CHICAGO MEDIA ACTION NEWSLETTER: August 5, 2007 http://www.chicagomediaaction.org In this month's newsletter... * FCC media ownership hearing in Chicago Sept. 20th * Full power noncommercial radio license deadline approaching * Loyola's WLUW-FM loses staff, faces privatization threat * Push legislators for more community radio stations * U.S. Needs New 'Brand' to Win Over the Iraqi People, RAND study * The Modern Racist Paradigm (1) ANNOUNCEMENTS AND SUGGESTED ACTIONS *** Federal Communications Commission public hearing in Chicago 9/20/07 Mark your calendars folks - this announcement is a biggie!!! Chicago will be hosting the fifth of six official Federal Communications Commission public hearings on media ownership. Minority media ownership, general market reporting, and coverage of minority issues and communities will be central to the discussion. The forum will occur in the afternoon and evening of Thursday September 20th. (Exact time and place still to be determined.) The hearing will feature panel presentations from local community leaders and broadcasters along with ample opportunities for public comment. This hearing is one of the public's few chances to speak out against Big Media before FCC Chairman Kevin Martin moves to lift the last significant limits to runaway media consolidation. We'll be sending you email reminders and updates as we get more information. Check the CMA website too for updates. CMA and others will be speaking out in the community (and sometimes even in the media) about this important and rare event. Help will also be available for groups and individuals who want to create and practice two minute public comments. http://stopbigmedia.com/=chicago * Want a license for a full-power non-commercial FM station? Want to help build a new progressive network for the area? Better hurry then! You've only got until the FCC's October filing window. For more information: http://www.chicagomediaaction.org/news.php?id=536 Join the mwmedia listserv: http://groups.yahoo.com/search?query=mwmedia http://prometheusradio.org/full_power http://www.radioforpeople.org/ * Community station WLUW-FM's owner Loyola University is canceling the school's management agreement with Chicago Public Radio to take back day-to-day control. The station's two well-liked managers are already out. Ads and spin may soon be in. Let Loyola know your concerns. Background: http://www.timeout.com/chicago/outandabout/?p=2548 http://chicagoist.com/2007/07/17/wluw_wtf.php -- Call Michael Garanzini, president of Loyola: 312.915.6400 * This year Congress could put more low power, noncommercial FM radio stations in cities and suburbs across America. You can help by telling Congress to pass the Local Community Radio Act. Learn More: http://www.freepress.net/lpfm * Chicago Indie Radio Project fundraiser - Friday, August 10 at Double Door featuring Canasta, Plane, May or May Not, and Driftless Pony Club. Showtime is 9PM, and the show is 21+. $10 gets you in the door, and benefits efforts to establish a new community radio station in Chicago. Visit the Chicago Indie Radio Project: http://www.myspace.com/chicagoindieradio * The new film "War Made Easy: How Presidents & Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death" is screening at four locations in the Chicago area over the next ten days. The film is based on the book of the same name by Norman Solomon, and is narrated by Sean Penn. http://warmadeeasy.bravenewtheaters.com/screenings/us/il (2) WHAT'S NEW IN MEDIA POLITICS? * The Pentagon Gets a Lesson From Madison Avenue - U.S. Needs to Devise a Different 'Brand' to Win Over the Iraqi People, Study Advises http://tinyurl.com/2oxpxj * Podcasters Unite to Figure Out a Role for Ads - NPR on board. http://tinyurl.com/yqyk4z * "The Local TV News Experience Study" by Medill and the Northwestern University Media Management Center, funded by the James L. Knight Foundation was released in July. It studies the 9 and 10pm tv news broadcasts on Chicago's WBBM, WMAQ, WLS, WGN and WFLD. One finding: less than half of each news program (45%) is news stories. http://mediamanagementcenter.org/localtv/ * The Modern Racist Paradigm This well-researched documentary spotlights the "White" media and its constant propagation of repetitive images depicting Caucasians in positive roles and as protagonists while usually depicting Non-Caucasians as background characters and antagonists which are often connected to negative themes and stereotypes. The film explains how the media elite have been able to effectively condition general society into subconsciously adhering to a racist social hierarchy in which Caucasian people are at the very apex. http://tinyurl.com/yvfxe9 (3) FACT OF THE MONTH "The latest data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) ranks the U.S. 15th in the world in broadband penetration per capita, down from fourth in 2001 and 12th just six months ago." -- Press release for the new broadband report "Shooting the Messenger" http://www.freepress.net/press/release.php?id=255 (4) QUOTE OF THE MONTH “We are returning to our liberal, working-class roots, a position that pits us squarely opposite the Chicago Tribune — that Republican, George Bush-touting paper over on moneyed Michigan Avenue... We’re rethinking our stance on several issues, including the most pressing issue facing Americans today: Bush’s war in Iraq.” -- New Chicago Sun-Times Editorial Page Editor Cheryl L. Reed (5) WEBSITE OF THE MONTH Free Press Videos - Visit this ever-burgeoning collection of media reform videos. Topics include Rupert Murdoch, net neutrality, media ownership and more. http://www.freepress.net/video.php (6) IN CASE YOU MISSED IT * Symposium: The Media and the Rwanda Genocide On the eve of the tenth anniversary of the 1994 Rwanda genocide, Canada's Carleton University School of Journalism and Communication presented this eight hour symposium, which explored both the international media coverage of the genocide and the role played by domestic media in Rwanda, particularly the radio station RTLM. It also examined the issue of media intervention, before, during and after such a conflict. A truly exceptional symposium. Haunting. (large download) http://www.carleton.ca/jmc/mediagenocide/index.html free online book: http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-106013-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html *** *** *** *** *** *** *** This is an email from Chicago Media Action, a Chicago activist group devoted to media issues. This newsletter is edited by Scott Sanders and Mitchell Szczepanczyk. Chicago Media Action, P.O. Box 14140, Chicago IL 60614-0140 Call toll-free: 1-866-260-7198 Web: http://www.chicagomediaaction.org E-mail: cma@chicagomediaaction.org To unsubscribe from this mailing list, simply send an email requesting removal to mailinglist@chicagomediaaction.org