State Cable Franchises BAD for Cities, BAD for Public Access, BAD for the People

( NOTE: Elected public officials, and municipal and state administrators have a responsibility to know about this. MD)
Barbara Popovic , Chicago Public Access ( WCCA's counterpart in the windy city) writes :
Preliminary findings from the survey on the Harm to Public, Educational and Government (PEG) Access from State Video Franchising Laws were presented at a meeting with FCC Commissioners Copps and Adelstein at the National Conference for Media Reform (NCRM) in Minneapolis on Friday, June 6. The survey was circulated and results compiled by Michael Eisenmenger on behalf of the ACM's Public Policy Work Group. That report will be expanded and presented soon to the ACM membership and will be available for visits to legislators.

PEG folks who attended the meeting at NCRM shared experiences with the Commissioners regarding what has happened since the advent of statewide franchises. California, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois were among the states that reported. PEG reps from Vermont, New York, Minnesota and the DC area also reported on issues of concern. The testimonials were powerful and gave the Commissioners a snapshot of issues occuring around the country.

There are reports of loss of funding, loss of channels, facility closures, channel slamming, franchise fees, reduced quality and functionality of PEG channels compared to commercial channels, PEG fees being redirected to local gov, and in the case of Illinois where PEG language is the strongest, lack of compliance by AT&T on PEG carriage.

We discussed with the Commissioners ways that the FCC can address the problems that are multiplying. Commissioner Copps reinforced the importance of continuing to collect the data and said that the preliminary report was very helpful. Commissioner Adelstein said that PEG Access is fundamental to our democracy, especially when commercial media is moving away from local coverage and should not be sacrificed in the name of competition. He wants to see regulations get back to what Congrss intended with PEG available in basic service tier at the lowest reasonable rate.

On Saturday at Future of Media Policy panel the day after the PEG meeting, both Commissioners referenced concerns about the attacks on PEG. Commissioner Adelstein said in regards to PEG, "the one media that is trying to be local is being decimated and its just not right." Commissioner Copps mentioned PEG access as one of the remedies for getting more noncommercial media on the air - content the markets won't produce but society requires. (Thanks Lauren-Glenn for those notes.)

I want to extend my thanks to those able to attend this meeting and my apologies if you were at the conference and didn't get word about this. I'm sure there will be future opportunities as we need to continue to shine the light on these critical issues for PEG and our local communities that depend on it.

Barbara Popovic
Executive Director
Chicago Access Network Television (CAN TV)
322 S. Green St.
Chicago, Illinois 60607