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_1.jpg) | Sharp Critique of Wheeler Appt by Former FCC Commissioner by Paul Jay, Real News Network May 15th, 2013 A sharp critique of President Obama's appointment of former telecom lobbyist Tom Wheeler as FCC Chair by former FCC commissioner Nicholas Johnson, who served from 1966-1973 and was appointed by Lyndon Johnson. From Canada's Real News Network. |
 | KFOG radio – Then and Now by Lincoln Cushing, Kaiser Permanente Archives May 15th, 2013 Kaiser archivist Lincoln Cushing sends this story about KFOG and Kaiser: once an owner and now a sponsor. A little Bay Area radio history on the album rock station of many people's youths. |
 | Keeping It Real: An LPFM Pioneer by Bruce Rushton, Illinois Times Enjoy this fun article on a pioneer in low-power formerly "pirate" radio from the Illinois Times. |
.jpg) | A Light Moment: Unfairness is Universal by Frans De Waals, Ted Talks This delightful video shows Capuchin monkeys reacting to unfairness and inequity when one gets compensated with cucumber bits for doing a task and another with the much better pay rate of a grape. We can all relate. |
.jpg) | Media Literacy: Girls,Video Games and the Damsel in Distress Feminist Frequency A 20-minute video identifying the use of damsel in distress imagery in video games. Great for schools or the young girl in your life. |
.jpg) | Hollywood Blames LA Officials for Loss of Public Access Television Full Disclosure Network Actor Ed Asner weighs in on the loss of public access in television in Los Angeles in this video by the Full Disclosure Network. |
 | The New ‘Professionalized’ Al Jazeera Will Not Solve Democratic Deficits in US Public Media – We Need A Revolution. by Scott Sanders, Mag-Net Blog What connects Al-Jazeera and Chicago Public Media? This essay by Chicago Media Action Co-founder Scott Sanders connects dots between the uproar after CPM cancelled the Cornel/West show, the incoming Al-Jazeera America network and what all this means about the state of US public media. |
 | Lowjack the Power A fun video about radio, where it's been and what LPFM means. |
_4.jpg) | Project Censored: The Movie Coming soon .... |
_4.jpg) | David Cay Johnston on Gigabit Nation Author and journalist David Cay Johnston on cableco monopolies and how they distort economic development on Gigabit Nation |
_6.jpg) | 38-State Street View Prying Case Settled by David Streifield, NY Times It probably looks like we're picking on Google, but after 38 states filed suit to protect user privacy after Google's Street View mapping project randomly scooped up passwords, email account info and other data, privacy advocates had reason to be concerned. |
_5.jpg) | NCMR: It's Our Time: Community Media's new Policy Agenda Starts Now Join us in Denver for the new community media policy agenda, stop the spectrum speculators, and more media change fun and activism. April 5-7. |
 | Blocking Internet for Everyone: Municipal Broadband on Democracy Now Chris Mitchell on Democracy Now: How the telcos prevent affordable and accessible internet services to preserve the oligopoly |
_4.jpg) | Homophobia Nixed By Associated Press by Chuck Colbert, Press Pass Q The A/P Stylebook has removed homophobia as an approved word for the dislike, hatred and fear of gay and lesbian sexuality. Chuck Colbert reports for Press Pass Q. |
 | Rip Those Ads Apart: "New Coke" is Much Like The Old Coke Media literacy may be the best present we can give the next generation. One of the best in the country at it is Albuquerque's Media Literacy Project. |
 | There They Go Again: FCC Revolving Door to Big Media by Craig Aaron, Huffington Post Nobody is surprised by now. But it does kind've make you wake up and take notice when FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski's former Chief of Staff takes the job as counsel for Tribune Co, right after securing cross-ownership waivers from the agency. |
 | Academic Free Speech Case in Washington State by David Demers, American Center for Civil Liberties An interesting academic free speech case in Washington State now in the Court of Appeals pits tenured faculty free speech rights against employer rights. Here is a detailed summary of the case and what is at stake by the journalism professor who is the main plaintiff. |
 | Organizations Urge Reintroduction of the Private Prisons Information Act by Chris Petrella and Alex Friedman, Human Rights Defense Center A joint letter signed by 33 criminal justice, civil rights and public interest organizations was submitted urging the reintroduction of the Private Prison Information Act. The Private Prison Information Act (PPIA) would require for-profit prison companies that contract with the federal government to comply with public records requests made under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to the same extent as federal agencies. |
_6.jpg) | The Quality of Massive Open Online Education: How Free is it? by Samantha Calamari, Media Alliance The manner in which we seek and receive information is transforming at a rapid rate. So fast, in fact, we can't even see it change before our eyes. |
_5.jpg) | University Suspends Journalism Student For Asking Questions For A Class Assignment by Barry Petetchsky, Gawker.com A short piece from gawker.com with a headline you don't want to hear |
 | Community Journalism in Orissa State, India by Dillip Pattanaik, Orissa State Volunteers and Social Workers Assn This paper from the Orissa State Volunteers and Social Workers Association' (OSVSWA) talks about conditions in rural India and the sore need for community news coverage. |
 | Local Publicist Decries Lack of Positive African-American Coverage in Oakland Jackie Wright, formerly Public Affairs Manager for CW Bay Area and now an independent publicist, thanked Bay Area independent media after only the Oakland Tribune covered a speech by former ambassador Andrew Young in Oakland. |
 | East Bay Express Article on Berkeley Sit/Lie Ordinance Angers Low-Income Advocates by Tracy Rosenberg, Media Alliance A feature article in the East Bay Express alternative newsweekly on a proposed sit/lie ordinance in the City of Berkeley has aroused the ire of low-income advocates. |
 | Cell Phone Network Shut Down In Pakistan Imran Ali Teepu Newspaper On September 21st, 50 million Pakistanis had their cell phone services turned off by the Pakistani government. Here is a report from the Imran Ali Teepu newspaper in Islamabad. |
.jpg) | The Prison Show On Fox News by Ned Hibberd, Fox 26 Houston Pretty rare that we post Fox News clips on the MA site, but here is a great story from Houston on Pacifica Radio's Prison Show that has been airing in Houston Texas for 32 years. |
.jpg) | Has the CPB Become Indispensable? by Andrew Lapin, Current Magazine The ever-imperiled public broadcasting subsidies that are constantly under attack are the subject of this report in Current Magazine, which summarizes an independent report commissioned by the CPB which predicts the collapse of the public broadcasting system if federal grants are significantly reduced or eliminated. |
| Ukraine Moves to Censor Spongebob by Eric Pfeiffer, Yahoo News - The Sideshow The Ukraine is considering a move to censor several children's shows after a new study from a conservative commission labeled the shows "a real threat" to the country's youth. The Ukraine's National Expert Commission for Protecting Public Morality released the report, which attacks several U.S. and international programs as detrimental to the country. |
 | Hate Radio Elevates Physical Stress National Hispanic Media Coalition A pilot study released by the National Hispanic Media Coalition ("NHMC") and the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center ("CSRC") found that listeners subjected to hate speech targeting vulnerable groups experienced an increase in the production of a stress-related hormone that could, over time, have a significant negative impact on the listener's health. Findings suggest that increased production of this hormone occurs regardless of listeners' race, ethnicity, nativity, or ideological alignment with the speaker, suggesting that hate speech may harm not only its targets, but all that hear it as well. |
.jpg) | Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Object to War "Reality" Show Nine Nobel Peace Laureates including Archbishop Tutu. Jody Williams and Oscar Arias Sanchez objected to NBC's "Stars Earn Stripes" celebrity war games. |
 | AT&T and Rural America: A Deconstruction This AT&T commercial opens with a wide shot of uninhabited, undeveloped, and empty green fields divided by a freeway of large moving trucks and cars. “This is Genco Services, McAllen, Texas” states the narrator, as his voice continues on we move into a shot of a single Longhorn steer. As someone who was raised in this very area of the country, this commercial literally made me laugh. |
 | Fault Lines (Al Jazeera English) on Web Surveillance Bills - "Controlling the Web" An incisive look at how anti-piracy proposals threaten computer users privacy and freedom. |
 | San Luis Obispo Supervisor Threatening Local Newspaper by Cal Coast News Staff - Karen Velie, Cal Coast News We haven't had time to investigate this further, but here is a report from a local paper/news site in San Luis Obispo reporting some harassment from a local supervisor that is possibly linked to their coverage of a crackdown on the homeless in the city. |
 | Kill the Copper and Move 'Em Along At the June 21st Guggenheim Securities Symposium, the CEO of Verizon laid out aggressive plans to move customers off of copper phone lines and into Fios service and not necessarily voluntarily. |
 | Hate Crime: 30 Years Later by Emil Gillermo, AALDEF Blog Emil Guillermo interviews the killer of Vincent Chin - 30 years after the young Asian man was beaten to death with a baseball bat. |
 | Need a Press List? The 2012-2013 Northern California press list has 1,110 media contacts at print, broadcast, ethnic, hyperlocal news and alternative outlets. Add a Media How-To Guide for everything you need to do guerilla publicity with limited time and money and get coverage for hard-to-cover stories. |
 | The Crime of Broadcasting by Irakli Metreveli , AFP Georgia's opposition accused the government Friday of trying to keep it off the airwaves after police impounded 300,000 satellite dishes intended to boost an opposition tycoon's TV station. |
 | It's Official - Sexy Women Are Objects by Phillipe Bernard, Psycholigical Science A new study published in Psychological Science finds that both men and women see images of sexy women’s bodies as objects, while they see sexy-looking men as people. |
 | Documentary Filmmaker Wins in Tax Court by Katherine Reith, International Documentary Organization Lee Storey, an attorney in the area of water rights and a documentary filmmaker, learned today that her documentary film Smile ‘Til It Hurts: The Up With People Story has been considered a for-profit endeavor in the eyes of the US Tax Court |
| Community Broadband - What It Is by Christopher Mitchell, Institute for Local Self-Reliance 90-second animated piece explaining that broadband doesn't have to come from AT&T or Comcast. |
 | Religious Websites More Malignant Than Pornsites by Daniel Ionesco, PC World Religious and ideological websites can carry three times more malware threats than pornography sites, according to research from security firm Symantec. The firm’s annual Internet Security Threat Report also found that threats to mobile devices continue to grow, almost exclusively for Google’s Android mobile OS. |
.jpg) | Eritrea Tops List of World Press Censors by Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), UK Guardian Eritrea leads the world in imposing censorship on the media, followed closely by North Korea, Syria and Iran, according to a journalism group. |
 | 2011 Banned Books List - 70% Female Authors by Tracy Rosenberg, American Library Association The ALA list of the top 10 books targeted for removal from schools and libraries is out for 2011. 7 out of the 10 books were written by women. |
 | Community Media Rights Are Common Ground by Autumn Labbe Renault, The Davis Enterprise Davis Media Access director Autumn Labbe-Renault blogs about lobbying Sacramento in opposition to SB 1161 |
 | Warrantless Cell Phone Tracking In August 2011, 35 ACLU affiliates filed over 380 public records requests with state and local law enforcement agencies to ask about their policies, procedures and practices for tracking cell phones. |
 | People of the State of California Vs. Arbitron Settles The nation's dominant provider of radio audience metrics has agreed to settle a consumer protection lawsuit jointly pursued by the State of California and the cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco over a listenership measurement scheme said to discriminate against radio stations with predominantly African American and Hispanic audiences. |
 | Underground Libraries Hit Arizona via Libro Traficantes Nuestra Palabras, a Houston-based alliance of writers, artists and activists (with a show on Pacifica Radio's KPFT) brought a caravan of 1,000 banned books into Arizona. |
 | The Insanely Long Guide to Spectrum Deals We hate spectrum. What could be more geeky-obscure and headache-inducing than the ins and outs of the bands? But it's important. Especially right now. |
 | Occupy the Media - Free Speech TV 5:00 on Wednesdays (or whenever you feel like it on your computer), Free Speech TV brings the occupy movement to the occupy the media movement. Watch the latest episodes! |
 | 2 Journalists Charged with Felonies Covering Occupy Santa Cruz Protests by Jessica Pasko, Santa Cruz Sentinel Two men facing charges in connection with the takeover of a former bank are slated for a preliminary hearing this week. Their attorneys say the men are photojournalists and were working in that capacity when the alleged violations took place. |
 | Astroturf Ads Demonize Legal Immigration A Fair Chance at Jobs Campaign has been blanketing Ohio and other states with ads pitting legal immigrants against the native-born unemployed. |
 | Beastie Boys Mike D Pushes AT&T on Net Neutrality by Greg Capobianco, Future of Music Coalition Blog Mike D of the Beastie Boys has authored a shareholder's initiative to AT&T for a proxy vote to allow AT&T shareholders to vote for an internal policy to support an open Internet. |
 | Only Vigilantes Tell The Truth by Arthur Brisbane, NY Times Just to totally blow one's mind: the NY Times public editor came up with a column called "Should the NY Times be a Truth Vigilante? |
 | Top 10 Public Interest Stories- ATT is #1 by Top Public Interest Story of 2011, Public News Network They say: "A story we followed from the beginning came to a happy ending in the form of a failed merger and the preservation of many American jobs" |
 | Microsoft's So-Called Avoid Ghetto App by Jamilah King, Colorlines Magazine Microsoft has recently been at the center of a whirlwind of controversy over a new app that critics allege is downright racist. On January 3, the company was granted a patent for technology related to its “Pedestrian Route Production” application, a tool that that the company says would navigate the user “safely through neighborhoods with violent crime statistics below a certain threshold.” |
 | Oakland Tribune Reporter Has a Late Night Visitor Oakland Tribune reporter Doug Oakley got a late-night visit from the Berkeley Police Department's public information officer demanding a retraction of a story filed at 11:00pm that evening. |
.jpg) | John Santos on the Grammy Awards by John Santos, Grammy Watch An open letter from musician John Santos to the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS). |
 | Test Drive a Widget? by Tracy Rosenberg Those of you wish to enter into a helping relationship with the FCC are encouraged to test drive their widgets as they roll out a new website. |
 | Million Moms Gay Marriage Boycott Fails Towle Road The issue was the target of a boycott threat aimed at Toys R Us by the American Family Association's One Million Moms project, which threatened that its members would stop shopping there unless the store removed the issue from its shelves. |
 | Spot.us Merges With Public Insight Network by Tracy Rosenberg, Media Alliance In a crowd-sourcing cluster, the online funding gizmo has been acquired by the online sources gizmo. What does it all mean? |
 | Right-Wing Funded State News Sources by Sara Jerving, Truthout.org PR Watch's Sara Jerving writes about the new state news outlets and how they're being funded by the coporatocracy. |
| FCC Hearing on Media Diversity - Atlanta A field hearing on media diversity in Atlanta, GA. Watch the video here. |
 | Pirate Party wins 8.9% of Berlin Legislative Seats on Internet Freedom Platform by Nicholas Kulish, NY Times 15 candidates in their 20's and 30's, running as the Pirate Party, shocked Germany by winning 8.9% of the vote and all 15 legislative seats in Berlin on an Internet Freedom platform. |
| Black Voices for Internet Freedom Watch the video of the DC Launch of Black Voices for Internet Freedom |
 | The Public Access Crisis by Eric Arnold, Alternet Public-access television has always had a low-budget, amateur reputation. Yet Rod Laughridge's alternative news program "Newsroom on Access SF" was anything but that. Though San Francisco's public-access station had its share of offbeat shows —- like the risqué DeeDeeTV, hosted by self-described "pop culture diva" Dee Dee Russell — "Newsroom" took itself seriously. Its mission, as described on its website, was to "bring community-based, community reported and produced independent news and interviews from a grassroots viewpoint — unhindered, uncensored and unaltered." |
 | WDAV-FM To Independently Syndicate Simeone Opera Program by Brett Zongker, The Huffington Post In another moment of disconnect between community media and the public media machine, WDAV announced they would begin independently syndicating "World of Opera" with host Lisa Simeone. |
| U-Verse and Community Television: An Explanatory Video This video from keepusconnected.org explains and clearly demonstrates AT&T's failure to deliver basic functionality for public, educational and government (PEG) access channels on its U-Verse system. A petition challenging the discriminatory treatment is pending at the FCC. |
 | Stories From Minnesota: Prison Phones by Tracy Rosenberg, Main Street Project This podcast is a compilation of stories on phones and prisons culled from the Main Street Project (partners in the Media Justice Grassroots Network) at a Phone Justice Policy Day event in Minneapolis. |
 | KPFA Battles Dying Down by Tracy Rosenberg 2010 strife at listener-sponsored KPFA Radio in Berkeley is dying down after the National Labor Relations Board dismissed 3 complaints and former host Aimee Allison lost an arbitration hearing on the voluntary and involuntary layoffs last fall. KPFA has improved it's financial position by over $350,000, reduced it's operating deficit by 85% and has increased listener support donations by 3.5% since October of 2010. |
 | The Panel AT&T Tried to Kill by Tracy Rosenberg July 2nd, 2011 AT&T complained that a panel of independent academics in the PUC's merger impact hearing threatened to "taint" the proceeding with their uninformed opinions. |
 | Rollin Post: R.I.P. http://www.rollinpost.com Political reporter Rollin Post, whose career spanned both mainstream and public broadcasting, passed on October 3rd at the age of 82. |
 | Steve Jobs Dies at 56 by Tracy Rosenberg, Media Alliance Apple Computer co-founder Steve Jobs passes at 56 of pancreatic cancer, leaving a legacy of digital innovation and a rapidly-changing information society. |
 | Justice for Oscar Grant: Mehserle Release This video records the opening moments of the Fruitvale march that marked the release of Oscar Grant's killer Johannes Mehserle from prison. |
 | Astroturf Up Close and Personal: The AT&T Merger at the CPUC by Tracy Rosenberg, Oakland Local *Note - Two weeks later on June 9th, the public did attend the next meeting and the PUC voted 3-2 to proceed with an extensive investigation of the impacts of the merger of Californians. |
| Bay Citizen Unionizes Editorial Staff by Tracy Rosenberg/PMWG, Media Workers Guild Hyperlocal online news startup, Bay Citizen, will have a 14-person bargaining unit for editorial workers with the Pacific Media Workers Guild after the union won a card check election 7-5-2. |
| Beware of False Promises by Tracy Rosenberg This is not the first time the sun, moon and stars have been promised in return for AT&T receiving favorable results from state and federal government. |
 | Grrll Power by Tracy Rosenberg, Reel Girls and Media Literacy Project Two new videos: 1 from Reel Grrls in Seattle on this year's Academy Awards spectacle and another from Albuquerque's Media Literacy Project on overpriced vocational schools that exploit young job seekers. |
 | Fukushima: Where Do We Go From Here? by Tracy Rosenberg, Pacifica Foundation As the situation in Japan goes from bad to worse, Pacifica Radio provided a comprehensive look at our energy future in the wake of Fukushima. Listen to the 5-station collaborative coverage from the community radio network. |
 | The Bill Comes Due: Telecom Lobbying by Action Coalition on Media Education, Action Coalition on Media Education You often get what you pay for. At&T, Verizon and Comcast certainly did. Take a look at these lobbying expenses totals. |
| Unreported News: Wells Fargo Shareholders Meeting Disrupted on May 3rd by Jonathan Nack, Bay Area Independent Media Center MA member Jonathan Nack recorded this video of the foreclosure protest that disrupted the annual Wells Fargo Shareholders Meeting for over an hour earlier this month. |
| Brand-new Community Radio Station in Vallejo Draws Racist Graffiti by Sarah Rohrs, Vallejo Times Herald The founder of Vallejo Ozcat, the community-based FM radio station, made a disturbing discovery Saturday morning -- racist epithets scrawled on his son's vehicle and the business' mailbox and doorway. |
| The Broadband You Deserve by Frank Povah, The Daily Yonder Reprinted from The Daily Yonder: I live in the country, but not THAT much in the country. I'm 20 minutes from the state capitol of Kentucky and I can't get a decent broadband connection. |
| The Meta-Report: Media Piracy by Joe Karaganis, Social Science Research Council In an uncharacteristic bit of theater, the Social Science Research Council has released a new report on Media Piracy in Emerging Economies with a Consumers Dilemma. Come from a higher-income country? No free report for you! |
 | Mapping Our Future: Drawing Lines that Matter by The Greenlining Institute, http://www.greenlining.org The Greenlining Institute presents Mapping Our Future: Drawing Lines that Matter! a 5 minute video about California Redistricting in 2011 and what is at stake for communities of color. |
 | College Radio: You Will Be Assimilated by Tracy Rosenberg, The Huffington Post Like the B-52's? Metallica? The White Stripes? You might have never heard of them if not for KUSF, the venerable San Francisco college radio station that first played their music. |
| Mapping the Community TV Landscape by Rob McCausland, Sustaining Democracy in the Digital Age The Alliance for Community Media's former director of Information and Organizing Services Rob McCausland provides these illuminating maps in a survey of the landscape of community television across the United States. |
| KPFA News Criticized by Tracy Rosenberg, Berkeley City Council KPFA Radio, has received complaints from 3 Berkeley City Council members and 6 workers on two different incidents in a week on the daily hour-long statewide broadcast of the Pacifica Evening News. |
 | Online Learning: The Answer to the Digital Divide? by Samantha Calamari, Media Alliance The latest buzz in education is the growth of online learning communities to address educational access. Through online offerings, education can be more affordable and have the capability to reach communities that otherwise couldn’t access quality institutions. |
 | Censored 2011 The Media Freedom Foundation's 2011 Censored is out with the 25 most under-reported stories of 2010. Please support the work of Project Censored and buy a copy today! |
| Hungary's New Nationalism: Government Moves to Institute Press Controls by Abby Martin, Media Roots Naomi Wolf's book, The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot, argues that there are ten steps common to every state that has made the transition into fascism. |
 | Oakland Police and Cameras by Maura King Ma Volunteer Maura King thinks about police, cameras and Oakland's new law enforcement video program. |
| Be Careful What You Wish For by Tracy Rosenberg, Huffington Post Sometimes you might get it. For most of the past year, public interest groups worried about the future of the Internet have pushed for action on net neutrality by the Federal Communications Commission. |
| Broadband For The People: From The Net To The Roots by Tracy Rosenberg, Huffington Post As we grow increasingly dependent on the Internet for everything from soup to nuts: |
 | The $320 Million Broadband Rip-Off by David Rosen and Bruce Kushnick, Alternet An excellent article on why Americans pay the most for the least in the developed world. |
 | Jeff Kaufman Film on Americans Detained in Iran by Tracy Rosenberg, Free The Hikers Filmmaker Jeff Kaufman made this short film on behalf of Americans Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal, who have been detained in Tehran's Evin Prison for 474 days. Watch the film! |
 | Yes Men Play Media Comedy With Chevron by The Yes Men, http://www.theyesmen.org A day-long comedy of errors began Monday morning when the Yes Men, supported by Rainforest Action Network and Amazon Watch, pre-empted Chevron's enormous new “We Agree” ad campaign with a satirical version of their own. |
 | Supreme Court to Decide if AT&T is a Person by Sara Jerome, The Hill The Supreme Court added the case AT&T v. FCC to its docket on Tuesday, ushering in an argument over, basically, whether AT&T has the legal status of a person on certain issues. |
 | No More Bleeding Ledes, Please by Libby Reinish, SaveTheNews.org Sensationalism is rampant in our consolidated news system, where scandal, celebrity gossip and violence (or the threat of looming violence) lead the headlines. Ever wonder why this is all we see and read and hear? |
 | What DID They Mean by That? A Week of Truthiness and Media by Tracy Rosenberg, Huffington Post In my job as director of Media Alliance, many things pass my desk that generate moments of disbelief, but the 1st week of August was truly remarkable. |
 | Internet must remain neutral, says Sir Tim Berners-Lee by Charles Arthur, London Guardian Access to data online must not be limited, founder of the world wide web tells Nokia World conference. |
| Reality Unreeled MA volunteer Alex Barrows was part of the Paper Tiger Television production team for this "reality" expose. |
 | Oakland Municipal WiFi Study Concludes with a Whimper Oakland, a city with a digital divide as intense as anywhere in the United States, concluded a much-heralded city study on a possible municipal broadband network in July. |
 | One World Radio: Live from the Allied Media Conference by Radio Rootz , KBCS, RTM and PRP Our friends at KBCS- Seattle, Reclaim The Media and the Prometheus Radio Project present an hour-long program of interviews and feature stories from the Detroit radical media conference that preceded the Social Forum. |
 | From Mississippi to Arizona by Linda Burnham, Truthout.org The room was small,http://www.truth-out.org/burnham-from-mississippi-arizona-for-freedom-and-human-rights60434 but it was filled with enormous possibility. And everyone in there knew it. |
 | Fresno Residents Fed Up With Hate on the Radio by Samantha Claire Bell June 17th, 2010 Fresno community group leaders have joined forces to ask the area's most popular talk radio station, KMJ, to make changes to their programming. According to spokesperson, Les Kimber, the group Citizens for Civility and Accountability in Media (CCAM) was formed in October 2009 out of concern about what is broadcast daily on their local radio station. |
 | Free The Radio Spectrum by James Losey and Sascha Meinrath, Open Technology Initiative/New America Fdn For the wonks out there: an excellent paper from the Open Technology Initiative on what 21st century spectrum reform looks like. |
 | The Battle to Control Media Systems: The Culture of Professionalism Versus Cultures of Direct Participation
by James Owens, Media-Ocracy Who produces media systems? Answering that question is the only way to understand the culture and politics that such systems will reproduce. |
| Prepaid Cell Phones: The New Crime by Chris Strohm, National Journa; Citing the recent attempt to detonate a car bomb in New York City's Times Square, Sens. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, announced legislation Wednesday aimed at identifying the buyers and users of prepaid cell phones. |
| NPR Says NPR is Sexist by Tracy Rosenberg, National Public Radio Ombudsman National Public Radio's ombudsman has released a report headlined "Where Are The Women?". Elsewhere, it seems. |
 | Road Trip: CA Net Neutrality Delegation to Orange County MA teamed with the LA Media Reform group to travel down to Orange County and the Inland Empire and speak to Dems who aren't supporting net neutrality. |
| Control of Public Media as a Social Justice Issue by Scott Sanders and James Owens, Editor and Publisher/Truthout January 29th, 2010 Media justice organizers at the Center for Media Justice (CMJ) and MAG-Net have recently produced a brilliant campaign plan ("The Campaign for universal broadband") to win three policies crucial for just and democratic communication: network neutrality, universal broadband and universal service fund reform. |
| Huffington Post: Single Payer Broadband? by Tracy Rosenberg, Huffington Post March 22nd, 2010 Single Payer Broadband ; The Broadband Plan and the Movement for a People's Media. |
| SSRC Study on Barriers to Broadband Adoption in Low-Income Communities by Tracy Rosenberg, Social Science Research Council This study draws on some 170 interviews of non-adopters, community access providers, and other intermediaries conducted across the US in late 2009 and early 2010 and identifies a range of factors that make broadband services hard to acquire and even harder to maintain in such communities. |
| Media News Television by Tracy Rosenberg MA started a new twice-monthly show on public access television on media democracy and media justice. Watch the videos! Hour-long version is in the works. |
| MA in the Huffington Post: Why Public Access is Important and You Should Fight to Pass the CAP Act. by Tracy Rosenberg, Huffington Post In May of 2009, I became a public access television producer. Couldn’t have picked a worse time. |
| Broadband in Yo' Face A broadband song for the holidays. Brought to you by Media Alliance and the Bay Area Media Justice Hub. Written and performed by Eloise Lee and Kat Evasco. |
| How To Avoid Ethical Snags in Nonprofit Journalism by Stephen Ward, Public Media Shift The following article by UW-Madison School of Journalism professor Stephen Ward surveys some concerns about the new "nonprofit journalism." We'd add some concerns of our own to the one he presents. |
| Network Neutrality and Racial Justice This is a resource sheet on network neutrality, universal broadband and racial justice prepared by the Center for Media Justice. |
| The Dangers of Blogging http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/11/20091111171831357111.html Intrigued by an alert sent to us by Xalid Aghliyev at the Media Rights Institute in Azerbajian, we looked a little deeper and found this cautionary tale from Central Asia. |
| Basta Dobbs Campaign http://www.bastadobbs.com October 12th, 2009 Update: According to current reports: Dobbs is on his way out of CNN, possibly over to Fox News Channel. Lou Dobbs' brand of journalism is dangerous to Latinos in America -- and it's time to fight back. |
| NY Post Fires Editor Critical of Racist Obama Cartoon by Sam Stein, Huffington Post September 30th, 2009 Sandra Guzman was quietly dismissed from her position as associate editor last week for reasons that are being hotly debated by personnel inside the company. |
 | A Rebirth of Cinema in Cambodia Camerado Productions Read about the most far afield of MA's stable of fiscally-sponsored projects. |
 | Media Alliance 2008-2009 by Tracy Rosenberg July 8th, 2009 Media Alliance is a 32 year-old media resource and advocacy center for media workers, non-profit organizations, and social justice activists. Our mission: justice, excellence, accountability, and diversity, in all aspects of the media to advance peace, justice, and social responsibility. |
| D-TV Transition: Profit Ahead of Public Interest by Steve Macek and Scott Sanders, The Register-Citizen May 12th, 2009 The much-delayed switchover to digital TV is now behind us. On June 12, all full power TV stations in the country ceased their analog broadcasts and made the final switch to a digital only format. |
 | On ACORN and Double Standards by Phavia Kujichagulia The current ACORN scandal once again proves that independent analysis and honest journalism often takes a backseat to propaganda, bias and overt double standards. |
 | Oscar Grant Memorial Arts Project by Christine Joy Ferrer April 13th, 2009 Over three dozen artists have contributed to the Oscar Grant Memorial Arts Project. Our goal was to gather the creative works dedicated to Oscar Grant from artists, musicians, writers, photographers and others. Any form of creative expression was accepted-- a video of a dance work, audio, song, poster, photo, etc. Selected portfolio work will be featured in several Bay Area publications (print and online). |
 | Songs by Christine Joy Ferrer Oscar Grant Memorial Arts Project |
| No Working Class People in Journalism http://prorev.com/2009/10/british-study-shoes-disappearance-of.html October 7th, 2009 A report by the British Cabinet Office offers stark evidence of the disappearance of the working class from the journalism profession, and the study offers some relevant observations for American media as well. |
 | The History of Media Alliance - Excerpted from "Remaking Media: The Struggle to Democratize Public Communication". by Bob Hackett (Author) and Bill Carroll (Author) , REMAKING MEDIA: THE STRUGGLE TO DEMOCRATIZE PUBLIC COMMUNICATION May 27th, 2009 This academic study of the media reform and justice movements features a chapter on Media Alliance history. Continue to read the excerpt or buy the book at the link provided. |
 | Poetry by Christine Joy Ferrer Oscar Grant Memorial Arts Project |
| KPFA Board Election by Tracy Rosenberg, Berkeley Daily Planet April 27th, 2009 KPFA, the nation's first community radio and still one of the mainstays of independent progressive media, is having its Board elections over the next two months. |
 | Graffiti by Christine Joy Ferrer Oscar Grant Memorial Arts Project |
 | Videos by Christine Joy Ferrer Oscar Grant Memorial Arts Project |
| Landmark Finnish Law Makes Broadband Access a Legal Right Huffington Post October 8th, 2009 Finland has just passed a law making access to broadband a legal right for Finnish citizens. |
 | From the Real News Network: Chuck D interviews on Hip-Hop, America and the Societal Impact of Music (Part 1) by Chuck D, The Real News Network May 15th, 2009 From the Real News Network: Chuck D interviews on Hip-Hop, America and the Societal Impact of Music (Part 1) - Video |
 | U-Verse Legal Challenge at the FCC by Tracy Rosenberg February 28th, 2009 The Alliance for Community Media, and the cities of Lansing and Dearborn in Michigan have filed suit against AT&T's U-verse system for the placement of many local public access stations on one channel with a pull-down menu |
| KPFA Raided? by Tracy Rosenberg May 12th, 2009 In a strange turn of events, the Berkeley Daily Planet reported last week that the parent Pacifica Foundation was "raiding the bank account" of Berkeley's community radio station, KPFA. Sensational headline, but the allegations are untrue. |
 | Photography & Art by Christine Joy Ferrer April 12th, 2009 Oscar Grant Memorial Arts Project |
| The Loss of Gina Hotta The Asian-American journalist, activist and executive producer of APEX Express, passed suddenly and prematurely earlier this week. It is a tremendous loss of a strong activist, a powerful broadcaster and a rich spirit. |
| Former CBS5/CW Manager in Wright vs. CBS by Jackie Wright, http://justiceforjackienow.blogspot.com/ May 25th, 2009 San Francisco- Three time AP award winning journalist Jackie Wright faces media giant CBS in a court hearing, Thursday, August 27 in Federal Court in San Francisco. CBS Television, represented by Maureen E. McClain of Littler Mendelson, is trying to dismiss the case in which Wright alleges racism that led to her layoff in January 2007. |
| Beyond The Odds by Tracy Rosenberg, www.beyondtheodds.org May 25th, 2009 Beyond The Odds pairs Youth Speaks poets with HIV+ young people to illuminate their perspectives about living with HIV. Check them out. It's a great project. |
 | Radio Shack Delegation December 19, 2008 by Eloise Lee February 20th, 2009 A delegation of community groups led by Media Alliance visited an Oakland Radio Shack on Friday December 19th on behalf of the Media Action Grassroots Network (Mag-Net). |
| Nadra Foster Benefit by Tracy Rosenberg February 15th, 2009 A benefit on January 22nd, 2009 for arrested KPFA journalist Nadra Foster featured poet devorah major at the La Pena coffeehouse. |
| Audio Clips: Oakland Digital Inclusion Summit by Tracy Rosenberg February 9th, 2009 Clips of panel discussions from the Feb 2008 Oakland Digital Inclusion Summit. |
| Raising Our Voices at Journalism Innovations Learn teaching and organizing strategies for media literacy, technology and communications-training for communities that lack access to established or emerging media. |
 | Be The Media by Tracy Rosenberg February 25th, 2009 Robert McChesney: "If BE THE MEDIA didn't exist, like Voltaire's God, it would have to be invented". |
 | SoCal Media Justice Summit by Tracy Rosenberg February 5th, 2009 March 21st Media Justice Summit in Southern California. MA is co-sponsoring and ccordinating a breakout session on advocating for fairer coverage. |
| Shouting To Be Heard by Tracy Rosenberg February 2nd, 2009 New Kaiser Family Foundation Study Finds Television Stations Donate an Average of 17 Seconds an Hour to Public Service Advertising. Nearly Half (46%) of All PSAs Air After Midnight |
| Fruitvale Youth on the D-TV Transition Video testimonial from the Centro Legale created by the Raising Our Voices Training Program. |
| Yet Another Inconvenient Truth by Lucine Kasbarian, CounterCurrents This weekend is the 95th anniversary of the 1915 Armenian genocide. Lucine Kasbarian writes on media coverage of recent Turkish tantrums. |
_3.jpg) | Sandy: The Story is Income Inequality (and Climate Change) Democracy Now A video clip from Democracy Now with David Rohde telling the story of the two New York's - and how the one never featured in the mainstream media is coping - and not coping - with the catastrophe. |
 | Media Alliance on Facebook - Check us out and become a fan! by Tracy Rosenberg |
| Elite Control or Community Governance of Public Service Media: Which Will it Be? by Scott Sanders, Media-Ocracy We must first understand that the U.S. public media system has been purposefully and severely handicapped by the professional culture of journalism, and by corporate and government powers, and philanthropies, from the beginning. |
| Media Alliance Statement on SF Public Access Shutdown This is a statement expressing our concern about the planned shutdown and rearrangement of public access television services in the City and County of San Francisco. |
 | An Image is Worth a Thousand Words Nobody doubts the impact of the right graphic. It can make a huge difference in a campaign or struggle. That's why we wanted to let you know about the work of veteran East Bay printmaker Doug Minkler. |
| Media News - November 19, 2009 Guest: Regina Costa, TURN Host: Tracy Rosenberg Subject: Net Neutrality and the Future of the Internet |