86 Organizations Petition Congress to Counter Unconstitutional Surveillance
Letter Demands Patriot Act Reform of Section 215, Congressional Hearings and Accountability
A letter signed by 86 public interest and civil liberties organizations was delivered to Congress this morning, in the wake of a week of explosive reports in the UK Guardian and the Washington Post from former Booz Allen NSA contractor Edward Snowden.
The reports detailed several government programs, including one that provides access to metadata for telephone calls and another that provides warrantless access to online activities culled from the servers of nine leading Internet companies, including Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, Apple and Facebook. Continue reading 86 Organizations Petition Congress To Counter Unconstitutional Surveillance→
About 20% of the hugely valuable TV spectrum — slated for auction in 2014 — is reserved for noncommercial stations. Only noncommercial stations (mostly owned by universities and community non-profits) can operate on this spectrum and when they sell, they must sell to other eligible noncommercial operators. Two years ago, Congress made the fateful decision to allow noncommercial stations to cash out of their spectrum when it goes up for auction to wireless providers. That means that a university licensee can sell its spectrum and put the proceeds into a gym or a dorm. Or, the licensee can enter into a deal with a commercial entity to split the proceeds in return for subsidizing its operations until that fateful auction day. It’s like this: a nonprofit is granted (at no cost) public land to operate as a park, and then allowed to sell the land on the commercial market, splitting the proceeds with a private equity firm. The park is gone, and the public gets nothing other than more commercial real estate.
Originally published in the AFT Advocate – May 10 2013
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 District Refuses To Be Open About KCSM-TV Sale→
Contact: Tracy Rosenberg, Executive Director, Media Alliance (tel) 510-684-6853
KCSM-TV Sale Postponed
San Mateo Community College District Votes to Reject All Bids for the 5th Largest Public Television Broadcasting License in California
San Mateo, CA-On October 24th, the San Mateo Community College District Board of Trustees voted unanimously to reject the final two bidders (of an original six) for the broadcast license for KCSM Television, bringing to an end an 18-month process by the District to try to sell the television broadcast license housed at the College of San Mateo since 1964. KCSM Television reaches 10 Bay Area counties and is broadcast on 60 municipal cable systems in Northern California. Continue reading KCSM-TV Sale Postponed→
Oakland – The Campaign for Prison Phone Justice has kicked things up a notch with “In-District Visits” scheduled throughout the months of August and September.
On August 23, 2012, a delegation of organizations from the California Bay Area met with the Deputy District Director of Congresswoman Barbara Lee to discuss the high cost of receiving a phone call from a prison, jail or detention center. This visit was held as part of a larger effort called the Campaign for Prison Phone Justice a national campaign seeking to lower the cost of prison phone calls. Member-organizations of the delegation included the Center for Media Justice, Media Alliance, The Utility Reform Network (TURN) and Ella Baker Center. The delegation is petitioning the Congresswoman to ask the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to address the high cost of prison phone calls by passing the Wright Petition. Continue reading Groups Urge Congresswoman Lee To Push Back Against Kickbacks→
Save KUSF volunteers and Media Alliance filed comments with the FCC pointing out loopholes in a proposed rule changes which put public airwaves at risk of further consolidation.
Originally published in the AFT Advocate – Feb 17 2012
As part of an epidemic of higher education institutions ridding themselves of educational television and radio licenses, the San Mateo Community College District has announced the upcoming sale of KSCM-TV, although not (yet) KSCM-FM, the district’s jazz radio station. Bids were due on February 14th to the District’s Board of Trustees. Continue reading Questioning The KCSM Sale→
