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Chicago Media Action since its founding has been working on activism pertaining to the main PBS affiliate in Chicago -- WTTW, Channel 11. The problems with WTTW, which justify such efforts, are many.
* WTTW is mired in financial problems. These include layoffs, an overpaid executive staff, embezzlement, and financial mismanagement. (Curiously, the corporate media has produced some investigative coverage of these financial problems.)
* WTTW appeals to filthy rich corporations (more filthy than rich) for funds, staff, and board members.
* WTTW is plagued by "underwriting" -- the public broadcaster's euphemism for advertising. In fact, WTTW holds a place of infamy as being the only station fined by the FCC for excessive commercialism.
* WTTW's programming and content is impacted as a result. The weekly TV series NOW is scheduled erratically, with some episodes not appearing at all. No African-Americans host any of WTTW's shows, nor are there any shows which regularly present perspectives by labor unions, the poor and working class, ethnic minorities, or any of the demographics which comprise Chicago.
The history (so far) of CMA activism around WTTW can be grouped into three rounds.
Round One was launched with CMA's effective founding in November 2002. CMA called for the revival of a documentary-and-public-forum series, which WTTW had held in the past. The main issue was to bring to greater public attention "alternative" perspectives on the then-impending War in Iraq. A series of back-and-forth negotiations between culminated in March 2003 with a pair of person-to-person meetings between CMA and WTTW, including one meeting in which more than 35 activists met in March (forming a coalition called the "We Interrupt Your Regularly Scheduled Programming Coalition", or the "We Interrupt" group for short). Despite this, WTTW dropped the ball on the proposal, delaying the proposal until after the war's launch, and then finally declining the proposal, as they deemed the issue no longer a "raging" one.
Round Two: CMA called for a much more potent prescription to remedy WTTW's corporate-caused illness, and to deal with the larger endemic flaws of public broadcasting:
(1) Fire WTTW CEO Dan Schmidt.
(2) Conduct a government audit of WTTW funds
(3) Implement the series of monthly town halls and documentaries called for earlier
(4) Implement an independent commission to help resolve WTTW's funding dilemma.
The first launch took place on October 11, 2003, when CMA sent a letter to the chair of the WTTW Board of Directors, accompanied by a rapid-response-form campaign. The chair unsurprisingly sent a response dismissing the request. CMA is now involved in various efforts to bring attention to the proposal and to the problems involved with the station. These have included a number of radio broadcast and print discussions on the issue, with a campaign that is poised to escalate.
Round Three: The campaign makes a formal escalation on July 19, 2004, when CMA publicly releases a study nearly a year in the making [ download executive summary | download study | download appendix | Article in FAIR's magazine "Extra" ]. The study is a content analysis of WTTW's flagship show, Chicago Tonight. To our knowledge, the study is the most in-depth analysis of WTTW or of Chicago Tonight which has ever been conducted -- 30 episodes across three months comprising more than 400 guests. The findings of the study confirm that public broadcasting in Chicago overwhelming favors elites over the public -- the topics tend to be non-news (sports and entertainment) and the guests tend to be white, male, and rich representatives from government or corporate sources.
How you can participate: You can contact the Chair of the WTTW Board of Directors to tell her you Support The Four Demands above. You can use the CMA Rapid Response form for emailing the chair, Sandra Guthman, and call Sandra Guthman's office, at 312-527-4684, to leave a message that you "support the four Chicago Media Action demands". Also, be sure to visit Chicago Media Action's website often, and/or join our mailing list for further information and updates about CMA's efforts against WTTW.
Additional Resources:
* A Timeline of the history of Chicago Public Broadcasting
* List of Chicago public television issues (courtesy Labor Beat)
* Struggling for the Soul of WTTW: Public Broadcasting Going Private
Past CMA articles on this topic are listed below in reverse chronological order.
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Kids' shows funding needs to be saved (from the Chicago Daily Herald) (September 3, 2005) |
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Alert. Saturday Night. Live TV in Chicago. The Battle for Channel 11 (August 18, 2005) |
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Letter to CPB Board, with CMA as a signatory... (August 4, 2005) |
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A cliffhanger at 'Chicago Tonight' (June 21, 2005) |
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Back Off Big Bird (June 13, 2005) |
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Two WTTW executives leave, cutbacks and malaise may follow (May 10, 2005) |
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Chicago Tribune calls for PBS' "Liberation" (May 10, 2005) |
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April 28 Forum with John Callaway at the Pritzker Military Library (April 28, 2005) |
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WTTW Community Advisory Board minutes (March 2005), with reference to CMA (April 11, 2005) |
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Second Meeting of PBS "Trust Fund" Initiative Reveals Lack of Vision and Little Commitment to the Future of Noncommercial Programming (February 6, 2005) |
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Public Television's Digital Dreams (article in the Chicago Reader) (December 10, 2004) |
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Chicago Public Television's Private Meetings (November 8, 2004) |
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PBS Conference in Chicago: Outline - December 2-3, 2004 (November 7, 2004) |
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CMA Educational Outreach This Wednesday (Sept. 22) at Channel 11 (September 20, 2004) |
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Chicago Daily Herald: Grassroots study finds 'C2N' slipping (August 5) (August 17, 2004) |
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"Forcing Change at Channel 11" -- Tuesday meeting (August 3, 2004) |
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CMA v. WTTW, Round Two (letter in the Chicago Reader) (July 31, 2004) |
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Transcript of WBEZ Story of CMA study, July 23, 2004; and response (July 23, 2004) |
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Lengthier mention of CMA Study in Chicago Sun-Times: July 20, 2004 (July 20, 2004) |
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Chicago Media Action study mentioned in Chicago Sun-Times (July 19, 2004) |
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Press Release: Chicago Media Action Study Finds WTTW's "Chicago Tonight" favors rich whites and sponsors, Ignores People of Color and Workers (July 19, 2004) |
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Assorted Public Broadcasting Articles from 2004 (July 17, 2004) |
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A Missing Chapter in KQED History (July 11, 2004) |
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Struggling for the Soul of WTTW: Public Broadcasting Going Private (April 3, 2004) |
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Channel 11 fugitive surrenders to police (January 29, 2004) |
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Controversy brewing at WTTW, Channel 11 (January 29, 2004) |
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WTTW wise to hold on to Ponce (January 29, 2004) |
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Letter to the Tribune (August 15, 2003) |
Past CMA announcements on this topic are listed below in reverse chronological order.
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FCC seriously entertains CABs; Big Media seriously entertains policy strangulation (April 11, 2008) |
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Other thoughts on the joint WTTW-WBEZ meeting (June 18, 2007) |
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More “Mancow” Fun! / CMA Supports Independent Radio / Misc. (August 7, 2006) |
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TAKE ACTION! - Tell "Mancow" Muller to Move On (July 25, 2006) |
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Public Broadcasting Reform Update (July 6, 2006) |
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CMA Fights Secret Smithsonian/Showtime Deal (September 28, 2006) |
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Let's Put an End to Sesame Beginnings (April 19, 2006) |
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Time to Unplug CPB - and Question Common Cause (October 9, 2005) |
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CMA's work about WTTW becomes part of WBEZ's discussion (September 29, 2005) |
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Dumberer and Dumberer (September 22, 2005) |
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Assorted readings pertaining to public TV... (August 30, 2005) |
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CMA shakes it on recent public broadcasting issues (August 4, 2005) |
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Air Wars, Episode V: Public Broadcasting Strikes Back (June 20, 2005) |
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CMA ahead of the curve again: Public Broadcasting efforts (June 14, 2005) |
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PBS-related matters all congealing today... (April 28, 2005) |
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Is WTTW taking CMA's Chicago Tonight study to heart? (April 11, 2005) |
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CMA in "Reader", "Current" and on C-SPAN (January 4, 2005) |
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CMA in FAIR's Extra, NOI deadline, Viacom fines (October 22, 2004) |
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CMA announces study of Chicago's main PBS affiliate (July 19, 2004) |
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The campaign heats up! (November 13, 2003) |
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WTTW Stuff Galore (July 22, 2003) |
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CMA-WTTW update (April 30, 2003) |
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We Interrupt This Blog To Bring You A Special Announcement (March 14, 2003) |
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