CHICAGO MEDIA ACTION NEWSLETTER: June 5, 2005 http://www.chicagomediaaction.org In this month's newsletter... * CMA in and at The National Conference for Media Reform * Victory in the Illinois Telecom Wars * Media and politics meetings in Chicago and Ohio * Public broadcasting becomes an increasingly heated issue * An attempt to build an global independent television news network (1) ANNOUNCEMENTS * The Cafe Society of Chicago is holding public discussions this weekend throughout Chicago about the past, present and future of public television. For details, please visit: http://www.thepublicsquare.org/cafe.html * The Allied Media Conference is the largest gathering of grassroots media makers from across the United Sates, and it convenes in Bowling Green, Ohio, June 17-19, 2005. Learn more: http://www.alliedmediaconference.com/ (2) WHAT'S NEW WITH CMA? * CMA took part in the 2005 National Conference for Media Reform in St. Louis, Missouri. A full rundown of the conference is online: http://www.freepress.net/conference CMA played a major role in organizing a media monitoring action clinic which was packed to overflowing. Photos from the workshop are online here: http://www.chicagomediaaction.org/index.php?link=2005-05-15_st_louis The audio from the workshop is available online here: http://www.freepress.net/conference/audio05/sun-ac-mediamonitoring.mp3 The CMA-referenced website in our presentation is available here: http://www.chicagomediaaction.org/MediaMonitoring/Process/ * CMA also received two mentions in the book "The Future of Media" distributed to all conference attendees, visited the CBS affiliate in St. Louis and viewed the station's public files (we brought a camcorder; a film of the visit is forthcoming), and CMA had a table at the conference's Media Democracy Showcase. (3) WHAT'S NEW IN MEDIA POLITICS? * Good news: The Illinois Telecommunications Act, the state law in Illinois governing telephony and the internet, has been extended for another two years with all of the consumer and citizen protections in place despite a heavy telecom industry lobbying blitz. Read more: http://www.chicagomediaaction.org/news.php?id=316 * An expansion of the North Lawndale community internet network organized by the Center for Neighborhood Technology is slated for June 4, 2005. More details: http://wcn.cnt.org/ * Public broadcasting has been a charged issue in the past month, as CPB chair Kenneth Tomlinson accused PBS of "liberal bias" and hired a consultant to monitor the PBS show "NOW". Bill Moyers himself struck back in St. Louis as the final speaker at the National Conference for Media Reform. Read more: http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/05/16/1329245 * On the Chicago-area public broadcasting front, the main PBS affiliate in Chicago, WTTW, saw two executives depart the station. Read more: http://www.chicagomediaaction.org/news.php?id=310 (4) FACT OF THE MONTH * Telesur, a regional public TV network envisioned as a Latin American version of the Arab world's Al-Jazeera broadcasting group, was officially launched on May 24 at a ceremony in Caracas, Venezuelan. Read more: http://www.ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=28809 (5) QUOTE OF THE MONTH * "I have discovered a bottomless pit of commercialism in today's media into which even icons we hold sacred are sinking and becoming sullied." -- FCC commissioner Jonathan Adelstein, in a speech The Media Institute in Washington. Full text of speech: http://www.freepress.net/news/8225 (6) RECOMMENDED WEBSITE http://www.iwtnews.com/ Independent World Television is an attempt to build the world's first global independent news cable and satellite television network. See more: http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0531-25.htm (7) MORE ANNOUNCEMENTS * All of the television broadcasters in Illinois have their broadcast licenses up for renewal in 2005. Chicago Media Action is calling for input from viewers of Illinois TV broadcast stations (preferably in the Chicago area) about stations which are not keeping to their mandate for serving the public. If you have any suggestions or specific concerns which might constitute grounds for a license challenge, contact CMA (respond to this email, or call 1-866-260-7198). We may help challenge one or more Illinois TV stations with petitions to deny later in 2005. * The next CMA meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 14, at 6:30pm, at 3411 W. Diversey, in Chicago (at the intersection of Milwaukee, Diversey, and Kimball, near the Logan Square blue line stop). We encourage all those interested -- especially women and people of color, along with others who are frequently underserved by our media -- to attend. *** *** *** *** *** *** *** This is an email from Chicago Media Action, a Chicago activist group devoted to media issues. 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