• Nearly 80% of all adults in the Republic of Ireland agree that news and current affairs is sometimes biased towards the views of its owners
• 3 in 4 adults worry that individual people or businesses have too much ownership of the media.
• 84% feel that community radio would add to the diversity of content available to them as listeners
• Only 39% of those surveyed were aware that communities can set up their own community radio station.

News – Current Story in Full.

A quick search reveals that the case is still being litigated. Thus, the ‘must pay’ is merely the claim being made by his former employer, and no damages have yet been assessed. Indeed, if what Kravitz says is correct, it looks like this is a counter-suit aimed at balancing out his claim for a share of PhoneDog’s advertising revenue.

RTÉ’s headline is fine, but the sub-heading implies that the suit has been settled, and compensation levels set. I’m not sure how much copy-editing RTÉ employs before adding news articles to its site, but this is something that could have been caught (and easily corrected) by a good copy-editor – or caused by poor editing that sought to simplify an overly complex construction in the draft lead.

I was reminded of this today when I saw this tidbit from Inside Radio (the story itself is behind a pay-wall):

AG: Talk show not contribution.

Maryland Attorney General’s office says it doesn’t consider a radio talk show a campaign contribution. WBAL, Baltimore talk host and former Republican Governor Robert Ehrlich has said he plans to remain on the air until he announces his bid in July to reclaim the governor’s office. Several Democratic groups protested his radio show, saying WBAL was giving Ehrlich an unfair advantage.

Radio stations are, during an election campaign, subject to the Equal Time rule, which requires (with certain exceptions) that stations provide time to all candidates under the same terms and conditions. The rule is codified in 47 USC 315. That rule, though, only covers ‘legally qualified candidates’ so there’s a loophole as:

Ehrlich has declared his intentions to run for governor and has started campaigning but has not yet officially filed his candidacy.

(In an added absurdity, Ehrlich actually has a campaign spokesperson, who is issuing statements about the issue that are clearly part of a campaign for office: “We were confident all along we were right in our position. And we hope now that everyone can focus on the issues that are important to Marylanders which are lower taxes and creating new jobs.”)

Those stations which hold non-commercial licenses (WBAL holds a commercial broadcast license) from the FCC are also banned, by FCC regulation, from selling airtime or airing ‘calls to action’, which largely prevents the airing of campaign ads. Further, many non-commercial stations are organized as 501 (c) 3 organizations, and so subject to IRS regulations that restrict political activities.

With this story, despite the advice from the office of the (Democratic) Attorney General that the show should not be considered a political donation to Ehrlich, we are reminded that state electoral financing rules might also affect what can, or cannot, be aired, and that the situation might differ state by state.

Incidentally, WBAL is covering the story heavily online and over the air today – together with another where Ehrlich’s non-candidacy status is actually hampering him somewhat, as supporters are being cited for zoning violations, for large (32-square foot) signs that don’t fall under the exception for election candidates. You can’t always have it both ways….

The keynotes, by independent journalists from Oaxaca and Palestine, were humbling and inspiring. I look forward to downloading the promised audio soon and making it available through A Critical Ear.

The food… the food was abundant and delicious. Props to the various caterers and restaurants used. The scenery, in Portland and on the train journey from and to Seattle, was beautiful and refreshing. Powell’s was a rare treat (as was a return visit to Left Bank Books in Seattle this afternoon).

Finally, the KBOO studios were impressive and inspiring. Their audio archive – with 40 years of public affairs tapes, cassettes, and more, from independent and radical sources – is the sort of place I’d love to have an opportunity to ensconce myself in for a considerable period.

More detail when I return to Urbana and am able to compile some of my notes and recordings from the event. Until then, a fair summary is: inspiring and useful. Both Portland and GRC demand return visits.

This evening we headed back to the conference center – from which I write this post – where the evening entertainment consists of a stream of luminaries from media, politics, and the media reform movement. We came in late, just in time to catch the talk from the manager of Radio Arte in Chicago, which was upbeat and cheering to hear. The other speakers vary in their energy levels – Byron Dorgan was amusing and engaging, others more downbeat. It’s a strange way to spend a Saturday evening, really, but the hall is about 2/3 full, I would estimate, which indicates that most people have chosen to return for the event (or stayed on site).

As with the experience of realizing one is surrounded by tables of fellow activists, there can be something invigorating about being in such a large crowd of like-minded people. I tend to feel, though, somewhat more passion and energy in a march, where we are more participants than audience. … Strangely, as I wrote those very words, Naomi Klein spoke of the need to stop treating politicians “as celebrities, as rock stars” – that is, that the public should have an active relationship with their politicians, pushing back and shaping their actions and policies. As she puts it, “the greatest gift you can give Barack Obama” is to keep the pressure on, so when he talks with Wall Street backers he can say “I’ve got to do it – they’re crazy out there.”

That, of course, is a large part of why I’m involved with community media – not to pressure Obama, or politicians specifically, but because an active public, the members of which understand themselves as active players in society on an ongoing basis, shaping their own realities, rather than spectators occasionally called on to cast a ballot one way or another on a pre-set menu of options.

Update: They’re ending with a progressive preacher, who’s told us he’s hopped up on red bull, and it’s a good thing, I think. He’s talking about drawing strength from others when activists get tired of fighting. “What can we do to build a stronger movement for change? …. We can find the strength to keep going…. through unity. What does that mean? …. In the words of John Maxwell, unity is made real when we are able to come together in spite of our differences… Unity allows us to accept that even though… we come with different agendas… even though there are times we we do not agree we are still on the same side. …. You see, obstacles are the things we see when we take our eyes off our goals.” He’s referenced (and seemingly hit home with many in the audience) cases of fights over speaking order and press conferences, disputes over a group’s logo being left off a flyer.

Interestingly – to me – he’s now talking about the need for people to occasionally remember the moment that led them to decide to join the progressive movement (seemingly in order to make sure they stay on track). I’m constantly intrigued by this very question. I was brought up in a political family, so left-wing values – and action to match it – have been part of my experience as long as I can remember. However, so many activists I know have come from apathetic or conservative backgrounds. What is it – what moment of awakening – that brings people not only to change their world-view, but to be encouraged into action to support their vision.

I got in a little late – no surprise – but caught the talk from the Reclaim the Media speaker, Karen Toering, who talked about their use of events (film screenings, parties, play dates for parents) to draw in those who might not otherwise attend a ‘meeting.’ Just as I heard at last week’s AGEL conference (where grad union leaders met in Urbana) the reminder to capture names at each event seems very basic, but is a key point to building a network of activists and supporters. Leveraging links to established groups – building on their capacity and networks – is of course a delicate political balance on occasion (how do you reach out to those networks, in a way that’s seen as mutually beneficial, which relies I think on getting ‘buy-in’ from leaders and gatekeepers, so that they will grant access to mailing lists, or to speak at meetings, etc.).

The Q&A session at the moment is addressing the complicated question of how to mesh radical activists with more moderate participants within a single network. Again, links to other organizing in the response, as mention is made of the Gay Rights movement, where direct action and lobbying both played roles, even if different participants prioritized different events.

Tracy from The Media Mobilization Project had some great quotables. Noting the seeming paradox of almost unlimited potential for expression online paired with increased media consolidation: [This is] “ultimately making the right to be head more important than the right to free speech.” Her closing riposte: “Movements begin with the telling of untold stories.”

To which I would note that the organizing approach is all about listening to those stories, encouraging individuals to tell their stories to each other, and to use those stories to identify desired changes and actions.

The folks at Miro – the “free open-source desktop video application that is designed to make mass media more open and accessible for everyone” – posit open standards as a means to circumvent the network effects problem with YouTube:

Open platforms, such as blip.tv (for creators) and Miro (for viewers), are a critical piece of the solution. Because both of these examples are built on open standards, they inter-operate with everything else in the open ecosystem. YouTube seems intimidatingly large, until you compare it to all of the open alternatives on the web.

There’s still the possibility of the “Miro Guide” excluding a particular provider, but because of how the software works (drawing on RSS feeds from individual providers) providers wouldn’t actually be blocked from access to customers.

Dozens of journalists demonstrated in Sucre on 27 November, protesting acts of aggression by both police and militant groups. That day, Canal 13 television station, owned by the publicly-owned San Francisco Javier University, was fired upon.