West Hartford Community Television embedded cameras with student video teams in every public school and library in town along with people in neighborhoods and local non-profits. These Be The Media Reporters tell grass-roots hyper-local stories that are hosted online on www.whctv.org and then run together in innovative mtv style clip reel news show on the community public access channel.

The concentration of media ownership in our market means that there are fewer journalists seeking out stories and more coverage of the same stories. This program called "Be The Media" encourages people to tell the stories they care about and provides non-profits with an avenue to reach a broader audience. The program promotes community conversation by presenting stories people in our community care about providing an internet forum to discuss it.

If Davis, California is any example, mass collaboration may be the future of local media.

The Davis Wiki (http://daviswiki.org), started in 2004, is an entirely community-maintained, collaborative, non-profit effort to compile anything and everything about living in in Davis, California. Unlike a local blog, which may be maintained by at most a handful of individuals, the Davis Wiki allows anyone in the community to contribute back their knowledge of the community with the community. The result is an information resource tailored to the needs of the entire community. The project contains over 15,000 pages on nearly every aspect of living in Davis. Davisites use their wiki for everything from getting detailed information on City Council candidates to finding lost pets.

And unlike conventional local media, the Davis Wiki is truly owned and operated at every level by the community itself. Every page on the wiki is written and maintained by a gaggle of concerned, intrigued and engaged community members. And when it comes to our local communities, everyone really is an expert.

Over the course of several years, the Davis Wiki slowly gained traction in the community. The Davis Wiki is now the most used local media in the city: nearly every resident uses the Davis Wiki in the course of a week, and one in seven residents contribute material to the Davis Wiki at some point during the year. Pages on the Davis Wiki set the tone for city elections, residents coordinate to catch con artists, expose political scandals, document historic buildings, create maps of nasty potholes, and much more. The Davis Wiki represents an ever-changing effort to maintain a collective institutional memory for everything important to the community.

Thus far, the project has been an entirely-volunteer effort, funded through community donations. Right now, we're in the initial stages of an ambitious plan develop an entirely new sort of wiki software designed around the unique needs of local communities -- and empower other communities to create the same kind of vibrant, collaborative local media that the Davis Wiki represents.

Paulding County Georgia is in a media market of 135,000 folks located just west of Cobb county in the Atlanta DMA. With 25,000 residents in 1980 (rapid growth), and relatively slow commercial growth (about 18 percent of the tax digest is business properties vs. the balance residential) despite its size, market was never 'mature' enough to support a local daily newspaper in the time before the Internet arrived.. The last local radio effort died in the mid-1990s leaving the community being poorly served by the Atlanta media. Local media consists of two free-distribution weekly's, one paid distribution weekly (only one of which does more than a cursory job on news) and two monthly magazines, one of which is 100 percent advertising.

This made Paulding county an excellent target for a new Internet media. Based on forum software, Paulding.com launched first in 2000, but was abandoned as the Internet penetration was not great enough. By 2003, with the Internet in 93 percent of the high-school junior's homes according to a survey done by a local community college, the time was ripe for the relaunch of the community message board.

The site uses text, involves the business community in ways unique to it, and has created a place where folks know to go for news and information on election days, when the sky falls and fills the low places with water (the county was a flash-flood disaster area in Sept. 09), when key news happens and most other times. During the disaster, residents were able to share open roads, relate issues and even provide direct help to each other through the messaging.

The site defies conventional measures of participation with over half of the 20,000 registered members having posted at least once. Over ten percent of the registered users have posted 100 or more times.

Overall, the site passed three-million posts on January 5th, 2010. Also on that date, PCOMTV, a livestream live and pre-recorded feed, recorded its first millionth minute of viewing. Video fare is principally a weekly local news report, a program called PCOM4Teens, a gadget show, interview shows and even a live Christmas Parade. Also, the more included 600 aggregate hours spent viewing the hour and half local debate sponsored by the site and a couple of sponsoring businesses between three candidates offering themselves for a recently vacated state house seat. Prior to that, we had interviews and presentations of the three candidates that ran in a separate half-hour program and recorded over 300 hours of aggregate viewing.

Paulding.com is supported by a combination of memberships and advertisements. One membership form - the business membership - gives those marketing a service or product a way to interact with folks in the community and offer more than just advertisements; but congratulations, condolences and even personal opinion ... in essence making the person offering the service more than the typical unidimensional presentation possible through traditional advertising.

Finally, because of the activity of the site in relation to the local search term "paulding" (or even other adjacent geo-sensitive term), local businesses get enhanced presentation free in google search for goods and services that use that term. (To wit: try the search string: " 2010 Equinox Cobb " and see if you don't come up with an 'ad' from one of our business members.)

Hyperlocal is the last frontier of the Internet. Paulding.com exploits that promise by providing this Georgia community its only daily news outlet.

Imagine: 50 mini "C-SPANs" across the nation whose focus is greater citizen engagement through transparent, unfiltered and undistracted coverage of their constituent state governments. For many states like Connecticut, Washington, Florida and Wisconsin, it’s already a reality. In Connecticut, the Connecticut Network (CT-N), now in its 12th year of operation, has garnered national attention and recognition from organizations like the Connecticut Foundation for Open Government and the National Society for Professional Journalists for providing 24/7 coverage of all three branches of government and public policy on basic cable TV, on the internet, and most recently on AT&T U-Verse.

State public affairs networks like CT-N, TVW in Washington, WisconsonEye, the Florida Channel, Pennsylvania Cable Network and others in close to 20 states fill a gap that has formed between platforms like C-SPAN that cover the federal government, and local government access channels. Citizens in those states have a rare and essential window on the workings of state government and are given unique ability to exercise their inherent right to be active participants in government at every level. They have evolved slowly over the last three decades, hindered at times by the lack of a uniform classification and carriage requirements that has left it up to individual states – and in the worst case, individual cable, satellite and other video service providers – to try to define what these networks are.

Ideally, the “rebooted” FCC would begin to contemplate state public affairs networks, different from local community access channels, but still a vital community service that organizations like CT-N and its sister networks perform, and one equally deserving support and channel capacity for all enterprises that provide video services to the public. This would be an important step toward the goal of providing this window on state government to citizens of all 50 states.

Mention the internet, and most people think of the WORLD wide web… reaching out across the globe for news, long-lost friends, or low-price bargains. But in Burlington, VT, residents are using the web to connect with… their backfence neighbors. In an era where national and global information is broadly available online, it seems that few of us know our neighbors and what’s going on down the street. Husband and wife Michael and Valerie Wood-Lewis saw an opportunity three years ago and created FrontPorchForum.com to serve their corner of Vermont. Amazingly, 40% of the state’s largest city subscribes and the sense of community there is thriving and winning national awards.

“It’s astounding what a couple minutes a day of neighborhood news and chatter in my inbox has done,” says co-founder Michael Wood-Lewis. “People tell me that they lived on their street for ten years not knowing a soul. Now, since Front Porch Forum (FPF) kicked in, those familiar strangers have become real neighbors.”

Each neighborhood has its own online forum and the whole region is blanketed with a network of 130 neighborhood forums. People post about lost pets, block parties, car break-ins, plumber recommendations, helping ailing neighbors, local politics, school plays and much more. All ages partake… from seniors in their 80s seeking community support to stay in their homes… to teenagers looking for summer jobs.

In one rural neighborhood, people used FPF to find a pair of lost horses, then pitched in to build a better enclosure for the owners. In an urban neighborhood, the residents rallied around a mother who was assaulted in their park, and eventually got the city to improve safety conditions there. And in a different community, a young family asked for a couple helpers to move their household into new digs across the street… 36 people showed up! Not only was the job done quickly, but now this family knows three dozen neighbors.

“This small family business turns the internet on its head,” says FPF member and University of Vermont Assoc. Dean Susan A. Comerford. “The web offers countless ways to waste time, but Front Porch Forum actually pushes people offline and onto the sidewalks to chat with neighbors, face to face.” And that leads people to get more involved in their communities. An incredible 93% of FPF members report becoming more civically engaged due to this free service.

“Front Porch Forum is a postmodern return to citizen democracy,” opines Comerford. “This may well be the most important advance in community development strategies in decades.”

http://frontporchforum.com

Underdogs like myself who are fighting back against big media conglomerates, they continue taking over local outlets(radio, TV and newspapers) all over America, silencing independent voices, especially minorities. They have made a mockery of the commitment to “operate in the public interest”, convenience and necessity.

It is time for the FCC and “Press” to stop serving the agenda of mega media corporations and the politicians they control....and start serving “Democracy” now.
I have lived in Washington's state since 1972, and I have seen many injustices in broadcasting...for example, just to mention one of the hundreds....It is unfair that Anglos, who do not understand the Hispanic culture, language and more....they have the nerve to exploit the Hispanic community, not only by owning the stations, but providing bad programing and hiring mediocre talent....and they continue to get away with it.

If you do research about who owns what?...you will find that these big media conglomerates do not care about the Hispanics at all...they care about money...even if they have to feed them with garbage all the time....but what can you expect of them if they do not speak the language at all, or they don't understand the culture...they cannot tell if the programing is good or bad?..it is like me trying to discern Chinese radio or TV...because I do not understand the language at all.

Spanish TV or radio-are owned by Anglo(most of them)...they just have a “token” (Hispanic)...to cover it.
Sometimes, they put Hispanic (tokens) in front...but the money and profits and manipulations are for the big corporations...Hispanics vote in the elections...they need the Hispanic vote to elect a politician who will protect their wealth.

I remember, when I started Spanish programing in Seattle in1972...nobody(radio station and TV station) wanted to sell airtime to me...I was the pioneer in Spanish commercial radio in Washington state...now they see the 45 million Hispanics and more...they see money and profit.

Now, we have Spanish radio and Spanish TV in Seattle...still owned by Anglo...and these corporations owned many but many radio stations and TV stations ...without concern for the needs of the Hispanic community.

We must continue the quest for justice and awareness in broadcasting in the U.S.A.

To what extent is government intervention in media constitutional -- especially now that we have the Internet, where there's no shortage of ink or newsprint? Is regulating media consistent with the Commission's notion of having an "open Internet," in which everyone's voice can compete?

By the way: here in Wyoming (as in several other states), state law mandates that government chooss a "newspaper of record" in each city for public notices. According to the now-antiquated law, it must be an ink-and-paper newspaper, and due to the limited population and limited available revenue (the revenue from the public notices is what gets the paper printed on some days) the result is to enshrine that one newspaper as a monopoly. Whatever bias the owners of that one paper display, whatever they choose to print or not, has a profound influence -- too much. This is an example of government action that creates media concentration rather than preventing it. Should such laws be allowed, or should they be voided to avoid government-created media concentration?

As a former employee of two wireless carriers and a wireless handset supplier/chip maker who help usher in digital voice & data to the industry - I have firsthand knowledge of what cell phones and data devices can and can't do.

Land line termination fees were historically the largest cost to carriers. As more and more data-centric plans evolve- one would assume that consumer cost would come down. In contrast - consumers are paying more for service, handsets, termination fees and are now being required to purchase specific plans to utilize specific phones.

As handheld data devices such as the I-PAD are introduced - the carriers quietly roll out increased costs tethered to long term contracts. The result is a reduction in choice for handsets & data devices and an engineered reliance on carrier plans as a threshold to utilizing portable data devices that double as phones.

Verizon quietly rolled out their new requirements for a $9.99 additional data/email plan in January - for many phones. It’s their right to charge what they will for service. But- combined with FCC granted license to public airways - requirements for long term contracts with huge termination fees effectively restrict competition in wireless and handset markets. Oligopolies should not be allowed to do this. Oligopolies who have FCC granted license to PUBLIC airways - need to be structured and regulated.

As land lines and cable/modem lines disappear. Carriers like Verizon have license to a customer base that is effectively the entire US population. To further allow them to restrict plane, handsets, and demand contracts is to allow a monopoly that makes Microsoft look like amateurs. This one not only controls the market, hardware and software but also the airwaves.

It’s time to plan and regulate.

Hello my name is Martin Macias Jr from Radio Arte, a Latino public radio station that offers media training and opportunities for members of the community to report on issues important to them. Its located in Pilsen, a historically working class/immigrant community. I will speak about the southwest Chicago region as a whole. Coming from a community media station has allowed me to view the changing media landscape with the voices and ideas of our listeners/neighbors in mind.

This region of the city has many media options for its residents which, collectively has one of the largest concentrations of latino/hispanic people in the country. Print publications include: Hoy, which is a free Spanish-language newspaper which is published by the Tribune media company. You can pick it up almost anywhere. La Raza, is similar to Hoy and is part of Impre.com a latino media web group. Contratiempo is a volunteer run publication which features articles from local writers, editorials, poems, and analysis of local issues.

Online: Pilsen Portal is a place where residents can post content relevant to the neighborhood, plug into local resources and share the Pilsen experience. Chicago Indy media is a site where anyone can post multimedia news.

Training: Can-TV offers training to individuals and gives them a public access channel to broadcast on.

Pilsen is fortunate enough to be part of the city's "Smart Communities" program which aims to improve access to technology tools and helping to create a 21st century digital infrastructure citywide. It also addresses the challenges of the digital divide head on.

I'm not in a position to offer critiques of the larger media market or even an observation on what is/isn't working. I can only push for progressive changes that the media justice community feels would benefit people, and are vital building/sustaining democracy. Some of them include: diversity of people who own media outlets (women, people of color), minimize conglomeration of markets in the same city, diversity of voices/opinions on airwaves (youth, women, people of color, people with disabilities), more community media outlets.

Overall, I'm trying to find ways to bring more people into the conversation. Some people don't even think this is a major issue for their communities which is understandable in this economy. But how can we get people to invest themselves in making media work better for them? Solve that one and the next round is on me!

Something isn't right in Frederick County, Maryland. 930WMD and Aloha Stations Trust, LLC have gone too far with their political practices on Public Interest Radio. We need the FCC to look into it.

Frederick County, Maryland is a small but growing rural community situated 50 miles from our nation's capitol, Washington, DC. It is a community with a strong dedication to its people, farming and conservative values. By virtue of location Frederick County is also a growing community, welcoming cultural diversity, art, science and business both large and small. We have a local paper that folks have depended upon for decades, a more urban gazette representing our community and local magazines for special interests and welcoming newcomers to the area. We have TV news from Washington, Baltimore and Hagerstown. We have regional radio stations operating out of both major cities and 3 small local airwaves, 99.9WFRE, 930 WFMD (owned by Aloha Station Trust) and Key 103 in Frederick City.

It is our news station, WFMD 930 AM Public Talk Radio which most of us tune to for the latest in local information, politics and events. This once reliable little station has changed ownership several times in recent years, from Capstar TX, a division of Clear Channel Communications, Inc., to Aloha Station Trust, LLC (Jeanette Tully, Sole Owner). People don't seem to mind too much who owns it but sadly, what this new owner is allowing to emanate to the public is becoming a critical concern for the common good of our community.

Since 2008, Radio Host Blaine Young has focused primarily upon escalating 'tea party' rhetoric, first on Frederick's Forum and followed by the creation of a permanent 3 hour daily M-F, Blaine Young Show. His efforts have manifested into community rallies staged by Mr. Young and his fellow WFMD Radio Hosts. Mr. Young recently stated, (WFMD AudioFiles) “that it was his listeners who urged him to campaign and subsequently elected him Frederick County Commissioner” (voted Board President by his fellow commissioners). Having decided not to leave The Blaine Young Show while holding this important Public Office, Mr. Young now spends 15 hours of paid broadcasting per week, interjecting his views while sharing very specific Frederick County Government business and pending decisions both he and the Board of County Commissioners are making on behalf of our citizens.

Additionally, this elected official and daily 3 hour The Blaine Young Show Talk Host WFMD host has become the honorary chairman of an incorporated non-profit lobbying activity, 'We, the People, MD', sending out letters requesting membership funds "From the desk of Blaine R. Young, Host of The Blaine Young Show, 930WFMD" and playing like-named music while on the air.

Yet another politician, Senator Alex Mooney also has a regular show on 930WFMD. When visiting the 930WFMD, if one clicks the ‘The Alex Mooney Show’ on the program schedule or at the bottom of the WFMD page, this link to Senator Mooney’s Campaign Donation page will open: http://alexmooney.com/

Mr. Young and Senator Mooney are entitled to free speech under their First Amendment Rights. No one questions this. But our questions to the FCC are these: May these two public officials solicit for campaign funds or lobby for funds they honorary chair of while on paid duty as radio hosts? Is the radio station acting in the Public’s best interest by facilitating this? Did Mr. Young and WFMD-Aloha Station Trust, LLC draw the line between campaigning and paid radio show activity correctly? Can or should our Elected Representative be entitled to work 3 hours per day as a paid Radio Show Host discussing the detailed business of Frederick County Government while he is also employed and paid by taxpayers? Can this station do this? This elected official is holding one-sided daily public hearings on the radio while opposing views must wait for fair and properly scheduled public hearings in an unbiased setting.

The whole of our community is suffering from the actions of a few.

Public Radio WFMD, Aloha Stations Trust, LLC, Jeanette Tully and the FCC, please help.

The metro daily newspapers and commercial broadcast media in St. Paul fail to provide the St. Paul community with regular local coverage of the important civic information they need to function as citizens in a democracy--information on local elections and governance, whether related to the state legislature, city council, school board, county board of commissioners, municipal water district, park system, or sheriff's department. We get little or no information from commercial broadcasting or commercial newspapers about local environmental issues, local education issues, local housing issues, or other issues specific to local ethnic or religious communities or neighborhoods. We get little or no coverage of state and city government meetings and operations. We must rely on non-profit public and community media for nearly all the local civic information available to us, and unfortunately public and community media are too underfunded to have the prominence and visibility they need to be known and to reach the majority of St. Paul's citizens.
We need to find ways to better fund local public and community media to allow them to fill the gap left by the negligence and disinterest of commercial media. That is the only way we can hope to provide an accessible system of information that will facilitate a healthy democracy.