 | 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." |