mediageek

Author: Paul

  • Back in the Saddle, Bill Moyers Rocks Net Neutrality

    My vacation was too hectic to be relaxing (although I didn’t mind being in Italy and Spain instead of Central Illinois), and I had to hit the ground running when I got back in town. But I’m starting to get my bearings again. I meant to blog in advance of Bill Moyers on America which…

  • Vacation Hiatus

    Yes, things have been a little quiet at mediageek lately, and they’re going to be quieter for a couple of weeks. First, I’m going on vacation to Spain and Italy, and then I’m going to come back and work my ass off for another week. So, there will be no posting activity from now until…

  • Dave Rabbit off to Iraq

    Salon features an article on Vietnam War pirate broadcaster Dave Rabbit who has begun podcasting since he discovered an underground following for recordings of the programs he did in 1971. Now Rabbit is off to Iraq to produce a new podcast, probably from inside a Baghdad hotel filled with journalists. Although he claims to be…

  • Federal Consolidation Commissioner

    It isn’t enough to drag his feet on obligations to inform and engage the public on the media ownership proceeding. Now FCC Chair Kevin Martin is ready to sign off on the proposed AT&T – BellSouth merger without imposing a single condition. While he may have a bit more political savvy than his predecessor, Martin…

  • FCC ‘Splode!

    Well not quite, but according to celebrity communications prof. Robert McChesney, the “FCC Scandal Explodes with Second Revelation of Suppressed Media Ownership Research.” Bob knows how to use a little well-placed hyperbole now and then. Like I pointed out yesterday, Bob notes that, “This scandal could not have hit the FCC at a worse time…

  • FCC Buried Media Ownership Report

    I’m on vacation and trying to stay off the internets, but this one just shouldn’t be missed. Back when the FCC made its first stab at revising media ownership rules, then-Chairman Powell and his fellow Republicans argued that localism and service to communities was an entirely separate issue than who owns the media outlets that…

  • Radio and Revolution in Oaxaca, Mexico

    Although it has fallen out of the US mainstream news, a people’s uprising is still going strong in Oaxaca, Mexico, spurred on by the June 14 attacks by Mexican government forces on the striking teachers’ tent city in Oaxaca City. One main reasons for the attack was to destroy the teachers’ free radio station Radio…

  • Hitting the Congresscritters at Home for Net Neutrality

    SavetheInternet details actions in 25 cities where folks hit up their Senators to urge support for network neutrality. Apparently there was success in New York, with Sen. Charles Schumer announcing support for net neutrality, and Iowa, where Sen. Tom Harkin did likewise. Now, both those guys are Democrats, which in the Senate, at least, have…

  • FCC Chair Says He Wants Public Comment on Media Ownership, But Is Doing His Best To Undermine IT

    As Matthew Lasar points out, media activists are wasting no time reaching out to the public at large in order to educate about media ownership and listen to public opinion on the issue. Of course this happens while we wait for the FCC to finally announce the public hearings on the issue that its promised.…

  • Mobile FM Transmitters — A Modulator Menace, or a Mountain out of a Molehill?

    The traditional radio broadcast industry is getting pretty desperate lately. But while commercial radio has seen its fortunes slowly decline after squeezing out the consolidation profits, public radio has generally faired better. Nevertheless, there’s still some unregulated competition and interference coming from those little FM transmitters people use to pump their portable music players into…