A Chicago group actively devoted to media issues.

Corporate Commerical "Big" Media

Chicago Media Action has also challenged the dominant corporate-controlled commercial media in Chicago and the United States. Some of these actions are listed below

Protest against Chicago's Fox affiliate: March 14, 2005

Past CMA articles on this topic are listed below in reverse chronological order.

• Sinclair and Tribune -- a presentation at Third Unitarian Church, Chicago (September 23, 2018) (October 13, 2018)
• Public Debate Disempowered: A Public Rebuttal to the Chicago Tribune (August 21, 2012)
• Chicagoans to protest Fox-32 Chicago in wake of Voicemail Hacking Scandal (July 21, 2011)
• Analysis released of Chicago forum comments on Comcast/NBC Universal proposed merger (November 15, 2010)
• Artículo del American Forum acerca de La Consolidación de Comcast / NBC (August 15, 2010)
• A CMA Op-Ed published by the American Forum: A Merger that isn’t Comcastic (August 15, 2010)
• FCC event in Chicago on proposed Comcast/NBC merger (July 13th), and workshop (July 11th) (July 10, 2010)
• Congressman Bobby L. Rush to conduct July 8th field hearing on the proposed Comcast/NBC Universal merger (July 3, 2010)
• Why Should Chicagoans Care About (And Oppose) The Proposed Merger of Comcast and NBC? (July 3, 2010)
• Position Paper for DTV Conversion Roundtable, FlowTV conference, University of Texas - Austin (October 17, 2008)
• The DTV Tsunami Approaches (February 18, 2008)
• The Forthcoming DTV Tsunami (November 29, 2007)
• Labor Rally in Support of Working Families at ABC TV, August 15 (August 14, 2007)
• Analog TV shutoff could leave Chicago homes in the "snow" (February 28, 2007)
• An open letter to the board of the Tribune Company (February 5, 2007)
• The 2007 National Conference for Media Reform: A Chicagoan Reports Back (February 5, 2007)
• Conrad the Underdog: "I am undaunted" (July 1, 2006)
• A response to the Tribune's "Hands off the Internet" (June 27, 2006)
• Potential Internet roadblocks (May 26, 2006)
• Chicagoans Protest AT&T For Bringing "Tiers", Privacy, Corruption (May 24, 2006)
• Press release: Chicago Activists Target AT&T Over Internet, Privacy, and Corruption (September 28, 2006)
• Telecom Deregulation Talks Break Down (September 28, 2006)
• The End of the Blogosphere? (September 28, 2006)
• Groups Target Renewals of TV Licenses (reprint from Roll Call) (December 7, 2005)
• CMA petition to deny mentioned in the Chicago Daily Herald (November 21, 2005)
• Chicago Women Speak Out Against "Entertainment Violence Against Women" (November 13, 2005)
• Press release: Chicago Media Action files FCC Petition to Deny of nine Chicago commercial TV stations (November 1, 2005)
• Chicago Women Speak Out: Stop "Entertainment" Violence Against Women, Oct. 28 (October 26, 2005)
• Change the Frequency of Bad TV (October 2005 Conscious Choice (September 30, 2005)
• Primer on Broadband Consumer Choice Act of 2005 (August 11, 2005)
• Chicago Media Action statement regarding the Broadband Consumer Choice Act of 2005 (July 28, 2005)
• Illinois coalition wins state-level telecom victory (June 2, 2005)
• Media Consolidation Battle Expands (letter in Conscious Choice) (May 18, 2005)
• A chance to modernize telecommunications (May 2, 2005)
• FCC ownership "solution" (heh heh) long way off (April 13, 2005)
• Is Big Media (read: The Tribune Company) Above the Law? (March 28, 2005)
• Sample letter for legislators regarding the 2005 Illinois Telecommunications Act (February 21, 2005)
• Illinois Telecom Act rewrite in 2005: Encourage public hearings on internet's future in Illinois (January 30, 2005)
• CMA Media Democracy Day Actions outside Chicago CBS Studios (October 20, 2004)
• Educational Action against the Chicago CBS affiliate, Oct. 11 and 18 (October 9, 2004)
• MAP Successfully Turns Back Tribune-led Attempt to Circumvent Victory on Media Ownership (September 9, 2004)
• Chicago Media Action Primer on the Echostar / Viacom Dispute (March 11, 2004)
• Press Release on CMA conference regarding Echostar/Viacom, Mar 9 (March 9, 2004)
• Big Media: A Response to the Chicago Tribune (February 23, 2004)
• Verizon first in Consumer Reports satisfaction survey (January 12, 2004)
• Steve's Big Miami Adventure (November 25, 2003)
• This kind of slipped under the radar... (October 20, 2003)
• Tribune Censored Boondocks (August 8, 2003)
• Won (May 12, 2003)
• I love the smell of antitrust lawsuits in the morning... (May 9, 2003)
• Lawsuits! Have I got lawsuits! (April 9, 2003)
• Connections between the Antiwar movement and Media Democracy actions (February 20, 2003)

Past CMA announcements on this topic are listed below in reverse chronological order.

• Presentation of Sinclair and Tribune now online (October 14, 2018)
• Net Neutrality: The 2018 Aftermath (January 10, 2018)
• On the Net Neutrality front, History Repeats Itself (July 12, 2017)
• The asymmetry of influencing Facebook's news feed (June 21, 2016)
• The clumsy dance of Tribune and Gannett (June 4, 2016)
• Some thoughts on the media and on Donald Trump (May 16, 2016)
• Victory in the Net Neutrality Wars: A Personal Recollection (2006-2015) (April 18, 2015)
• The 2014 Net Neutrality Wars saw two dramatic turns in the month of November, with analogues to recent history in both cases (November 13, 2014)
• A Tale of Two Net Neutrality Freakouts (May 29, 2014)
• Anti-NATO activists face the brunt of the Tribune's op-ed pages, just as media policy activists have done (March 15, 2014)
• A primer on the Koch industries plans to buy the Tribune's newspapers (April 22, 2013)
• "Broken Deal" forgot one thing: WE killed the Tribune (March 2, 2013)
• The Tribune walks off the bankruptcy plank -- back onto a leaky boat? (August 2, 2012)
• On Meredith Atwell Baker's FCC-to-Comcast transition, with a slight discursion into eliminating corporations (May 19, 2011)
• Chicago Media Action releases results of analysis of Chicago comments on proposed merger of Comcast and NBC Universal (November 15, 2010)
• The best tool to stop the proposed Comcast/NBC Universal merger: Comcast shareholders? (October 30, 2010)
• Welcome to all "A Merger That Isn't Comcastic" Readers (August 15, 2010)
• Net Neutrality Wars, Episode II: The Empire Strikes Back (May 15, 2010)
• Tribune Company exits frying pan; does it enter the fire? (February 4, 2010)
• What does Oprah Winfrey share with the proposed Comcast-NBC merger? (December 8, 2009)
• Latest developments and thoughts regarding the commercial TV panic of 2009 (September 5, 2009)
• How the mighty have fallen: A post about the National Association of Broadcasters (June 11, 2009)
• Are America's Media Dying? (March 1, 2009)
• A Chicago Citizen Activist's Guide to the Tribune Bankruptcy (December 10, 2008)
• Stop The Box takes on AT&T Eyesores, and AT&T Besides (October 6, 2008)
• The Last Days of the Tribune Company? (August 8, 2008)
• CMA's version of "And remember: Death is not an option" (May 6, 2008)
• On the Chicago wi-fi negotiations collapse, and two FCC things... (September 5, 2007)
• Brave New Internet Wars Revisited, 2007 (May 29, 2007)
• What the Zell just happened? (April 3, 2007)
• Dear Tribune, Please don't do anything stupid. Signed, Me. (February 7, 2007)
• Tribune gets (some) comeuppance (November 21, 2006)
• August "recess", telecom politicking, underway (August 20, 2006)
• Internet Wars - Episode V: Attack of the Return of the Phantom Clones (August 1, 2006)
• Calm before the storm?: Turning a corner to save the internet (July 24, 2006)
• The Tribune finally chimes in on net neutrality. (June 27, 2006)
• Does Ted Stevens know anything? (June 19, 2006)
• Whither the COPE Act, Chicago style (June 11, 2006)
• Do not ask for whom the COPE tolls... (June 8, 2006)
• Internet Wars -- Episode Two: Attack of the Paid-For Industry Shills (September 28, 2006)
• What Does AT&T Want for Its "Old" $1M "Gift" to Bobby Rush's Charity? (September 28, 2006)
• Clichesville: When it rains, it pours; The tide has turned (September 28, 2006)
• Hands Off the Internet (April 19, 2006)
• The Advert Enforcer (September 28, 2006)
• The End of the Beginning of the End of the Internet? (September 28, 2006)
• Barton / Hastert bill up: Future of media at stake? (September 28, 2006)
• Developments with national telecom franchise talks (September 28, 2006)
• FOX SUX, War Sux: A report from the streets, March 15 (September 28, 2006)
• Chicago activists say FOX SUX, War Sux in Downtown Rush-Hour Protest (September 28, 2006)
• FOX SUX: Protest at Chicago's Fox affiliate, March 15 (March 12, 2006)
• Callout for March 15 volunteers (September 28, 2006)
• Today's Tribune-related Outrages (September 28, 2006)
• Continuing efforts regarding Net Neutrality: Free Web Banner Ads (September 28, 2006)
• Net Neutrality Web and Banner Ads (September 28, 2006)
• There's still time to chime in on 05-311 (September 28, 2006)
• ALERT: Encourage transparency and debate regarding Palestine (September 28, 2006)
• Ivory, Bone, Mist, Pale, Blanched, Albino, Christian, American (January 13, 2006)
• Tribune commemorates holiday season with layoffs (December 2, 2005)
• Tribune Company: Nothing on the petitions, and other shenanigans (November 17, 2005)
• Announcement: Chicago Media Action files FCC Petition to Deny of nine Chicago commercial TV stations (November 2, 2005)
• Got a problem with Chicago-area TV? Here's a chance to do something about it! (October 16, 2005)
• Proposed telecommunications bill drops, and CMA responds (September 16, 2005)
• Federal Telecommunication Act Rewrite is announced (groan!) (July 29, 2005)
• Black Monday 2005: Two losses in the Supreme Court (June 27, 2005)
• Two years hence... (June 2, 2005)
• Liberate the Tribune (May 9, 2005)
• So is Las Vegas taking odds on the FCC media ownership case? (April 15, 2005)
• Tribune gets slapped again in court for gross antitrust violations (March 28, 2005)
• The Illinois Telecom Wars: Good news and bad news (March 3, 2005)
• Turning a corner on the Illinois Telecom Rewrite... (February 22, 2005)
• Media analysis from Cleveland (January 29, 2005)
• A new Sinclair campaign, plus PBS, and Democracy Now (December 14, 2004)
• Updates: Media Democracy Day, Sinclair (October 20, 2004)
• The Sinclair Affair (October 14, 2004)
• CMA Town Hall on Iraq flyer, and Viacom-CBS action handout (October 9, 2004)
• CMA at the Chicago CBS affiliate twice in October (October 8, 2004)
• Well, this is good news: (September 9, 2004)
• Let's see if WTTW covers these stories (July 22, 2004)
• Recent Readings (March 16, 2004)
• So how did the press conference go? (March 11, 2004)
• Today's Sign of the Apocalypse (March 6, 2004)
• Lots happening... (February 11, 2004)
• Protests against Investor Rights Free Trade (December 11, 2003)
• Help Stop Rupert (June 17, 2003)
• o/~ Television, the Drug of the Nation / Breeding Ignorance and Feeding Radiation o/~ (June 16, 2003)
• Analysis, Action, "State of the Union" (June 14, 2003)
• More Media Coverage of the NCTA Conference (June 11, 2003)
• Quick Updates (March 27, 2003)
• Television lies...television cares? (March 20, 2003)
• Today's readings... (March 7, 2003)
• How to get better news coverage of protests (February 27, 2003)
• "Does Ownership Matter in Local Television News?" (February 24, 2003)