ACME’s E-newsletter/September 2006 (#9)

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ACME’s e-newsletter/September 2006 (#9)
Sponsored by the Action Coalition for Media Education (ACME)

REGISTER NOW for ACME’S 3rd CONTINENTAL MEDIA EDUCATION SUMMIT!
OCTOBER 6-8, 2006 in BURLINGTON, VERMONT; Champlain College and the Wyndham Burlington

“Facing the Media Crisis: Media Education For Reform, Justice, and Democracy.” Register here: http://www.acmecoalition.org

FIFTY MEDIA EDUCATION WORKSHOPS taught by experienced teachers from around the continent!
Plus TWENTY KEYNOTES AND PLENARY SPEAKERS and a whole bunch of fun.

Just Added – ACME Summit Special Events!

Friday Evening:
A special 9:00-10:30 p.m. Wyndham Burlington screening of the NEW 10th anniversary DVD edition of “The Ad and the Ego,” with a Q and A dialogue with director Harold Boihem.

Saturday Lunch Panel (300 attendees maximum – optional lunch):
Beyond the “Dean Scream” – Lessons From Inside the Presidential Campaign of Howard Dean
ON-CAMPUS LUNCH AND PANEL DISCUSSION: $15 meal fee/First come, first served/300 attendees maximum.
This panel discussion, in association with a forthcoming book about the Dean campaign and the internet, will involve presentations by several individuals who worked inside the Dean campaign for President in 2003. The significance of that remarkable moment in the history of American politics has yet to be fully understood. The panelists’ stories of life inside the campaign provide some surprising insights into what happened, what worked, what didn’t, and what can be concluded about future efforts to increase the democratic character of American political life. Featuring Dean Internet campaign manager Zephyr Teachout, UVM media and communications professor Tom Streeter, and national blogging presence and Ned Lamont Internet campaigner Aldon Haynes.

Saturday Evening: ACME Around Town: Special Screenings and Events

7:00 – 11:00 135 Church Street, The “Fire House Gallery” Screening Room
“A Night of New Films from the Media Education Foundation” Come preview a variety of new MEF films and dialogue with the directors and producers!

7:00: Welcome and Introduction to the evening. Bill Yousman, Media Education Foundation and Professor of Communication at Central Connecticut State University. Class Dismissed: How Television Frames the Working Class—Introduced by the film’s co-producer, Pepi Leistyna, Professor of Linguistics at UMASS.

8:30: Big Bucks, Big Pharma: Marketing Disease and Pushing Drugs— Introduced by Ronit Ridberg, producer of this and other MEF films including Spin the Bottle, and Wrestling with Manhood.

10:00: Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People. Introduced by Bill Yousman.

8:00 – 11:00 Champlain College, Alumni Auditorium
“Censored In The USA: Election Integrity, 9/11Truth, Impeachment
Co-Sponsored by “Seven Stories Press” (www.sevenstories.com)
An assessment of the legality of recent Bush Administration actions, the reliability of our electoral process, the truth about 9-11, and their implications for democracy in the US. Featuring statistician and author Steve Freeman of Was the 2004 Presidential Election
Stolen?: Exit Polls, Election Fraud and the Official Count and Peter Phillips of Impeach The President and Censored 2007.

8:00 – 9:30 The Flynn Theater; Downtown Burlington
“FINDING THE DOORBELL”– Cindy Pierce’s One Woman Show
Join rising star comedienne Cindy Pierce for a side-splitting intimate evening of comedy! ACME Summit attendees may receive a discount on tickets by presenting ACME Summit name tags at the Flynn Theater box office prior to the show.

Sunday Night: The Wyndham, Burlington
Vermont Premiere of Robert Greenwald’s new film “Iraq For Sale” – 7:30 – 9:00. FREE to all Summit attendees! $25 for all non-Summit one night guests. Keynote addresses by U.S. Senate candidate Bernie Sanders and “Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman to follow.

OUR ACME 2006 Summit SPEAKERS INCLUDE:

Good Night and Good Luck star David Strathairn (playing Edward R. Murrow), Wally Bowen, Internet citizen activist and MAIN founder. Jeff Chester, Center for Digital Democracy executive director and leader in the fight to keep the Internet free and open. Lauren-Glenn Davitian, Executive Director, CCTV Center for Media and Democracy. Doug Gentile, media effects researcher and author. Josh Golin, Center for Commercial-Free Childhood. Amy Goodman, journalist and host of Pacifica Radio’s “Democracy Now.” Sut Jhally, author, speaker, filmmaker, and founder of the Media Education Foundation. Jean Kilbourne, popular speaker and author of Killing Us Softly and Can’t Buy My Love. Pepi Leistyna, author, filmmaker, and applied linguistics activist. Robert Jensen, University of Texas journalism professor and cogent critic of our corporate commercial media culture. Bob McCannon, long time popular speaker, NMMLP founding executive director, and ACME co-founder. Bill McKibben, popular speaker and author of the seminal The Age Of Missing Information. Carrie McLaren, blogger, hactivist, and ‘Stay Free!’ magazine founder. David Mindich, St. Michaels College Journalism professor and author of Tuned Out: Why Americans Under Forty Don’t Follow The News. Peter Phillips, Project Censored executive director. Harvard University public health researcher Michael Rich. Anthony Riddle, Alliance for Community Media executive director. Commercial Alert Executive Director Gary Ruskin. One of the few independent Congressmen and U.S. Senate candidate, Bernard Sanders. Indy media leader Pete Tridesh, Prometheus Radio Project. Josh Silver, a leading media reformer and Free Press executive director. John Stauber, Center for Media and Democracy co-founder and author of many popular books and videos about the stealth industry. Diane Wilson, irrepressible citizen activist and famous author of An Unreasonable Woman.

Co-Sponsored By: Champlain College, Chelsea Green Press, CCTV, Center for Social Media, Media Education Foundation, Meme-FILMS, New Mexico Media Literacy Project, TV-B-Gone, and the Vermont Guardian.

Peak Foliage and Leaf Peeping As An Added Bonus!

Please circulate globally. We rely on electronic word of mouth.
To subscribe, please visit the ACME NEWS list:
http://www.acmecoalition.org/subscribe.cfm

Save Public Access!

(From Cambridge Community Television’s E-mail Update for Sept. 1, 2006)

“When the US Senate reconvenes, it is expected to consider H.R. 5252, the Advanced Telecommunications and Opportunity Reform (ATOR) Act.

This is the bill that has been pushed through Congress by Verizon, in an attempt to remove local control over cable franchising and allow telecommunications service providers to pick and choose which neighborhoods and communities they wish to serve. The bill also threatens internet neutrality. (See Save The Internet for more information.)

We need you to call our Senators and say ‘I urge the Senator to do everything within his power to keep H.R. 5252 from being voted on. If it IS brought to a vote, I urge the Senator to vote against the bill.‘

To take action:

Call Sen. Kennedy now at 617-565-3170.

Call Sen. Kerry now at 617-565-8519.”

Sign Up to Deliver the Internet Freedom Petition to Senator Kennedy!

Sign Up to support Internet Freedom now and help deliver a petition to Senator Kennedy’s Office in Boston this Wednesday! Here are the details from MoveOn.org:

Senator Kennedy’s Boston Office
30 Aug 12:00 PM

“Senator Kennedy needs to know his constituents are paying attention to his upcoming vote on Net Neutrality and expect him to vote the right way. We will deliver thousands of petition signatures from Massachusetts residents asking him to support Net Neutrality. Media will be invited.” – “Internet Freedom Petition Delivery“, MoveOn.org

Location: Senator Kennedy’s Boston Office, 2400 JFK Building, Boston, MA
Host: Adam Green
Status: Public, open for RSVP, 52 Guests (Max 100)

Save The Internet : Act Now

Call to Action in Boston to Support Internet Freedom!

From MoveOn.org

“Internet freedom is under attack. The House of Representatives has voted to give giant corporations more control over what you see and do online, and corporate lobbyists are pushing for a quick vote in the Senate. Senator Edward Kennedy could be the deciding vote, but he has remained silent on Net Neutrality. We can change that next Wednesday at noon.

In Boston, we will deliver thousands of petition signatures from Massachusetts residents to Senator Kennedy’s office. The media will be invited, and we need a big crowd to show Senator Kennedy how important protecting Net Neutrality is to constituents.

Can you help deliver the petitions next Wednesday—asking Senator Kennedy to protect Net Neutrality? Please RSVP below.

What: Internet freedom petition delivery to the senator’s office
Where: Senator Kennedy’s Boston Office, 2400 JFK Building, Boston, MA
When: Wednesday, 30 Aug 2006, 12:00 PM

Link to RSVP:
Questions? mediaaction@moveon.org

Some senators think the public doesn’t care about this issue. They think we don’t know companies like AT&T and Verizon are spending millions lobbying Congress to eliminate Net Neutrality and give them more over control of the Internet. But petition deliveries in 50 locations across the nation next week will prove them wrong.

We will deliver thousands of petition signatures to Senator Kennedy along with the diverse SaveTheInternet.com Coalition—which includes local small businesses, consumer groups, Craig from Craigslist, MoveOn, the Christian Coalition, Gun Owners of America, Free Press, musicians REM and Moby, and over 750 other organizations.

Just last week, a similar petition delivery event in New Mexico was covered by local TV, newspapers, and radio. That senator’s staff was surprised at the large crowds outside their office, and even invited local residents inside to discuss why Net Neutrality was important to them. The senator definitely got the message that his constituents care—and that message will help us in upcoming Senate votes.

Can you help us deliver a message to Senator Kennedy that he should support Net Neutrality? Sign up for Wednesday’s petition delivery by clicking here:

http://civic.moveon.org/event/internetpetitions/10791?id=8556-6073875-qrBtPncEc9zHd9FkTJykAg&t=3

Thanks for all you do.

–Eli Pariser, Adam Green, Noah T. Winer, and the MoveOn.org Civic Action team
Thursday, August 24th, 2006

P.S. Here’s some more information about Net Neutrality:

1. Where your senators stand:
http://www.savetheinternet.com/=senatemap

The petition to Congress can be signed at:
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1826&id=8556-6073875-qrBtPncEc9zHd9FkTJykAg&t=4

2. What is Net Neutrality?

Right now, your Internet company doesn’t get to choose which websites open quickly on your computer. They can’t decide that Google will open more quickly than Yahoo, or that the website of a company they own will open more quickly than a competitor. That’s because of Net Neutrality—the rule that’s been in place since the Internet was created that says Internet service providers can’t discriminate between websites.

Telephone and cable companies (like AT&T, Verizon, BellSouth, Comcast, and Time Warner) want to eliminate Net Neutrality so they can put tollbooths on the Internet and speed up sites that pay them the most. They’ve been quite blatant about it—here’s what one top executive told the Washington Post:

“William L. Smith, chief technology officer for Atlanta-based BellSouth Corp., told reporters and analysts that an Internet service provider such as his firm should be able, for example, to charge Yahoo Inc. for the opportunity to have its search site load faster than that of Google Inc.” (Washington Post, December 1, 2005)

Some informative links:

“Executive Wants to Charge for Web Speed,” Washington Post, December 1, 2005
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1902&id=8556-6073875-qrBtPncEc9zHd9FkTJykAg&t=5

“Net Losses,” New Yorker, March 20, 2006
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1646&id=8556-6073875-qrBtPncEc9zHd9FkTJykAg&t=6

How Net Neutrality affects you
http://www.savetheinternet.com/=threat

Joint Op-Ed on Net Neutrality, MoveOn and Christian Coalition, Washington Times, June 16, 2006
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1884&id=8556-6073875-qrBtPncEc9zHd9FkTJykAg&t=7

Who supports Net Neutrality?

Over 1 million Internet users
http://www.savetheinternet.com/=press11

Over 750 grassroots organizations across the country
http://www.savetheinternet.com/=members

Political groups from left and right
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1884&id=8556-6073875-qrBtPncEc9zHd9FkTJykAg&t=9

Small businesses
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1964&id=8556-6073875-qrBtPncEc9zHd9FkTJykAg&t=10

Bigger businesses
http://www.freepress.net/news/15288

College football teams
http://www.savetheinternet.com/=football

Video gamers
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1965&id=8556-6073875-qrBtPncEc9zHd9FkTJykAg&t=11

Jon Stewart
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DClkE64nFDY

The Daily Show correspondents
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YedWtX9tKE

REM
http://www.remhq.com/flash/news/news.html?news_id=2072

Moby
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1966&id=8556-6073875-qrBtPncEc9zHd9FkTJykAg&t=12

The “Broadband”
http://www.savetheinternet.com/broadband.html

Techno fans
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=1954&id=8556-6073875-qrBtPncEc9zHd9FkTJykAg&t=13

17,000 MySpacers
http://www.myspace.com/savetheinternet

Thousands of bloggers
http://www.savetheinternet.com/=blogger“

 

Harvard Law School Course Opens Access to Education Using New Web Tools

Watch the course tralier

An exciting new educational opportunity, “CyberOne: Law in the Court of Public Opinion” is hoping to advance open access to education using new web media tools.

The course is being taught at Harvard Law School and at Harvard Extension School through Second Life. Class videos will be made available through Cambridge Community Television and on the web for the public “at large”.

As a Staff Assistant the Berkman Center, I’ve been fortunate to be able to follow the development of this course being led by Havard Law School Professor Charles Nesson and his daughter Rebeccca Nesson. I will be supporting the course, by helping to make the content available as audio podcasts for AudioBerkman, as well as sharing the course videos on the soon to be launched VideoBerkman, on blip.tv.

From the course blog:

“Throughout the course we will be studying many different media technologies to understand how their inherent characteristics and modes of distribution affect the arguments that are made using them. Students will be immersed in this study through project-based assignments in which they will be using these technologies to make their own arguments.”

The “Course Development Wiki” can be found here.

Understandingly, many educators and educational institutions have been reluctant to open such access to course content on the web because of intellectual property and other legal concerns. However, my personal hope is that the course may help to calm concerns and provide yet another example of the exciting potential that open access can provide to students, educators, educational institutions, and the public through education for those with access to new technologies on the web.

Colin Rhinesmith,
President, ACMEBoston

Further Radio Consolidation Impacts Boston Communities

The Boston Globe’s Adrienne P. Samuels writes today about the recent sale of “the Hub’s only black-owned FM radio station, 97.7 WILD” by Radio One to Entercom Communications Corp.

“The radio market in Boston and its surrounding areas is only 6.4 percent black, according to BIA Financial Network, a Virginia company tracking the radio industry. Still, many black Bostonians said the sale will destroy a cultural connection with fellow urbanites from coast to coast.

. . . An undercurrent of the discussions about WILD yesterday centered on the value of Radio One, a 25-year-old company that owns 70 urban stations across the country.”

Read the article here (requires free registration).

For an interactive chart of Media Ownership in the U.S. visit Free Press: Who Owns The Media?

Boston Public Access TV Producers on Flickr

“BNPG Blogging Crew“

From The Boston Neighborhood Producer’s Group Blog:

“The BNPG is on Flickr! What is Flickr? It’s a great way to share photos, but this is too simple an answer that does not adequately explain how this exciting new web tool can be used.”

Community Media Documentary Released from The Center for Social Media

The Center for Social Media at American University has released a 17 minute documentary produced by Martin Lucas. The video takes “viewers to three different cities where communities are using media to promote workers rights, empower voters, and fill cracks in the social welfare system.”

“Focusing on Chicago’s CAN-TV, Brooklyn’s BCAT and DCTV’s work with the Edgewood Terrace project in Washington D.C.’s Northeast, the video features interviews with community and labor activists, as well as community media professionals including Greg Boozell of CAN-TV, Jessica Venegas of Community Preservation and Development Corporation and Carlos Pareja of Brooklyn’s BCAT.

The video examines details of community media outreach from a media center point of view as well as asking how and why community organizations are taking up media tools in these three cities.”

Watch the documentary here.

Cape Cod Times on Last Wednesday’s DTE Hearing

Verizon Cable Plan Decried (via Free Press)

From Cape Cod Times, August 17, 2006
By David Kibbe

“Municipal officials from across the state packed a hearing room yesterday to fight Verizon’s proposal to speed up cable TV licensing, saying it would harm consumers.

Verizon, which is seeking to break into the Massachusetts cable market, wants the state to require cities and towns to hold a hearing on a cable license within 60 days of receiving an application, and to make a decision within 30 days after the hearing. Denials could be appealed to the Department of Telecommunications and Energy.”

Read the article here.

Can You Hear Us Now, Verizon?

After attending a public comment hearing whose standing room only crowd testified from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., it’s expected that one will be exposed to quite a range of perspectives. And for many different reasons, and a lot of the same, a strong and unmistakable majority (49 to 8 public speakers, at my count) of the voices present rang together in strong opposition to Verizon’s appeal to plow into Massachusetts as cable providers without having to follow the longstanding rules that other providers had to meet upon entering towns.

The Cable Division of the Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Energy met yesterday to discuss Verizon’s proposal to limit a local municipality’s ability to negotiate cable franchising agreements to a mere, and alarmingly dismissive, 90 days. In the 90 days, Verizon suggests, a town should be able to navigate the complex legal licencising process, ascertain the needs of the town, and negotiate Public Educational and Government (PEG) TV channel rights.

While Verizon representatives spoke first in a challenge to Massachusetts towns, who they claim have a “bureaucratic resistance to change,” town and city representatives, board of selectpersons members, cable advisory committee volunteers and PEG channel producers and executives from across the state followed with compelling stories to counter Verizon’s proposal.

The franchising negotiation process “is not like buying a copier for town hall,” one speaker remarked. Towns need the ability to hold cable providers accountable to their individual needs, and 90 days is insufficient time to complete all of the work necessary in recognizing what is fair to request of a massive corporation who will be using public rights of way for their own profit.

Towns such as Canton, Lexington and Westboro spoke of their current negotiations with Verizon, all far more than 90 days in. They told horror stories about Verizon’s reluctance to have open communication, the inflexibility they face from Verizon in negotiations, and Verizon’s habit of straying from the honored and recognized definitions of technical terms and language. The time it is taking to reach agreement, the towns argue, has been exaggerated due to Verizon’s lack of effort, not theirs.

Other towns, such as Northampton and Peabody, spoke to the strong desire to have Verizon enter into their towns as cable service providers. Verizon, however, hasn’t moved forward in consideration of the towns.

Cambridge Community Television and The Lowell Telecommunications Corporation, among others, gave forceful testimony from a PEG channel perspective. Were it not for the town’s ability to properly negotiate for station rights, the diverse and local programming that can be found on the channels – and nowhere else on television – would not be possible. In Massachusetts, PEG channels are vibrant and valued in their communities; many at the hearing noted that their success is in great part to the strong provisions that have been put into the town’s cable franchising agreement, and to the state’s policy that provides them the opportunity to fight for their needs. As the corporate media continues to chase profitable programming at the expense of invested and important information, the voices heard on local outlets must be supported and strengthened, not stifled.

Support for Verizon didn’t come cheap at the hearing; nor can it even be taken at face value. It’s no surprise that those speaking on behalf of Verizon’s proposed rule change have histories working for, or have been financially sponsored by, Verizon. Washington D.C.’s American Consumers Institute, a group made in part of telecommunication industry consultants who bill themselves as an independent consumer organization, showed up to suggest that the “pet projects” for which towns negotiate were unmerited or undeserved. Meanwhile, The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) allowed for money to mire their long-term interests that align with an ability to negotiate for adequate resources for their constituencies. LULAC has been sponsored by Verizon in the past and The NAACP’s current national president is a former president of Verizon’s retail division. The Metrowest Chamber of Commerce and The International Brotherhood of Electrical workers also spoke in support of the proposals on the grounds that Verizon will bring jobs to Massachusetts, but it begs the question: for every job that Verizon creates, how many are lost to other cable companies? How many would be lost to all of the other industries whose practices – theoretically left unchecked due to a muting of PEG channel ability should Verizon get its way – indiscriminately shrink work forces?

The tremendous turnout at the hearing speaks to the importance of this issue, and demonstrates that cities and towns are not willing to allow for Verizon to enter their communities without properly negotiating the agreement. The Department of Telecommunications and Energy respectfully listened to the hours of strong testimony in opposition to Verizon’s request, and now it will be the true test of their intentions as they move forward. Will they take vote in support of a giant corporation’s interest, or will they do the right thing and put the interests of the public first?
Visit the DTE’s website to read Verizon’s proposed rule and to learn more. As well, as of next week, transcriptions from the hearing will become public record and will be available at the DTE’s offices.