PEG

The Steely Dan Song? Nope--it stands for Public, Educational, and Government Access TV channels. Like Wayne's World in the olden days, only a lot more sophisticated today. Yep, we're talking Public Access TV.

The overwhelming trend toward media consolidation has significantly reduced the opportunities available to TV viewers to find original, locally relevant programming. Local citizens (for the time being anyway) still have Public Access channels (PEG) which can be used to broadcast locally produced or otherwise unique programming that cannot be found on the big media channels (ever watch the Math Homework Help show?). But if big media's lapdog "regulatory" agency (the FCC) has their way, PEG Access TV may go the way of the dinosaur too.

It appears that the FCC is readying new rules which will allow local cable operators to raise the fees they charge to local governments for having access to these PEG TV channels. Charter Media provides cable service for much of the High Country--their PEG TV channel (Ch. 2) carries everything from the Boone mayor's report and town council meetings to AGR TV News and church programming. So, if Charter Media raises the PEG fees they charge to local governments, the local governments will either have to absorb the fees, stop paying the fees, or pass the fees on to the local citizens. In short, the public loses--again.

From the Alliance for Community Media:

Washington, DC, September 14, 2007 — In another blow to consumers and cities, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is expected soon to decree that any company now under contract with a local government to provide video services may have the right to renegotiate better terms for itself, putting at risk America’s public access channels, first‑responder communications capability, and millions of dollars in franchise fees used by cities and towns for public safety and infrastructure.

...

According to recent media reports, the FCC is expected any day to rule that existing cable operators can, under certain circumstances, back out of key provisions in their current franchise contracts with local governments, renegotiate lower municipal fees, and reduce the benefits they currently provide to the public...

Public access channels are made available for government, educational and community programming, such as high school football or Little League games, city or county council meetings, and homework help.

...

“This new FCC order could put many PEG channels out of business...

“Not only would the FCC’s rulings create chaos and uncertainty for our communities; they have the potential to create a real budget gap for our municipalities that would have to be closed, either by reducing important local government services or raising fees or taxes in other areas,” Beaty said. “This FCC order is a win for big business and a loss for the people of this country.”

WXIT 1200 AM

Thank goodness for WXIT--and Rush. By carrying Rush, WXIT helps to inform the local citizenry, and performs a noteworthy public service. Here is the latest example, from Media Matters:

During the September 20 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, discussing a newly released audio tape reported to be from Osama bin Laden in which he calls for Pakistanis to overthrow President Pervez Musharraf, Rush Limbaugh asserted: "Well, we've got another tape from -- I get these guys confused -- Usama bin Laden. Another tape says he's going to invade Pakistan and declare war on Pakistan and Musharraf, which, ladies and gentlemen, puts him on the same page with a Democrat presidential candidate -- that would be Barack 'Uss-Obama.' "

Big media's assertion that they are simply giving the people what they want by airing personalities like Rush is getting a bit stale. Ignoring their responsibility to the public interest through the relentless pursuit of profit does nothing to serve democracy. While our local media titans have every financial incentive to inundate the airwaves with Rush-style hate mongering, they have no financial incentive whatsoever to consider the long term impact that this inundation will have on the health of our democracy. Thank goodness for WXIT.

Alcohol, Kids, and RADIO

The next time you gather your family to listen to ASU playing football (or Duke, Carolina, NC State) on the radio, stop for a moment and listen to the number of ads you hear for alcohol-related products.

A recent study by Georgetown University shows that alcohol-related radio ads are reaching a disproportionately large number of minors (aged 12 to 20). 36% of the ads in the study sample (approximately 337,000 ads) were being carried on programs that youth were more likely to hear on a per capita basis.

Why? It is difficult not to see this as being the alcoholic beverage industry's answer to Big Tobacco: target your marketing to kids, so that your company can be assured of plenty of future customers. It is, after all, all about profit.

This an example of what happens when the FCC takes a hands-off approach to regulation enforcement--and yes, there are specific FCC rules which cover alcohol-related advertisements targeted to minors.

Lots of folks in the High Country have strong feelings about alcohol--and their kids too. We wonder if anyone will contact a local radio station to express their concerns.

Here Come The Copps

FCC Commissioner Michael J. Copps has long promoted media diversity, and has fought against the kind of consolidation we're seeing these days--in radio, newspapers, and television. Unfortunately for all of us, he has been in the minority at the FCC since 2000.

Here is a brief excerpt from one of his latest articles penned for the Seattle Times:

We have a [media] system that has been buffeted by an endless cycle of consolidation, budget-cutting, and bureau-closing. We have witnessed the number of statehouse and city hall reporters declining decade after decade, despite an explosion in state and local lobbying.

What has caused this appalling degeneration of our media? One factor, I am ashamed to say, is the abdication of responsibility by regulators at the Federal Communications Commission.

Another factor is the FCC’s woeful record of stepping aside to allow wave after wave of consolidation in the broadcast and print business. Though there are rules on the books designed to prevent too much cross-ownership of TV, radio and print properties in a single market, we have not enforced them with the rigor they deserve.

If technology and changes in the economics of the news business have made the old ways impossible, we need to find new ways to develop a media system that can serve democracy. That is not a luxury, it is a necessity.

His words about the negative aspects of media consolidation are much needed.

The High Country could serve as a microcosm for the nation:

• 5 radio stations owned by a single corporate entity

• The Watauga Democrat and Mountain Times is owned by a single corporate entity (from out of state), along with the Avery Journal, Blowing Rocket, etc.

There is one significant independent newspaper (High Country Press). There is one low-power television station, with a very limited news operation.

We agree with The Copps. It is time to start enforcing FCC cross-ownership rules, contesting radio license renewals, and pushing for true local media diversity. Our democracy demands nothing less than total engagement.

Link to the full article here.

SourceWatch, Clear Channel, and Plagiarism

You seem to hear it everyday: "Consolidation is good. Profit is good. Bigger is better."

How exactly does the public benefit from a consolidated media landscape? Does big media take the public service component of their work seriously?

Take Clear Channel Communications, Inc., for example. With over 1,100 radio stations, 41 television stations, and many other outlets (like billboards), they reach over 154 million people--or 75% of the 18 year-old and over demographic. With those kinds of numbers, they've got to be a great company.

Unless you oppose them, of course. But really, you'd think Clear Channel would be much more efficient when it comes to dirty tricks--after all, anyone will tell you that efficiency is the hallmark of consolidation.

We bet you've heard of Wikipedia. Lately, Wikipedia has been in the news because various corporations (and governments) have been surreptitiously editing entries on the Wikipedia site--essentially trying to turn the Wikipedia site into something that looks like a company press release, or a good piece of propaganda.

Unfortunately for Clear Channel, folks are watching what they are up to. Clear Channel Communications was caught using one of their own computers to accuse a Senate candidate of plagiarism. Why would a big media company do such a thing? Is it possible that the Senate candidate in question dared to question the wisdom of media consolidation?

How many independent radio stations are left in the High Country? Aisling Broadcasting owns the five local radio stations around Boone. Not exactly a competitive market anymore. Clear Channel would be proud.

A Little Credit, And More Questions

Some credit is due to the folks at the Watauga Democrat, who recently wrote an article about the new Army recruiting office in Boone on Greenway Road. Take a look at the article. Unfortunately, left unmentioned in the article were our questions from a previous post made on the DNHC site:

1) What kind of access will the recruiters have to area schools?

2) What will their recruiting techniques consist of?

In the meantime, others are beginning to ask questions about how our vets are doing once they return home. As we previously posted (scroll down or click on the archives), we wonder about how our local vets are getting along these days, and whether or not they need help--and if they are getting all of the benefits that they are entitled to. Why is there no local mainstream media coverage of this issue?

Lunch Anyone?

Would you like your elementary school child to have lunch with a military recruiter?

Increasingly, military recruiters are targeting younger and younger children as they seek to fulfill the seemingly ever increasing needs of the U.S. military. Start 'em young you know? Endless war will do that.

Recently, High Country media outlets reported on the new Army recruiting office located on Greenway Road in Boone. We wonder what kind of access these recruiters will have to students in the area. We wonder what their recruiting techniques will consist of.

Did you know that there is a movement called Counter Recruiting? For some reason, information about this movement was left out of the stories covering the new Army recruiting office. How much local advertising do you think the Army recruiting office will purchase on High Country airwaves and in area newspapers?

There is a new book out called "Army of None." Here is what its about:

Uniformed U.S. Army Officers lunch with students in elementary school cafeterias. Army training programs including rifle and pistol instruction replace physical education in middle schools. Like never before, military recruiters are entering the halls of U.S. schools with unchecked access in an attempt to bolster a military in crisis.

However, even as these destructive efforts to militarize youth accelerate, so do the creative and powerful efforts of students, community members, and veterans to challenge them. Today, the counter recruitment movement—from counseling to poetry slams to citywide lobbying efforts—has become one of the most practical ways to tangibly resist U.S. policy that cuts funding for education and social programs while promoting war and occupation. Without enough soldiers, the U.S. cannot sustain its empire.

Army of None exposes the real story behind the military-recruitment complex, and offers guides, tools, and resources for education and action, and people power strategies to win.

Army veteran Aimee Allison has led school and community counter-recruitment activities over the last decade. She is a contributor to 10 Excellent Reasons Not to Join the Military. Global justice and antiwar organizer David Solnit is the editor of Globalize Liberation: How to Uproot the System and Build a Better World.