting Wednesday to discuss Berkeley Police Department’s policies on transparency, use of force and surveillance.
The panel for the open forum consisted of Harrison, Police Review Commission Chair George Lippman and Tracy Rosenberg, a citizen activist with Oakland Privacy, an organization that aims to defend citizens’ rights to privacy. The panel discussed how to best protect civil rights and liberties when considering police transparency, use of force and surveillance techniques. Continue reading Berkeley Officials Call for Increased Transparency on Police Use of Force→
By Sara Harrison. Originally published in the Richmond Confidential
Opponents – and even supporters – of Tom Butt say Richmond’s mayor is guilty of what one critic described as a “flagrant abuse of power” and a council member called “highly inappropriate” actions.
OAKLAND (BCN)– The executive director of an Oakland social justice advocacy group said today that she’s unhappy that a public hearing on the Oakland Police Department’s response to criticism of its involvement in an immigration raid in August has been put off indefinitely.
Tracy Rosenberg of Media Alliance said today’s decision by the Oakland City Council’s Rules Committee to take the issue off the agenda of the Public Safety Committee’s meeting next Tuesday indicates to her that the council thinks “it’s not important to talk about this. Continue reading Oakland Hearing on August ICE Raid Issue Indefinitely Postponed→
(The Media Alliance, at media-alliance.org, is a Bay Area democratic communications advocate. Tracy fought a lonely war to save KCSM-TV between 2011 and 2013.)
On October 24, LocusPoint Networks, a subsidiary of the Blackstone Group, the largest hedge firm in the world, filed an injunction to block the sale of KCSM-TV to KRCB/North Bay Public Media. The filing in San Mateo Superior Court can be read here. No date has been set yet for the injunction request to be heard. Continue reading Spectrum Speculator LocusPoint Files Injunction To Stop Sale Of KCSM-TV→
The FCC has told a federal court that it was reasonable to reinstate the UHF discount immediately while it considers adjusting the national audience reach cap, that it has the authority to adjust that cap, and that the discount and the cap have to be considered together because the UHF discount is meaningless except in relation to the cap.
That came in an opening brief filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in the challenge to its UHF decision filed by Free Press, Office of Communication of the United Church of Christ (UCC), Prometheus Radio Project, Media Mobilizing Project, Media Alliance, National Hispanic, Media Coalition, and Common Cause. Continue reading FCC Defends UHF Discount Decision in Court→
The United States Federal Communications Commission will vote to roll back media ownership regulations that prohibit organizations from owning a television station and newspaper in the same market and will make it easier to acquire media outlets.
New America’s Open Technology Institute (OTI), supported by many consumer advocacy and privacy organizations, have published model legislation to aid states in improving privacy protections for broadband customers. The model is designed to provide Americans real choices over how broadband providers like AT&T and Verizon can use, disclose, and provide access to customer information. States must consider their own broadband privacy legislation to fill the gap left by Congress when it repealed the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC’s) broadband privacy rules.Continue reading Model State Broadband Privacy Law Introduced→
On October 24, LocusPoint Networks, a subsidiary of the Blackstone Group, the largest hedge firm in the world, filed an injunction to block the sale of KCSM-TV to North Bay Public Media after KCSM owner, the San Mateo College Community District, was ejected from the FCC spectrum auction for failing to file a bid.
Locuspoint had been subsidizing the operations of the television station by paying the school district $900,000 a year since 2013 in exchange for 36.5% of the spectrum sale proceeds, which were estimated to be as much as $114 million dollars in total. Continue reading Blackstone Group Subsidiary Files To Block KCSM-TV Sale→
