CMA NEWSLETTER

MARCH  2004:

* WHAT IS CMA UP TO?

* ACTION: GET "DEMOCRACY NOW!" ON WBEZ-FM

* ACTION: HOLD WTTW-TV Channel 11 ACCOUNTABLE

* ACTION: RESCIND MEDIA OWNERSHIP RULES

  * HEADS UP - PUBLIC BROADCASTING FUNDING BATTLE LOOMS  * ANNOUNCEMENTS  * MEDIA POLITICS: RCN CABLE TRIES TO STIFF PUBLIC ACCESS TV IN CHICAGO / FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION AND OWNERSHIP RULES/ DISNEY & COMCAST  MEGA-MERGER/ LPFM (LOW POWER FM)  * MEDIA FACTOID* MEDIA QUOTE OF THE MONTH  * SITE OF THE MONTH

 

              

WHAT IS CMA UP TO?

 

* On February 15, Chicago Media Action co-presented (with Chicago Filmmakers) a well-attended screening of the BBC documentary "Al-Jazeera Exclusive", a film about the Qatar-based news broadcaster in the days leading up to and during the 2003 war on Iraq. 

* The BEZ hive: Thanks to everyone who has called Chicago Public Radio WBEZ-FM so far to get Democracy Now! scheduled. If you haven't pestered WBEZ yet, what are you waiting for? Chicago Media Action is working to ramp up the pressure on WBEZ. (see ongoing action below) 

* Also, springtime is coming, things are warming up, and CMA is poised to turn up the heat on its WTTW campaign. Watch for more on this soon. (see ongoing action below) Also, look for an announcement of a formal CMA membership package.

 

 

ACTION (ongoing):     GET "DEMOCRACY NOW!" SCHEDULED ON WBEZ-FM  

Democracy Now! "Democracy Now!" is a superb daily one hour news show which actually covers the news without the spin factor. (You can learn more about Democracy Now! at www.democracynow.org and listen to any show aired since its inception in 1996 at its archives.) 

 

Though WBEZ is responsible for some truly excellent public radio programming, the NPR news feeds are generally an inadequate prescription for what ails America's dysfunctional democracy. WBEZ's failure to schedule the highly lauded Pacifica Radio public affairs series Democracy Now! therefore is...basically...jive. 

 

You can reach Mr. Ron Jones, WBEZ's News Manager, directly at (312) 948-4647.  Remember to be polite and professional when you call to make your request. You could also threaten to temporarily withhold your pledge if you like. Just a suggestion...

 

 

ACTION (ongoing):     HOLD WTTW-TV Channel 11 ACCOUNTABLE            

(1) Fire WTTW CEO Dan  Schmidt. (2) Call for a government audit of WTTW funds, which have been badly mismanaged. (3) Implement a regular series of monthly town halls and documentaries, organized by and for the diverse community of citizens that comprise Chicago. (4) Work with an independent commission to establish: [a] new programs for underserved communities, [b] a financial trust to separate content from funding, and [c] public elections for the Board of Trustees. For more information and to send an email to WTTW's chairwoman Sandra Guthman using our online complaint form, click here. 

                                                                                              

* You may also want to read this full-length cover story from the Chicago Tribune Magazine dated July 27, 2003 titled "Running WTTW Into The Ground". The magazine's cover graphic shows a TV-set shaped hole in the ground. 

 

* Getting upset yet at those ads for cereals and other crap products aimed at kids watching PBS? Are Frosted Flakes really "Grrrrrrrrreat"? Commercial Alert, an organization co-founded by Ralph Nader, has announced a worldwide campaign to ban the advertising of junk food to children under the age of twelve. For more information, click here. 

You probably missed this interview of Chicago Media Action's Secretary Scott Sanders on WLUW-FM's "Live from the Heartland" show. Scott talks about CMA and our campaign to hold the far adrift Chicago "public" TV station WTTW accountable.

listen to interview here; download free RealOnePlayer here

 

 

ACTION:     DEMAND CONGRESS RESCIND FCC OWNERSHIP RULES

A key bill in the House is Joint Resolution 72, which could overturn entirely the Federal Communications Commission's disastrous media ownership vote of June 2, 2003. A lot of momentum is behind this already. We strongly encourage you to get involved. Please do so here. 

 

 

HEADS UP - INCOMING! CORP. FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING FUNDING

The Bush 2005 budget proposal includes an effective cut of 24% in funding for public broadcasting. The administration is asking the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) to pay for the required digital conversion out of its general appropriation. This is a classic example of what is referred to in DC lingo as an unfunded mandate. On March 23, the full Senate Commerce Committee, chaired by John McCain (R-Ariz.), is planning a hearing. (Boy, McCain really looks scary, doesn't he?) For more info, click here. 

 

You can read more and take action using Common Cause's online Congressional complaint form by clicking here. It's always a good idea to customize your message. Remind your elected representatives to create a permanent, independent and accountable trust to fund public broadcasting at substantially higher levels (They sometimes forget things.) Tell them the present media structure does not adequately meet the needs of working people in a democracy. 

 

NEW HOUSE MEDIA CHAIR DOESN'T LIKE MUPPETS!

Who's the guy with Bush? Why, that's Rep. Joe L. Barton (R-Texas). He's the brand new chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee which oversees media regulation and CPB. And he's a former Texas oilman too, just like Dubyuh! Barton says he's “One of the skeptics about the need for public broadcasting today”. Rep. Barton especially doesn't like certain muppets. Read a 2002 letter he co-signed to the head of PBS. 

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS: 

Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman will present a talk in Chicago on March 3 as part of Speak Out! and Women's History Month. The free event will be held on Wednesday, March 3, 2004, at 5:30pm, at the Harold Washington Library Center, 400 S. State St., 9th Floor South Hall (formerly the Beyond Words cafe). You can listen to Democracy Now! on Chicago's WZRD, 7am, weekdays, or online at www.democracynow.org.

Chicago Media Action is proud to announce the arrival of singer/songwriter Dave Rovics at the Heartland Cafe, Sunday, March 7th at 8:00 pm, with opening act Attila the Stockbroker. Tickets are $10. Learn more about Dave Rovics at www.davidrovics.com. 

 
WHAT'S HAPPENING IN MEDIA POLITICS?

February is the shortest month of the year, but February 2004 has been a frenetic month in media politics. 

* The Chicago Access Network Television (CAN-TV) continued its fight against the stingy cable company RCN regarding unpaid community programming debts. Activist efforts can chalk up some victories: On February 10, the Chicago Cable Commission passed resolutions condemning RCN and launching fines to penalize RCN. On February 21, the Commission really flexed its muscle and applied fines against RCN amounting to $1 million per day. On February 27, the Chicago City Council and its Finance Committee supported the Cable Commissions actions and city lawyers have begun the process to claim some $10 million in letters of credit and performance bonds from RCN. RCN has announced that it may file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy once it comes to terms with all its creditors. For updates, click here. 

* The fight against the FCC and its disastrous media ownership policies continues. In Philadelphia, on February 11, oral arguments were heard in the court case against the FCC. A decision is expected sometime in the spring or later. Word so far is that there's a good chance for a court victory against the FCC. In the House of Representatives, we saw an introduction of Resolution 72, the House equivalent of the Resolution of Disapproval which would override entirely the FCC ownership. Momentum behind this bill has quickly grown. For more on the media ownership rules battle, go to Free Press at http://www.mediareform.org and Prometheus Radio. 

The cable company Comcast announced a multi-billion-dollar hostile bid to take over Disney. Disney's board rebuffed the offer--for the moment. The effects of such a merger would be considerable, not only in a quickly concentrated media environment, but also in the fact that such daunting merger proposals now move from speculation to reality. Monitor this situation at Free Press. 

* We have a major victory in the Low-Power FM (LPFM) movement. The FCC has finally released its report on LPFM interference. The six-page report said that there are no technical grounds to keep LPFM under wraps, so therefore LPFM should be deployed on a large scale. The LPFM effort now moves to Congress: John McCain has announced that he will work to make LPFM a legal reality. Chicagoans will be interested in this quote from the report: "even with (this change in policy), there will not be many LPFM opportunities in most communities of significant size". We shall see.

For more on these and other media activism efforts, be sure to visit us at: http://www.chicagomediaaction.org

 

 

MEDIA FACTOID OF THE MONTH:

According to James Ledbetter's book "Brought to You by...The Death of Public Broadcasting", the first CPB board chairman, Gen. Frank Pace, Jr., had no broadcasting or media experience, but he had been Secretary of the Army from 1950 to 1953 during the Korean War and had also served as the chief executive officer of General Dynamics, a major manufacturer of military fighter planes and bombers. Shortly after being appointed by President Lyndon Johnson, Pace commissioned research on how public television might be used for riot control. Pace's 1969 budget request to President Richard M. Nixon: a whopping $20 million.

 

MEDIA QUOTE OF THE MONTH:    

"Well, my analysis was wrong and I'm sorry...I am not pleased about it at all and I think all Americans should be concerned about this...I just said it. What do you want me to do? Go over and kiss the camera?" 

-- Right-wing pundit Bill O'Reilly, February 10, 2004, quoted in an interview on ABC's Good Morning America, following up on a promise to publicly apologize if weapons of mass destruction were not found in Iraq. 

 

WEBSITE OF THE MONTH:

http://www.blackcommentator.com   "The Black Commentator's core audience is African Americans and their allies in the struggle for social and economic justice. It is also important to share Black American perspectives with the rest of the world, a mission uniquely suited to the Internet.

Our focus is commentary, analysis and investigation, elements of political dialogue that are absolutely essential to the creation of movements for social change. Without regular forums for advocacy and debate, a people are at the mercy of their adversaries." A very nice looking site. 

 

  • Selected media reform resources, books and periodicals are here.
  • The next CMA meeting will be on Tuesday, March 9, at 6:30pm, at 3411 W. Diversey (corner of Diversey and Kimball, near the Logan Square stop on the CTA Blue Line). All are invited.

 

 

Chicago Media Action is 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: www.chicagomediaaction.org
email: cma@chicagomediaaction.org