Digital Inclusion

Open Internet Proposal Gets 24% Support From Verizon Shareholders This represents a three-fold increase in support from a similar action filed last year, which garnered 7.9% of shareholder votes in favor of a net neutrality proposal.

Susan Crawford in SF on May 14th Former White House Advisor and law professor Susan Crawford speaks on her new book Captive Audience: Monopoly Power in the New Gilded Age. 2:00pm on May 14th at the CPUC Auditorium 505 Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco.

Internet Freedom: Dubai and Beyond by Committee on Foreign Affairs, http://foreignaffairs.house.gov/hearing/joint-subcommittee-hearing-fighting-internet-freedom-dubai-and-beyond In DC, an important hearing on the international administration of the Internet. Check out the video.

Hold Big Media Accountable

Statewide PUC Hearings on Wireless Lifeline Throughout May, June and July, the PUC will hold public hearings throughout California to gather public input on wireless lifeline.

No Such Thing as an Obamaphone: Keeping Universal Service Real by The Utility Ratepayer Network/CMJ, http://www.turn.org Soup in every pot, a toilet in every house, America has made promises about what is available to all. One of those things is a phone connection to call for help when needed.

County Allows Outrageous Charges for Inmate Phone Calls by Tracy Rosenberg, Contra Costa Times/San Jose Mercury News Op-ed on the disparity between county and state facilities on prison phone calling rates

Media Ownership

KCSM-TV To Be Sold Off to Notorious Blackstone Group May 13th, 2013 The San Mateo Community College District announced plans to liquidate peninsula public television in partnership with the Blackstone Group hedge fund.

Censored KCSM-TV Bids Released by Community College District May 11th, 2013 In response to MA's public records request, censored bid information was released by KCSM-TV's owner, the San Mateo Community College District.

California's 5th Largest Public TV Station May be Scrapped for Wireless Spectrum by Tracy Rosenberg, Media Alliance Update 4/27: Despite a legal letter sent earlier this month, the San Mateo Community College District refuses to release information on the bidding process to either Media Alliance or the Palo Alto Daily Post, which also submitted a public records request. The District stated it was not in their "interests" to release information to the academic community, station members and the public about the fate of the station. The District has identified a "top bidder", believed to be Locus Point Networks http://locuspointnetworks.com/, a for-profit wireless company, and does not appear to be engaging in negotiations with other bidders, who include Free Speech TV co-founder John Schwartz and several other community groups. The District declared it's hope to cash in on a spectrum auction at previous board meetings, which means an end to public television broadcasting and seems poised to do exactly that, despite letters of protest by state senator Leland Yee and congressperson Anna Eshoo. Please come to the next board meeting on May 15th at 6:00pm at 3401 CSM Drive in San Mateo (near Belmont Canyon). We'll try to arrange car pools if needed. You can write to the trustees at trustees@smccd.edu or use the link below. Profiteering off the destruction of public media is wrong and the District has several bidders willing to pay millions of dollars for the privilege of operating the station. This is nothing more than simple greed and the abdication of public service and accountability to stakeholders for the survival of a 48-year old public asset.

Press Freedom and Media Workers

AP Phone Records Seizure by Sean Sullivan, Washington Post May 15th, 2013 Several news organizations slammed the Justice Department for the Associated Press phone records seizure.

Urban Habitat Suspends Publication of Race Poverty and the Environment Urban Habitat has announced the suspension of Race Poverty and the Environment, their journal of 20+ years which chronicled movements for social justice across the Bay and across the United States.

Google Says To Tone It Down by Daniel Eran Dilger, Apple Insider Google asked an Australian Tech reporter to tone down coverage of security flaws in the Google Play store.

Raising Our Voices

Digital Literacy Curriculum Curriculum from 2009-2010 Raising Our Voices Workshops

In Memory of My Son This film was created by Consuelo Sopelario as a part of the 2008 Raising Our Voices Training Program coordinated by Media Alliance and sited at the East Side Arts Alliance in Oakland. Thanks to Eloise Lee, Renee Geesler, Tiny Grey-Garcia, Jess Clarke, R.J Lozada, Dorothy Kidd, Erika Myszynski, Karl Jagbanhandsingh, Taizet Hernandez and many others.

A Socially Responsible DTV Transition This film was created by students at Centro de Raza's Youth Law Academy in the Spring of 2009 as a part of the 2008-09 Raising Our Voices Training Program coordinated by Media Alliance and sited at the East Side Arts Alliance in Oakland. Thanks to Eloise Lee, Renee Geesler, Tiny Grey-Garcia, Jess Clarke, R.J Lozada, Dorothy Kidd, Erika Myszynski, Karl Jagbanhandsingh, Taizet Hernandez and many others.