CHICAGO MEDIA ACTION NEWSLETTER: June 6, 2007 http://www.chicagomediaaction.org In this month's newsletter... * The fight over net neutrality and digital spectrum enters a new round * The Tribune asks for a waiver on its duopoly waivers, and gets some Congressional help * A pittance is planned for informing America about analog TV's end * New minority radio ownership study * Russians protest deterioration of media freedoms (1) ANNOUNCEMENTS AND SUGGESTED ACTIONS * The Community Media Workshop in Chicago is organizing a Community Media Summit for June 14-15, 2007. Preceding this workshop will be the first-ever join meeting of the community advisory boards of Chicago Public Radio and WTTW Channel 11. (Note: The decisions of both of these community advisory boards, in fact of ALL local public tv and radio advisory boards - are not binding. Neither station is a democratically run, public, open, or accountable organization. Not even close. Nope. Sorry. Frustrating, isn't it?) Read more: http://www.newstips.org/register/index.php?section=Workshop * There have been a flurry of opportunities to comment on policies regarding network neutrality and a proposed reallocation of soon-to-be-freed television spectrum for digital use. The opportunities are expected to close within the month, so now's your change to act, and we encourage you to do so: http://www.savetheinternet.com/airwaves http://tinyurl.com/26pore http://www.civic.moveon.org/airwaves/ * If you live in the Illinois counties of Kendall, Will, or Dupage -- take note. There are coalition efforts underway in those counties now to use a rare opportunity in October 2007 to bring high-power noncommercial radio to those counties. Others in predominantly rural communities elsewhere in the U.S. may also be able to use this opportunity as well. Read more: http://www.chicagomediaaction.org/news.php?id=536 http://www.radioforpeople.org * The U.S. government is still trying to impose devastating rate hikes for both internet radio broadcasters and small-scale magazine publishers. Activist campaigns have emerged to address both concerns (including an emergency bill introduced in Congress). Learn more and get involved: http://www.savenetradio.org/ http://www.saveourinternetradio.com/ http://action.freepress.net//campaign/postal (2) WHAT'S NEW IN MEDIA POLITICS? * Chicago's own Tribune company has asked the FCC to grant approval of its waivers on its current (otherwise illegal) cross-ownership duopoly holdings in TV and newspapers in five cities (including in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago). However, those waivers become invalid once a transfer of ownership occurs (as is happening now to Chicago mogul Sam Zell). 14 Illinois Congressional legislators (including Durbin and Emanuel) have written a joint letter to the FCC asking the commission to address the Tribune's request "in a timely fashion". And yet, Matt Stoller at MyDD.com reports that "Sam Zell...gave $5000 to Rahm Emanuel's PAC in 2005, the Common Values PAC, and to Dick Durbin. He was also a donor to Bush and now John McCain (as well as Russ Feingold and Tom Delay)". Read more about the ongoing saga: http://chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=24802 http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6445213.html http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/5/23/11295/7707 http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=25072 http://www.democraticmedia.org/jcblog/?p=282 * HB1500, the previously dismal proposed Illinois state video franchise bill, has been significantly amended to incorporate greater funds for municipalities and public access channels, and improved consumer rights. The amended bill was approved on May 31 by the Illinois house, 113-0. Possible companion legislation - Senate Bill 678 - is pending. Neither contains price controls, which may end up being the only way to lower your cable bills. http://tinyurl.com/yukwzt * A brand new study by Free Press called "Off the Dial" reveals a dismally low level of minority and female ownership of radio stations in America that has left one-third of the U.S. population with few stations representing their communities or serving their needs. http://www.stopbigmedia.com/=off_the_dial * Killing the Russian Media / Russians protest deterioration of media freedoms http://www.mediachannel.org/wordpress/2007/05/24/killing-the-russian-media/ http://tinyurl.com/2lcy77 * Toward an Understanding of Media Policy and Media Systems in Iraq Monroe E. Price, Douglas Griffin, Ibrahim Al-Marashi - May 2007 http://www.niqash.org/intern/getBin.php?id=391 * Look Mom, No Ads! By Mark Fitzgerald May 18, 2007 Editor & Publisher Newspaper history textbooks have forgotten E.W. Scripps' quixotic attempt to make a success of a Chicago daily newspaper that refused to run advertising. http://tinyurl.com/33m62e (3) FACT OF THE MONTH House representatives John Dingell (D-MI) and Ed Markey (D-MA) pointed out the following: "Lack of focus on consumer education at the federal level is jeopardizing the digital television transition. The FCC has no comprehensive plan for consumer education and has requested only an additional $1.5 million from Congress to educate 300 million Americans; by contrast, Berlin, Germany, spent $984,000 to educate 3 million consumers about a similar transition." Read more: http://www.freepress.net/news/23427 (4) QUOTE OF THE MONTH Al Gore concludes in the final pages of his new book "The Assault on Reason" that "We Americans must resolve to repair the systemic decay of the public forum" and ensure that we all are “well and fully connected” to an open, neutral and robust public Internet forum. (5) WEBSITE OF THE MONTH Open Internet Coalition Launches The Open Internet Coalition represents consumers, grassroots organizations, and businesses working in pursuit of a shared goal: keeping the Internet fast, open and accessible to all Americans. http://www.openinternetcoalition.org/ *** *** *** *** *** *** *** 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