Category Archives: Media Ownership

Mergers, diversity of ownership, and multiple perspectives.

Media Ownership, Press Room

San Mateo Community College District Refuses to Be Open About KCSM TV Sale

 

Updating the San Mateo community on the sale of the non-commercial TV station KCSM-TV, which has been housed at the College of San Mateo since 1964, is no easy task.

For the second consecutive time, a public records request filed by Media Alliance (MA), this time accompanied by a request by the Palo Alto Daily Post newspaper, has been denied by the Board of Trustees. In 2012, the names of the bidders were not released until the District had already decided to reject all 6 bids. In 2013, the District confirms that negotiations are on-going with one “top bidder”, but refuses to divulge who that top bidder may be and what their plans are. Continue reading San Mateo Community College District Refuses to Be Open About KCSM TV Sale →

Media Ownership

College Radio: You Will Be Assimilated

 

Posted by Tracy Rosenberg on
The Huffington Post  January 28 2011

Like the B-52’s? Metallica? The White Stripes?

You might have never heard of them if not for KUSF, the venerable San Francisco college radio station that first played their music.

College radio is part of the diverse package of community media voices around the country that with spit-and-glue budgets, volunteer energy and a handful of overworked staff, keep bits of the television and radio waves open to the public, while training millions of young people in technology and how to use it.

These do-it-yourself outlets, which have survived for decades with an open door policy, often feature unique and eclectic formats inspired by the passions and talents of the surrounding community. At the University of San Francisco for the past thirty years, that has often meant the city’s flourishing and influential music scene, one of the most vital in the country.

Continue reading College Radio: You Will Be Assimilated →

Media Ownership

California Public Utilities Commission Suspends Approval of AT&T /T-Mobile Merger

 

May 27, 2011

For Immediate Release

Contact: Tracy Rosenberg, Executive Director, Media Alliance (510) 684-6853

California Public Utilities Commission Suspends Approval of AT&T –T-Mobile Merger.

Commission Votes 5-0 to Open an Informational Proceeding on Impacts to the State of California

San Francisco, CA – On Thursday May 26, the California Public Utilities Commission responded to notification by AT&T of their proposed merger with T-Mobile by suspending automatic 30-day approval of the plan and agreeing to move forward with an informational proceeding on the impact of the merger on California consumers. The action was taken in response to a request from Sprint. Continue reading California Public Utilities Commission Suspends Approval of AT&T /T-Mobile Merger →

Media Ownership, Press Room

Astroturf Up Close And Personal

 

Posted by Tracy Rosenberg June 2012 at Oakland Local

I was out-gunned 30-1.

On May 26th, I went to the California Public Utilities Commission to encourage them to perform a thorough investigation of the impact of the AT&T / T-Mobile merger on California consumers.

As a public interest advocate, I’m used to being the underdog. Despite sending lots of last-minute emails asking people to come, I didn’t expect a huge amount of folks would be able to dispense with work and family and rush over to the commission meeting.

But I didn’t expect it to be this bad. Continue reading Astroturf Up Close And Personal →

Media Ownership, Press Room

The Public Access Crisis by Eric Arnold

 

Originally published on Alternet

Public-access television has always had a low-budget, amateur reputation. Yet Rod Laughridge’s alternative news program “Newsroom on Access SF” was anything but that. Though San Francisco’s public-access station had its share of offbeat shows —- like the risqué DeeDeeTV, hosted by self-described “pop culture diva” Dee Dee Russell — “Newsroom” took itself seriously. Its mission, as described on its website, was to “bring community-based, community reported and produced independent news and interviews from a grassroots viewpoint — unhindered, uncensored and unaltered.”  Continue reading The Public Access Crisis by Eric Arnold →

Media Ownership

Real Cable Franchising in California

 

The CPUC’s Division of Rate Payers Advocates has filed a petition at California’s Utility Commission asking the State of California to go above and beyond the boilerplate cable franchise renewal process laid out in the Digital Infrastructure and Competition Act (DIVCA) and institute a real public process that allows the users of a cable franchise to talk about the quality of service provided by the franchisee.

To support the ORA petition: you can send a note to the Commission at: public.advisor@cpuc.ca.gov. Continue reading Real Cable Franchising in California →