Recent press releases issued by Media Alliance. Sometimes we’ll post newspaper, radio and broadcast interviews here as well.
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
Washington DC – Signaling the tail end of a regulatory process that hasn’t been going AT&T’s way for some time, the telecom giant made formal the abandonment of plans to acquire T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telecom. The announcement comes on the heels of a CA Public Utilities Commission investigation in July and August of 2011, a Department of Justice announcement of opposition to the merger on anti-competitive grounds and the Federal Communications Commision’s refusal to approve the merger without an investigation. Continue reading AT&T / T-Mobile Merger Bites the Dust
Posted by Tracy Rosenberg on
Huffington Post May 22 2010
As we arrive at the end of the long health care reform battle with something less than nirvana, media activists have been waiting with bated breath for the release of the long-awaited National Broadband Plan from the Federal Communications Commission.
Well over a year in the making, the plan sets a course for the future of the online communications system — a system that materially affects every American’s ability to access information and express themselves.
It’s not exactly the public option.
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When a Pacific Gas and Electric pipeline exploded in San Bruno, CA in 2010, pundits all over the nation called out for more aggressive supervision of the energy company, so Californians needn’t fear having their homes burst into fireballs.
Wildfires and windstorms resulted in long-term outages across Southern California in recent years, caused largely by aging lines and overloaded power poles. At the insistence of legislators, millions of dollars in fines have been assessed.
Which makes it really puzzling when mandates for less utility regulation start sailing through the California legislature. Continue reading When Is A Phone Call Not a Phone Call? (When ALEC Says So)
by Tracy Rosenberg (originally published at Huffington Post)
To this T-Mobile customer, last week’s announcement of a proposed merger between AT&T and T-Mobile sent shivers up my spine. And not just because I anticipate a 25% increase in my monthly wireless bill. Continue reading AT&T / T-Mobile : Looking Like a Disaster
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
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
Originally published in the SF Bay Guardian – Feb 4 2012
The San Mateo Community College District Board of Trustees has announced the upcoming sale of its independent public television station, KCSM-TV. Some potential new owners are cause for alarm.
A January 10th walk-though for potential bidders was attended by the Christian broadcasting giant Daystar Television. The fastest-growing faith-based network in the country, Daystar’s mission is to reach souls with the good news of Jesus Christ as one of a “new breed of televangelists.” Continue reading Public TV For Sale
