What's On Your TV?
What’s on television?
Cable companies set the menu for what you can watch in your city, but every few years, cable franchise licenses come up for renewal. And at that time, you can help persuade your local government to require those companies to reconsider what kinds of programs they carry, and to expand the diversity and value of their offerings. One way is to increase the number of public access channels. For more on this, contact Alliance for Community Media .
What’s on the radio?
A huge chunk of the programming going over the airwaves is now determined by a handful of executives at companies like Clear Channel, owner and operator of more than 1,200 stations. So you can help support and promote the growing number of alternatives, which include locally owned and run stations, Pacifica, Air America, Internet radio, podcasts, and, notably, community-run “low-power FM” stations—which, facing severe obstacles, now appear poised to emerge in a bigger way, thanks to the Local Community Radio Act of 2005, from Senators John McCain, R-Ariz., Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. As noted recently by the Utne Reader , “the bill would expand LPFM service nationwide, easing the burden on would-be LPFM stations to prove noninterference with commercial broadcasters.” For more on LPFM, including information on obtaining a license, contact Prometheus Radio Project .
What’s on public broadcasting?
Common Cause, recognizing that the campaign financing system can’t be changed unless the media are reformed—and the best parts protected— is involved with a “Hands Off NPR and PBS” campaign. You can find out about it here .
Cable companies set the menu for what you can watch in your city, but every few years, cable franchise licenses come up for renewal. And at that time, you can help persuade your local government to require those companies to reconsider what kinds of programs they carry, and to expand the diversity and value of their offerings. One way is to increase the number of public access channels. For more on this, contact Alliance for Community Media .
What’s on the radio?
A huge chunk of the programming going over the airwaves is now determined by a handful of executives at companies like Clear Channel, owner and operator of more than 1,200 stations. So you can help support and promote the growing number of alternatives, which include locally owned and run stations, Pacifica, Air America, Internet radio, podcasts, and, notably, community-run “low-power FM” stations—which, facing severe obstacles, now appear poised to emerge in a bigger way, thanks to the Local Community Radio Act of 2005, from Senators John McCain, R-Ariz., Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. As noted recently by the Utne Reader , “the bill would expand LPFM service nationwide, easing the burden on would-be LPFM stations to prove noninterference with commercial broadcasters.” For more on LPFM, including information on obtaining a license, contact Prometheus Radio Project .
What’s on public broadcasting?
Common Cause, recognizing that the campaign financing system can’t be changed unless the media are reformed—and the best parts protected— is involved with a “Hands Off NPR and PBS” campaign. You can find out about it here .
posted by Jim Markunas at 3:51 AM
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