Save Public Access

This chart below was published on line by onlinemba.com On line MBA

We are happy there is advocacy for this, and there should be. It is most important that the people, particularly those who are disenfranchised, have access to participate on both sides of the spectrum ( up and down ) and are not solely exploited to generate user content to ultimately benefit phone, cable or companies such as Google, YouTube, etc..

WCCA TV looks for a public access component to ensure people have access to channels of communication, tools to enable real participation, and education to facilitate and help meet all community media needs whether on line, or anything yet to be invented.

The chart does have some helpful resources.

This was shared on the ACM listserve. I think it is well worth your reading it:
Enclosure of the internet . You can also read this interesting time line by clicking on the following read more

Watch this following video link and you may agree why I think it is pretty clear that there are some legislators in Washington that are heavily lobbied to cut what is truly TV BY FOR and OFF THE PEOPLE, aka PUBLIC ACCESS/Community Media Television stations out. Here is the link : Rep. Serrano to Genachowski: What About Fair & Equal Treatment of PEG Access Channels?

We applaud Representative Serrono's words on this subject. The FCC has taken over a year, and has still failed to make adequate assurances to guarantee the protection of Public Access is very suspicious to say the least. It raises many questions. There is no question, after decades of public access experiences in over 1,500 cities and towns across the USA, that PUBLIC ACCESS serves as an important and valuable anchor institution in a community. So there can only be limited answers to why the FCC or congress has not yet mandated improved guaranteed assurances to protect Public Access centers such as WCCA TV.

PUBLIC ACCESS TELEVISION is a place where the PEOPLE, rather than a cable or phone company or the government, are in control of disseminating free speech, educational material , views and opinions, a free flow of information, a diverse and shared view of the world. We must all recognize that perhaps this is why some in power perceive this as some sort of threat and perhaps why some cable and phone companies and, in some cases, even political entities, and some in government, can't stand the existence of a public forum on television.

I am aware of many who feel that if our political leaders and municipal and state authorities you can not appreciate the value of the product of a public access station , you have no business working in a democratic government or claiming to build or care about community or individual rights or government transparency.

Transparency is not just about what government allows the people to see it is also about maintaining open forums for the people to express their point of view. Stations such as WCCA make that possible, without government intervention. That is not a threat to our community but a healthy and nurturing thing.

When government stalls on moving to protect assurances to protect PUBLIC ACCESS television, where companies lobby or make attempts to either trivialize or bury PUBLIC ACCESS channels in a maze of the digital cosmos, where there are moves to diminish funding and capital that are intended to support Public Access, it may be argued that those are actions are against us, the people, against our ability to be self empowered, against our gaining opportunity to improve our lives, against our basic freedom and civil liberties, against true local participation.

Take note of who those are and do not tolerate any threats to PUBLIC ACCESS Television.

Thanks for taking time to read this. Sorry for the rant.

The telecom industry expects to rake in over 250 BILLION dollars by 2014 from video services.

According to CONNECTED PLANET:
Video services market expected to top $250 billion in 2014
Campbell, CALIFORNIA, June 1, 2010—Market research firm Infonetics Research released the first edition of its 2010 biannual Video Services and Subscribers report, which tracks telco Internet Protocol television (IPTV), cable video, and satellite video services and subscribers.
Iink

Our legislators need to ensure that these "video services" are subject ot franchise regulations to protect consumers as well as to provide provisions to support important valuable Public, Educational and Government channel and facility resources.

It as it seems so to us. Okay maybe not really a "byline" in the literary sense, but perhaps using the paradigm, or a model of what public access has been, in large part, for decades. that is by providing a way for people to have their own show on TV.

OPRAH may have her own network. Guess what residents of Worcester? SO DO YOU. It's right here, WCCA TV 13, on cable and streaming on line, and seen around the world.

The People's Channel" is your network, in fact, it is more than JUST a network. It is a place where you can learn, create and connect. A community resource. You already have your own without OPRAH.

OPRAH is very wealthy, it is wonderful that she can put her pocket book into her shows and network and that is fantastic. At WCCA TV, however, you can too, as much as you like. If you don't have OPRAH bucks, it is still possible to have your own show or be on TV.

I am monitoring the FCC's "Workshop on Public and Other Noncommercial Media in the Digital Era" FCC workshop. There is a discussion focusing upon public media, non-profit journalism, media diversity, and topics including local communities. FCC members are listening to PBS producers, and administrators, broadcast lobbyist, and others. But missing from the table are PUBLIC ACCESS stations.

How can the FCC be serious about holding a workshop or any public forum covering a topic that includes the word "Public Media" while excluding groups representing Public Access stations?

It is disturbing to hear the term "public media" in the context of open debate concerning issues such as government funding, media diversity, local journalism without representation from Public Access organizations present. The public access community should also be outraged and outraged that through such discussions, at a government agency level, others are allowed to cloud the public access brand by, what I feel is infringing upon, the term " public media " as they exclude public access television centers.

Public Access television can be found all over this country and may be as broad based and widely seen as any other broadcast or cable network.

We say that "WCCA TV is more that a TV station , it is a community resource" and that is what makes us so unique. Not only are public access stations such as WCCA TV 13, providing important unique and local news and information programming. It does something that no other media, including PBS does. It provides hands on opportunities and media tools, to individuals as well as organizations, necessary to learn and develop skills in television and electronic media production as well as to directly participate in the creation and distribution of what I believe is the most relevant programming in a public forum that is presented on television and digital outlets. Public Access generally benefits their community with a substantially much higher return ( exceeding 150 times more in many cases) for the public investment as well.

I invite you to go back an review What is going on at WCCA for a glimpse at what this public access center is doing. Imagine, the combined value of every access center in Massachusetts and even the nation.

Learn, Create, Connect those three words sum up what WCCA TV 13 , "The People's Channel", is all about.
Support Public Access Television today.

I hope the FCC would consider being a little more inclusive with future workshops.

I consider WCCA TV to be public, by nature of it's mission and non-commercial content don't you.

Dear Member of Congress

On behalf of WCCA's Board of Directors, staff, members and supporters of TV 13, “The People Channel”, we ask you to please support the CAP Act (H.R. 3745).

Please note that our request joins a great many across this state to urge that you, in addition to supporting the CAP Act, and ask you colleagues in Congress to do so as well and to also request that they communicate with the FCC that it is past time that the Commission acted upon the Alliance of Community Media's (ACM's) Petition challenging the validity of AT&T's channel 99 PEG plan.

Language in this act is needed to ensure that the franchise funding for non-profit access centers such as WCCA will not be diminished.

Public Access television, especially non-profit facilities such as WCCA

The other day, while discussing the important value of Public Access television with a friend, it occurred to me that one thing that seems to be overlooked when the subject of PEG TV or Pubic Access television comes up is the profound difference between Public Access/ community TV and commercial TV, a profound difference that federal, state and local legislators should be keenly aware of and take advantage of for the good of their communities.

I never understood why many cable and telecom companies have resisted franchise licencing or the mandate to fund and to support public access television. As an institution, Public Access is a community resources, building community in a way that can set the ground work needed for a sustainable commercial markets.

Our legislators have an opportunity through HR 3745, the
Community Access Preservation Act (CAP) to ensure support for Public Access as a good for their community and business constituencies.

The goal of commercial television, as it is with really any commercial enterprise, is to exploit a market. Although the commercial enterprise may wish to sustain it's ability to sell product, ultimately, it's role is to exhaust the market share.

On the other hand, the goal of Public Access/Community TV, as it is really with any non-profit community media, is to nurture, enrich and build community through media. A Sustainable public access mission, provides a rich community resource which inspires, invigorates and even encourages growth in related commercial markets in fields of cable services, television and video production and other creative economy initiatives.

Of interest:
Bankruptcy Judge Slams Charter Founder Allen

On Broadband DSL reports, Karl Bode writes:
"Charter founder Paul Allen got a stern talking to yesterday in a Manhattan bankrupcty court. According to the New York Post, US Bankruptcy Court Judge James Peck asked Allen's personal financial rep if it "appears somewhat unseemly for a person as wealthy as Allen" to be benefiting financially from the cable operator's bankruptcy plan. Charter's restructuring calls for Allen to be paid around $200 million and is tailored specifically to lessen Paul Allen's personal tax burden. Despite the fact that Charter has never been profitable and suffers from some of the worst customer support in the business, company CEO Neil Smit has also had a very profitable implosion. "

Do you remember my most recent posting which was about astroturf groups? If so, please consider this:
Thomas Jefferson has been quoted to say "Information is the Currency of Democracy", these fake groups (astroturf lobbyist who pretend to be grass roots when they are NOT and more likely to be representing a special corporate interest) sway legislators and the public under the mask of deceit.
I wonder if Jefferson would consider that as an equivalent to printing phony money. Wouldn't that be illegal?