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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 1080.001 2004-2006 Phone: (808) 961-8263 BOB JACOBSON~ Fax: (808) 961-8912 Councilmember Email: j j aco(u~,co. hawaii. hi. us Of M.+' HAWAII COUNTY COUNCIL Counno/'Hairai'i Ha ni'i Connh' Building ;21 25 Aupon Street, Suite 209 Hilo, Haucn'i 96720 - C -C November 14, 2006 Stacy K. Higa, Chair and v Members of the Hawaii County Council, Re: Local Media Access (Resolution 464-06) Aloha everyone, Attached please find more information on the important topic of "Local Media Access". Our charge as policy makers is to ensure access to local media for our residents as a means of continual participation in and awareness of local concerns and events. The current trend in mass media ownership has caused many of the smaller, locally owned media franchises to change to formats that are electronically generated and nationally based. Our local residents need quality local programming they can rely on as well. I have introduced a resolution (464-06) that urges the United States Congress and the Federal Communications Commission to address public interests and community needs for local media including news, access and ownership. This can be addressed by many means, the first should be restricting the amount of smaller franchises the media conglomerates can own and consolidate, by either amending or repealing the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Please read through the information provided here, as resolution 464-06 has been placed on the Council Agenda for tomorrow. Mahalo, Comm. No. 10W. Ref. To: ife 94C I 1 District 6 - Upper Puna, Ka'u, and South Kona Ref. Co°e NOV 15 Hmrai •i Counh' Is An Equal Opportunity Provider And Employer ACM: Getting Media Access Page 1 of 2 Getting Media Access Building Communities Through Electronic Media Throughout the country, over a million people just like you are using electronic media to build a sense of community in their neighborhoods. They've learned how to run N cameras, set lights, edit videotape, and produce top-notch television programming for their community! And all for little or no cost. The funding for media access comes from your town or county which receives "franchise fees" from cable television operators and other commercial telecommunications businesses. The payments are compensation for the use of public property. As you know, the streets of your town are public property, managed by your local government. The poles on the side of the road and the conduits below the ground are also managed by your local government. These "rights-of-way" and "pole attachments" are leased to cable television and other telecommunications companies. Only 10% to 15% of the communities in the country have media access. Every community with cable TV receives franchise fees but not every local government uses those funds for providing public, educational, or governmental (PEG) access services. Unfortunately, no federal law requires local governments to fund media access for their citizens even though public property is used for private gain. Local governments can provide or prevent media access. The decision for providing your community with media access rests with your local government's contract with your local cable company. All cable companies pressure local governments to give the cable companies total control over the cable channels and programming. Local government officials and staff members often give in to the cable companies, especially if they have not conducted a community needs assessment. Here are the steps for gaining media access in your town: 1. Research cable television franchise agreement, ordinances, and compliance. First, go to your town hall and get a copy of the cable television franchise agreement. The critical information to look for is whether (1) the original franchise agreement included PEG access; (2) the terms or conditions for establishing PEG access; and (3) the expiration date of the current franchise agreement. You'll also need to find out if your local government has passed any ordinances dealing with cable television or telecommunications since the agreement was signed. Finally, you should research any reports on how well the cable television operator has complied with the terms of the agreement. 2. Get to know the people responsible for overseeing the cable TV company. You'll need to find out who is responsible for negotiating and overseeing the franchise agreement in your town. Usually it's a staff attorney under the direction of a cable television or telecommunications commission. Find out how citizens get appointed to the commission and when the next seat opens up. You may want to get yourself on the commission or support another candidate who is an advocate for community media. 3. Build a coalition of community organizations. Local neighborhood groups, civic organizations, schools, cultural communities, religious groups, and other non-profit organizations have the most to gain from community media and can be powerful allies. Contact the Alliance national office for partners with chapters in your town. 4. Encourage your local government to devote funds to community media. Use your coalition to encourage your local government to devote some or all of the franchise fees to community media and to force the cable television operator to provide one or more channels. 5. Get connected with the Alliance for Community Media! The Alliance Bookstore has many publications and videos to help you, the Alliance national office can provide legal and organizing advice, Alliance members in nearby Regions and Chapters can provide advice and attend your meetings, and Alliance Meetings and Conferences will provide you with more skills and contacts! With your leadership and the Alliance's assistance, you can help build your own community through electronic media! http://www.alliancecm.org/index.php?page_id=14 10/31/2006 Dyers on America I izen s ass 11age I of 27 r PLWI E I I I I I h.a >Seamh Capitol Crimes eIs God Green? 4The Net at 17,2006 SBER BLOG Net @ Risk: Big, Bigger, Biggest Media Comment on this Do you think that media consolidation is a problem? CLA55 TOPICS Backgrounder: Big and Bigger Media • Capitol Crimee Media ownership rules are again a topic of debate on Capitol Hill, as the rules come o Abramoff, I up for a review and Republican Kevin Martin undergoes hearings to reconfirm him as o Congressio Ethics chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Senator Barbara Boxer grilled o Fixing the Martin about an FCC study on local media ownership, which found local reporting O The Land o decreased markedly after the Telecommunications Act of 1996. In 1984, the number • Is God Green-, of companies owning controlling interests in America's media was 50 - today that o Common G number is six. Critics of media consolidation say it has led to fewer and fewer voices o Reiigon..& being heard - and a marked decrease in local news coverage. Some media watchers Environmet are worried that the much touted "free for all" of the Internet will go the same way. o Religion an Proponents of "net neutrality" worry that the cable and telecom companies providing Politics O Your Envirc the bulk of Internet connectivity will use new fee structures, which may favor some • The Net @ Ris content providers over others. Phone and cable companies have a near monopoly o Big, Bigger over Internet service. More precisely, it's a 'duopoly' - which means that in more than Biggest Me 90 percent of American homes in the U.S... [more] O Community Connection j o Net Neutra Class Is in Session... o The New D In 1941, the federal government regulated the ownership of media outlets to ensure a Divide broad spectrum of opinion. The Local Radio Ownership Rule, National TV Ownership SEARCH Rule stated that a broadcaster cannot own television stations that reach more than - 35% of the nation's homes. Many other regulations followed as the American media search this biog: landscape changed. In the 1980s the climate changed in the U.S. fewer federal regulations became the order of the day under President Reagan. (View a timeline of search media regulation.) ARCHIVES Then came the Telecommunications Act of 1996, signed into law by President Clinton. • October 2006 It is generally regarded as the most important legislation regulating media ownership in • September 20 over a decade. The radio industry experienced unprecedented consolidation after the RECENT POSTS 40-station ownership cap was lifted. Clear Channel Communications now owns 1200 stations, in all 50 states, reaching, according to their Web site, more than 110 million • The Net @ Ris gge listeners every week. Viacom's Infinity radio network holds more than 180 radio Mfed ar, BiggeE stations in 41 markets. Its holdings are concentrated in the 50 largest radio markets in the United States. In 1999, Infinity owned and operated six of the nation's Top 10 radio ®Subscribe to t stations. feed [What is this?] http://www.pbs.org/moyers/citizensclass/the-net-risk/big_bigger_biggest_media/ 10/27/2006 Then in 2003 ownership limits came up for review again media companies wanted ownership rules relaxed further. Among the proposed changes: allowing greater cross-ownership in media markets (newspapers and broadcast stations, radio and television stations) and caps on television and radio stations ownership raised in large markets. In addition, the FCC proposed that a single entity could own television stations reaching up to 45 percent of the national viewership, an increase from 35 percent. In 2003, Barry Diller, the man who created Fox Broadcasting and ran ABC Entertainment, Paramount, Vivendi Universal, spoke out against the rule changes to an industry group - and to Bill Moyers. (Diller is currently chairman and CEO of >WATCH THE D USA Interactive, itself an empire of informational services from the Home Shopping Network to Ticketmaster.) What about the fairness doctrine? Critics of consolidation fear that the fewer the owners the fewer the voices on the airwaves. Several recent cases among them Sinclair Broadcasting's decision not black out names and faces in an episode of NIGHTLINE which listed the names of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq - have media watchers saying conglomerates have too much power over the message heard. The Communications Act of 1934, as amended, called for stations to offer "equal opportunity" to all legally qualified political candidates running for office. In 1949, the FCC adopted the "fairness doctrine," a policy that viewed station licensees as "public trustees" and, as such, responsible for addressing controversial issues of public importance. The key requirement was that stations allowed opportunity for discussion of contrasting points of view on these issues. By the 1980s, many stations saw the FCC rules as an unnecessary burden. Some journalists considered the fairness doctrine a violation of the First Amendment rights of free speech and free press; they felt reporters should be able to make their own decisions about balancing stories. In order to avoid the requirement of presenting contrasting viewpoints, some journalists chose not to cover certain controversial issues at all. In addition, the political climate of the Reagan administration favored deregulation. When the fairness doctrine came before the courts in 1987, they decided that since Congress did not mandate the doctrine, it did not have to be enforced. (You can also see how the major news stations prioritize the news by visiting the Tyndall Report. Andrew Tyndall has watched the major broadcasts for six years.) R What happens to local media? Another key worry surrounding media consolidation is that as ownership of newspapers, radio and television stations are concentrated in fewer hands - a vital connection to the local community is lost. NOW WITH BILL MOYERS and correspondent http://www.pbs.org/moyers/citizensclass/the_net risk/big_bigger_biggest_media/ 10/27/2006 rare j vi 47 • Rick Karr told a cautionary tale about the risks of media consolidation to local communities. The story, broadcast in April 2003, starts in Minot, North Dakota where a train derailment spilled two hundred and ten thousand gallons of ammonia and a toxic cloud. Authorities wanted to get the word out to Minot residents: stay indoors and avoid the area near the derailment. So they tried to get in touch with six local commercial radio stations. All six of those commercial stations - out of a p total of seven in Minot - were owned by one A huge radio and advertising conglomerate: Clear Channel Communications and had replaced live local programs with shows recorded in far-off >WATCH THE VIDEO studios that only sound local. But what does this mean for the internet? Lots of lobbying and advertising money is being spent on net._neutrality and ownership rules in DC. In 2006, the FCC approved the sale of substantially all of the cable systems and assets of Adelphia Communications Corporation to Time Warner Inc. and Comcast Corporation. And, in July 21, 2006, BellSouth shareholders approved the $67 billion sale of the company to AT&T, which would further expand the latter company's reach in the telecommunications sector and place Cingular under a single owner. In addition, the Supreme Court ruling on the Brand X case put cable modem service providers in the class of information provides, not telecommunication service providers - which come under fewer regulations - and are not bound by common carriage rules. At the bottom of the ruling? Cable broadband providers don't have to share their lines with competitors. A ruling which some say will further hamper the spread of high-speed service throughout the nation. (See more on the new digital divide j. Discussion • Do you think that media consolidation is a problem? • Do you feel like you get enough local news coverage? • Do you know who owns your local media outlets? 4 Explore more • See_who owns the med. i.a. • Track local media ownership Print, the.. class Posted by Kristin Mlller/Taylor Willingham at 12:34 AM I Permdlink I Cpmments_(84) I TrackBd4ks_(0) http://www.pbs.org/moyers/citizenselass/the_net risk/big_bigger_biggest_media/ 10/27/2006