ACME Youth Make Video Blog

Watch the video “Too Much TV”

Check out the new ACME Youth Make Video blog set-up by the Center for Media and Democracy:

“This site will be used to post videos that we make during the ACMEcoalition National Conference. With so many great names/faces/speakers/educators/thoughts we think we will be able to make a dozen or so quick short videos that share with you our flavor of what we see at the conference. We also hope this site can stay up after the conference for more youth to post and share their videos from around the sphere.”

Be sure to check out the video blog during the ACME Summit Oct. 6 – 8 and subscribe to the RSS feed for updates.

New Report on Minority & Women TV Station Ownership in U.S.

A new report on media ownership in the U.S. by S. Derek Turner, Research Director at Free Press and Mark Cooper, Fellow at McGannon Communications Research Center, finds that:

• Women comprise 51 percent of the entire U.S. population, but own a total of only 67 stations, or 4.97 percent of all stations.

• Minorities comprise 33 percent of the entire U.S. population, but own a total of only 44 stations, or 3.26 percent of all stations.

• Hispanics or Latinos comprise 14 percent of the entire U.S. population, but only own a total of 15 stations, or 1.11 percent of all stations.

• Blacks or African Americans comprise 13 percent of the entire U.S. population but only own a total of 18 stations, or 1.3 percent of all stations.

• Asians comprise 4 percent of the entire U.S. population but only own a total of 6 stations, or 0.44 percent of all stations.

• Non-Hispanic White owners controlled 1,033 stations, or 76.6 percent of the all stations.

Download the report here.

Read the press release here.

Media Reform Groups Speak Out Against FCC “Scandal”

Press Release from Free Press and the Future of Music Coalition:

Second Secret Study Surfaces at FCC

Whistleblower leaks radio ownership report buried under Powell administration

” A Federal Communications Commission study on the negative impacts of radio consolidation came to light Monday after being buried at the agency for at least two years. This was the second secret FCC study on media ownership to surface in as many weeks.

‘This is a scandal,’ said Josh Silver, executive director of Free Press. ‘Apparently, FCC officials are willing to deep-six any research that contradicts industry’s pro-consolidation claims. They can’t be trusted. There needs to be an independent investigation and a full review of all research conducted under the leadership of Michael Powell and Kevin Martin.’

The study, a ‘Review of the Radio Industry’ conducted by the FCC Media Bureau, found that the Telecommunications Act of 1996 had led to a drastic decline in the number of radio station owners — even as the actual number of commercial stations in the United States had increased.

A copy of the study is available at http://www.stopbigmedia.com/files/radio_ownership.pdf“

The press release is here.

Consuming Kids: Marketing in Schools and Beyond

From CCFC:

CCFC’s 5^th Annual Summit

Consuming Kids:

Marketing in Schools and Beyond

Wheelock College, Boston

October 26-28, 2006

 

Registration

$175 General Admission

$75 students (w/ valid ID)

Registration includes Thursday night reception and Friday/Saturday continental breakfast and lunch

Complete Schedule and List of Presentations and Workshops

3 ways to register

1. Click here to register online

2. To register by phone: Please call Lauren Wholley at (617)278-4280

3. Click here to register by mail/fax.

Click here for information on summit accommodations.

CCFC’s 2006 Consuming Kids summit promises to be our best ever. Since 2001 we have been bringing together distinguished scholars, activists, parents, and educators to talk about how marketing undermines children’s health and well-being and what we can do about it. This year’s summit features a special focus on marketing in schools.

 

The summit kicks off at the Judge Baker Children’s Center on Thursday, October 26 at 7:00 PM with an opening reception and a special presentation of the 2^nd annual Fred Rogers Integrity Award to Raffi Cavoukian, the beloved children’s troubadour. The award, named in honor of the host of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, is given by CCFC to the public figure whose efforts to protect children from harmful marketing best embody Mr. Rogers’ long-standing commitment to nurturing the health and well-being of America’s children.

 

In over three decades of entertaining children, Raffi has steadfastly refused all commercial endorsement offers, and his company has never directly advertised or marketed to children. He is a passionate advocate for a child’s right to live free of commercial exploitation.

 

Friday and Saturday will feature presentations and workshops on topics ranging from Commercialism’s Impact on Learning to Marketing Sex, Violence, and Values and we also examine effective advocacy strategies for reclaiming childhood from corporate marketers.

 

Summit Schedule

• Thursday, October 26, 7:00: Opening Reception with Raffi
• Friday, October 27, 8:30 -5:00 PM: Panels and Workshops
• Saturday, October 28, 8:30 -5:00 PM: Panels and Workshops

Click here for the complete schedule a list of panels and workshops

Click here for Presentations from the 2005 CCFC Summit

Former FCC Chair Accused of Destroying Media Ownership Study

Amazing. In a gift to media reform groups, the AP reports this week that former FCC Chairman Michael Powell ordered a study on how media ownership affects local news coverage to be destroyed, in an attempt to further loosen rules on media consolidation.

AP reported in a separate article yesterday that Powell denies these accusations:

“The draft report, which surfaced earlier this week, was at odds with agency policy under Powell regarding media ownership issues. A former FCC lawyer told the AP that senior managers at the agency ordered the report be destroyed.” – Associated Press, “Powell denies seeing media ownership study”

Read the article here.

Free Press and other media reform groups are calling on current FCC Chairmain Martin to conduct an investigation into the alleged “cover-up”.  Read the press release from Free Press here.

Channel 7 to buy Channel 56 in Boston

The Boston Globe reported yesterday that the owner of WHDH-TV Channel 7 is set to buy WLVI-TV Channel 56. Globe reporter Jenn Abelson reports that the buyout from the Tribune Co. should result in the lose of 150 jobs in an attempt to capture the Boston youth market with “exependable incomes”.

“Miami media mogul Ed Ansin , who owns WHDH-TV (Channel 7) in Boston, said yesterday that he plans to buy WLVI-TV (Channel 56) for $113.7 million and make over its 10 p.m. newscast to appeal to a younger demographic”

Read the article here.

Dollars & Sense Forum on Economic Justice and African-American Communities

A special upcoming event from Dollars & Sense

Economic Justice & African-American Communities
A Dollars & Sense Forum

with
Diane Dujon
Longtime welfare rights and anti-poverty organizer; editor of For Crying Out Loud: Women’s Poverty in the United States; administrator at the College of Public and Community Service, U. Mass-Boston.

Bill Fletcher Jr.
Longtime labor and international activist; until recently president of TransAfrica Forum; former education director of the AFL-CIO following years as an organizer in the SEIU, District 65-UAW, and other unions.

Chuck Turner
Boston City Councilor and longtime activist; has directed a CDC, an organizer training center, and a jobs agency for construction workers of color; worked at a nonprofit consulting firm focused on establishing worker cooperatives.

Friday, September 15, 2006
7:00 p.m.
Community Church of Boston
565 Boylston Street
Copley Square, Boston

Sliding-scale contribution: $5 to $20
Reception following the forum: contribution of $20 or more

This forum honors Chris Tilly, scholar and activist of labor and equality issues, who “retired” from the Dollars & Sense collective this year after 20 years of dedicated involvement.
Please join us in celebrating Chris’s contribution !!

For more information or to purchase tickets,
please call 617-447-2177 or visit www.dollarsandsense.org.
Tickets also available at the door.

Since 1974, Dollars & Sense has been a leading source of left economic analysis. A perennial Project Censored award winner, its bimonthly magazine demystifies mainstream economics and gives voice to those the capitalist system leaves behind. In addition, its “Real World” series of classroom readers reaches 10,000 undergraduates each year, subverting the neoliberal orthodoxy that dominates the college economics curriculum and inspiring a new generation of economic-justice activists.

Telecom Bill Stalled in Congress?

Media Week’s Todd Shields reported Monday that the telecom bill in Congress may be stalled, or “disconnected” as the article suggests, due to the upcoming election season and other legislative priorities on Capitol Hill:

“The bill has prevailed in several votes and now needs an OK from the full Senate to clear Congress. But opponents have the calendar working for them. Lawmakers return to work Sept. 5 and adjourn by early October for the fall election campaign. The intervening weeks are likely to be jammed with routine appropriations and debate on national security.” – “Telecom Bill May Be Disconnected“

Read the article here.

Globe Columnist Reponds to Local Radio Consolidation

In Adrian Walker’s column in the Globe today, titled “Tuning out a community“, he talks about the recent sale of Boston radio station WILD-FM (see “Further Radio Consolidation Impacts Boston Communities“).

Walker writes,

“The sale was another reminder that a so-called minority-majority city seldom feels like one when money and power come into play.

. . . What’s done is done. But there is a large community in this city clamoring for ownership and a larger voice it can call its own.”

He also writes that some Boston residents have begun organizing in response.

Read the article here (requires free registration).

ACME Board President Rob Williams at Wednesday’s Save The Internet – Vermont Event

“Pictures from VPIRG’s SavetheInternet Coalition’s Net Neutrality Event“

From Vermont PIRG:

“August 31, 2006 in front of Senator Jeffords office in Montpelier, Vermont

Press release here includes speaker bios“

Go Rob, ACME, and VPIRG!

For more, read “National Outpouring of Support for Net Neutrality” from the SaveTheInternet.com blog.