CHICAGO MEDIA ACTION NEWSLETTER, July 1, 2004 http://www.chicagomediaaction.org In this month's newsletter... * Suggested actions galore * Positive developments in media politics galore * A Public Education Forum with Robert Jensen * Factoid: Developments at the Tribune * Quote: The handicam is mightier than the sword (1) ANNOUNCEMENTS AND SUGGESTED ACTIONS We've had a number of victories in media politics in June 2004 (see What's New in Media Politics, below), but the fight continues, and there are plenty of opportunities to get involved, both in national and local campaigns: * In the wake of the Philadelphia court win, Free Press is galvanizing a campaign to the FCC to hold hearings in every U.S. state. Learn more: http://www.freepress.net/rules/ * The Low Power Radio Act of 2004 is right now before consideration in the Senate. Be sure to contact your Senators today (www.senate.gov). Learn more: http://www.prometheusradio.org/freeairwaves.shtml http://www.freepress.net/lpfm/ * Despite a committee victory on June 18 (details below), we're still encouraging people (for now at least) to get involved in CMA's campaign to contact the Mayor on behalf of CAN TV: http://www.chicagomediaaction.org/index.php?link=rapid_response * Despite recent positive developments in bringing Democracy Now! to parts of Chicago's south side (details below), much of Chicagoland still can't hear Amy Goodman without an internet connection. Help us remedy that. Call the WBEZ comment line at 312-948-4701, and encourage WBEZ (Chicago Public Radio) to air Democracy Now! * CAN TV will air a presentation of the forum "Racism: - Real or Imagined?" which included CMA. The presentation will air Sunday, July 4, at 9am on CAN TV, Channel 21. * What's more, CMA is co-sponsoring two July presentations of "Miami Model", a documentary about the November 2003 protests against the Free Trade Area of the Americas. CMA is also co-sponsoring a workshop on video witnessing for human rights' purposes. Details are here: http://chicago.indymedia.org/newswire/display/43059/index.php (2) WHAT'S NEW WITH CHICAGO MEDIA ACTION? Chicago Media Action held a Public Education Forum on June 16, with our featured speaker -- University of Texas journalism professor Robert Jensen. The presentation has been recorded and posted online here: http://www.chicagomediaaction.org/audiofiles/Jensen_2004-06-16.mp3 Chicago Media Action members also took part in the Student Zine Festival in Kelvyn Park High School, the Allied Media Conference in Bowling Green, Ohio, and the June 30 Taste of Democracy protests at the Taste of Chicago in downtown Chicago. (3) WHAT'S HAPPENING IN MEDIA POLITICS? In a word: Lots. * CAN TV (Chicago Access Network Television, Chicago's cable public access TV network) faced a key vote on June 18 with the City's Finance Committee to get a new funding structure ordinance passed. Thanks to popular support and a packed audience at City Hall, the ordinance did pass -- unanimously. Now, the ordinance is slated for a City Council vote sometime in September. Keep up with the latest here: http://www.cantv.org * On June 4, Senator John McCain introduced legislation in the Senate to deploy Low Power FM radio on a mass scale across the United States. The Low Power Radio Act stems from an FCC recommendation in February to make Low Power FM radio commonly available across the United States. Read more: http://www.mediareform.net/news/article.php?id=3738 * On June 24, the media democracy movement got a major victory in court, as the FCC's controversial media ownership rules got overturned by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia. A number of media outlets, including the Tribune company and Newscorp, have retreated from their expansion and acquisition plans for the moment in the face of the decision. Read about the decision: http://www.mediaaccess.org/prometheus_decision/ * Democracy Now! now airs on Chicago's south side. Starting in June, Radio Arte (WRTE, 90.5 FM) has begun airing Democracy Now! weeknights: Mondays through Thursdays, 10pm; Fridays at midnight. Chicago northsiders can listen weekday mornings starting at 7am on WZRD, 88.3 FM. * And you might have heard that Michael Moore has a new movie out. (4) MEDIA FACTOID OF THE MONTH >From The NewStandard, June 8: In a move that highlights the mainstream media's heavy reliance on the advertising industry, the Tribune Company, publisher of 14 daily newspapers including the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times, is cutting its staff by over 1 percent as a result of weak ad revenue. As Tribune cuts jobs and "costs" May total revenue at the publishing company, which also owns over 24 television stations and the Chicago Cubs baseball team, actually grew 3.2 percent to $467 million. Two-thirds of that came from advertising, which amounted to $255 million in May. Source: http://newstandardnews.net/content/?action=show_item&itemid=498 (5) MEDIA QUOTE OF THE MONTH "It's interesting to watch these obviously junk food-funded lobby groups come after the movie. But it's like, if a little guy like me is viewed as such a threat, you've got to wonder what these people are so afraid of." -- Morgan Spurlock, who created the movie "Super Size Me" in which he ate an all-McDonald's diet for 30 consecutive days Source: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0608-10.htm (6) THIS MONTH'S WEBSITE http://people-press.org/ The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press is an independent opinion research group that studies attitudes toward the press, politics and public policy issues. (7) MORE ANNOUNCEMENTS * A single advance screening of the film "The Corporation" by Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott will take place Wednesday, July 7, at 7pm, at Facets Cinematheque, 1517 W. Fullerton. * Media activists will be interested in "Orwell Rolls in his Grave", a film about the major corporate media in the United States, at the Gene Siskel Film Center (164 N. State Street, downtown Chicago) on Sunday, July 11, 2004, at 8pm. Learn more, including ticket information at: http://www.buzzflash.com/orwell/chicago.html *** *** *** *** *** *** *** 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