Feature Archives

The Federal Communication Commission's only west coast hearing on media and "localism" was held in Monterey, CA on July 21st. Although Chairman Michael Powell, son of Secretary of State Colin Powell, was conspicuously "AWOL," three of the five Commissioners were on hand. Six hundred community members and media activists bumped shoulders with Clear Channel reporters and executives for a chance to speak their piece on the issue of local vs. corporate media.

The FCC was recently ordered by a federal appeals court to review its media consolidation plan, which the FCC had voted to push through despite literally millions of letters of protest from the public pouring in to FCC headquarters in Washington. The FCC's plan would allow a single corporation to buy out smaller firms and own all mass media in a "market," including radio, television, cable, newspapers, newsracks and billboards.

Davey D, from KPFA Berkeley, put in eleven years across the bay at KMEL. In October 2001, while a DJ on KMEL, Davey D conducted an interview with Congresswoman Barbara Lee, the only member of US Congress to vote against going to war in Afghanistan. He was promptly fired from the station, which had recently been acquired by Clear Channel. Davey spoke about the importance of public airwaves, the manipulative ways of corporate media conglomerates, and gave examples of how voices are being omitted "with the media's most powerful tool: Silence."

The open microphone session began at around 8:30 and went almost until midnight. Of the hundreds who came out and lined up to speak, the majority were advocates of tighter regulation on corporate media ownership, and more locally-owned independent media sources to create a healthy democratic debate. Organizations like Alliance for Community Media, Grade the News, Media Alliance and Media Watch were present, as well as pirate radio DJs from Enemy Combatant Radio and Free Radio Santa Cruz.

Photos: 1 | 2 | Audio: 1 | 2 | 3 | Reports: 1 | 2 | 3 | Santa Cruz Indymedia coverage

July 09, 2004: This weekend, StreetLevel TV will be hosting its first volunteer orientation. With four successful shows under its belt, StreetLevel TV is making a name for itself throughout the Bay Area, currently screening in San Francisco on Channel 29 and Berkeley on Channel 28, with plans to syndicate the monthly show in Alameda and Marin. Regardless of your skill level or training in video or television, if you are interested in getting involved, StreetLevel wants to see you this Sunday evening, at Berkeley Community Media at 7pm. There will be a demonstration screening with an edited montage of past segments, yummy food and drinks and a tour of the BCM - with plenty of time for questions! Bring some friends and start making media.. and trouble!

July, 2004: Indybay offers a javascript-based newsfeed, which allows you to add dynamically-updated news headlines to your website. Simply include one line of HTML in your webpage to display our 10 latest headlines. More info In other site-related news, we recently fixed our search engine, found on the left-column of every page on the site.

Between 1996 and 2000, the fifty largest media firms and the four media trade organizations spent $111 million on lobbying Congress - the end result? On June 2, 2003, the Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 to loosen its already-barely existent laws governing media ownership. Under the new laws, gigantic firms like Viacom, Walt Disney and Time-Warner, would have the ability to buy out record numbers of smaller media firms, in some cases owning all forms of local media, including radio, tv, print and billboard space. One of the most controversial changes would have increased the national television cap - which currently limits companies to owning stations that reach no more than 35% of the national audience - to 45%. It was opposed by Congress, which eventually compromised on a 39% limit. Millions of people protested all over the United States, with citizens organizing their own public hearings after being told the FCC would not be having any of their own.

On Thursday, June 24, a federal appeals court, in a historic ruling, overturned the FCC's controversial loosening of media ownership rules that would have given Big Media unprecedented monopolistic power. The Third Circuit Court ruling in the Prometheus Radio Project v. FCC case is a victory for the millions of Americans who protested the FCC decision, but unfortunately the fight doesn't end here. The court has given the FCC the rules back with a less-than-clear directive to "revise or justify them," saying the FCC had "not sufficiently justified its particular chosen numerical limits for local television ownership, local radio ownership and cross-ownership of media within local markets".

Last year, FCC Chairman Michael Powell called for public hearings after millions of Americans decried his gutting of media ownership rules, and his private dealings were found to be directly shaping his policy. On May 26, he decided to cancel his own hearing, citing "scheduling conflicts". At the last hearing in San Antonio, Texas, hundreds rallied against Powell's policies for at least 7 hours, and it would appear that he is not willing to let this happen again. He has made time to attend high-priced National Asssociation of Broadcasters conventions and other media lobbyist events in the past few months, but now has no time for his own "localism and diversity" hearings promised to the people. Media reform groups across the country are taking action to stop this and need your help to make sure a public hearing happens in every major city.

Locally, California is still scheduled to have a public hearing in Monterrey on July 21. Join groups like Media Alliance in demanding that big corporations like Time-Warner start getting reigned in. Check out other Indybay Media Allies.

Meanwhile, the SF Bay Independent Media Center will be presented in a workshop at the ACME Summit in San Francisco. Media activists, filmmakers and imcistas from all over the world came together to challenge big media policy from July 1-4. Saturday, July 3 was the day on which volunteers from Indybay presented.

Sign the Free Press Petition | Prometheus Radio Project | Past Coverage of FCC De-Regulations: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Other IMC Coverage: Santa Cruz | New York | Michigan

9/21/2004: The FOURTH issue is out now! PDF of 4th Issue
8/13/04: The THIRD issue of Fault Lines has hit the streets! (download pdf)
7/10/04: The second issue of Fault Lines has hit the streets! (download pdf)
6/11/04: SF Bay Area Indymedia's new newspaper, Fault Lines, has just hit the streets. (download pdf) Pick up a copy today or subscribe! Each issue brings you local and international stories and in-depth coverage found only in Fault Lines. You can submit your own article by publishing to this site. Distribution points

For the past 4 years the muckrakers of the Bay Area IMC have been throwing fuel on the anti-corporate fire, producing segments for Enemy Combatant Radio and Street Level TV, while keeping all stripes of local radicals united through Indybay.org.

On Thursday May 27th, The Eddie Haskells played with Verboten, Dying in Your Beauty Sleep, Middle Class Assassin and Myth of Progress at Balazo to benefit Fault Lines magazine, the newest arm of the IMC octopus. Getting ready to embark on a summer tour, this will be The Eddie Haskells first SF show since the death of their founding guitarist Ron Apple six months ago. Look for the debut issue of Fault Lines to hit the streets during the upcoming Biotech Conference.
Balazo Gallery, 2811 Mission, S.F.
To get involved with Faultlines, see story on Indybay Print Collective

On Thursday May 27th, The Eddie Haskells play with Verboten, Dying in Your Beauty Sleep, Middle Class Assassin and Myth of Progress at Balazo to benefit Fault Lines magazine, the newest arm of the IMC octopus. Getting ready to embark on a summer tour, this will be The Eddie Haskells first SF show since the death of their founding guitarist Ron Apple six months ago. Look for the debut issue of Fault Lines to hit the streets during the upcoming Biotech Conference. Thursday May 27 9 p.m., Balazo Gallery, 2811 Mission, S.F. $5-10 sliding scale.
More on the Indymedia page