Mergers, diversity of ownership, and multiple perspectives.
Originally published in the
I often hear, as a Pacifica Foundation board member that terrestrial radio in general and Pacifica radio in particular, is irrelevant.
I would make the case that anything that generates as much sound and fury as Pacifica has for the last 20 years cannot possibly be irrelevant. Continue reading Towards A Just Communications Structure: Pacifica Radio’s Never Ending Battle
Originally published in the Huffington Post
The news is full of the lack of news. Everywhere pundits, commentators, and academics mourn the death of the crusading journalism of the fourth estate. My own organization, Media Alliance, was founded in 1976, in the heady days following the Watergate scandal that ended a presidency. Movie stars Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman portrayed the Washington Post reporters who tracked an obscure break-in to the upper reaches of the White House. The film now seems like an antique, a dinosaur in an age when the off-the-cuff comments of long-time White House correspondent Helen Thomas garner more attention than her interrogations of presidents. Continue reading Looking for Journalism in all the Wrong Places
For many, who switched to cable and satellite services with thousands of channels, no big deal. But for some, who still jiggle rabbit ear antennas, the switch is a problem, forcing them to replace their televisions, subscribe to cable service they may not be able to afford, or buy and install a converter box using a government coupon. The people most affected by the change are often elderly, disabled, on fixed incomes or from non-English speaking households. Continue reading The Day TV Goes Away: The Digital Television Transition
Internal Comcast documents leaked and posted on Reddit contain instructions to “immediately” transfer customers who ask about network neutrality, Netflix (with whom Comcast has been ensconced in a long battle) or the telecom’s new and unpopular data caps unrolled in several states (not yet in California) to a special customer service division called “The Customer Security Assurance (CSA) Team”. Continue reading Special Customer Service For You
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
Note sent to the House Energy/Commerce Committee about keeping local broadcast channels on the low price tiers of cable and satellite systems.
This is an important issue for low-income communities, especially foreign language speakers and senior citizens in times of emergency or natural disaster. Continue reading Keeping Broadcast TV Accessible
Assembly Joint Resolution 39 was passed by the California legislature. The Resolution will be forwarded to the federal government as a direct policy recommendation from the State of California.
AJR 39 calls on US Congress to change laws restricting the way PEG community centers can spend money to help residents with training and equipment to tell the stories of their communities. Continue reading Bill To Rescue Public Access TV Passed in Sacramento
This brief statement was submitted by MA to the House Judiciary Committee asking for full broadcast access on the lowest-priced cable system tiers.
Continue reading Keep Broadcast Access Affordable
