The fate of Jason Kwiatkowski's television show, like that of all shows on WYOU, has been put in jeopardy. WYOU, Madison's community television station, is at risk of losing the public funding it relies on. Although WYOU provided Madisonians with an open venue to express themselves to the community, six alders proposed that the station's budget be shifted to a Madison public access station already funded twice as much. Gone would a the show produced by at-risk kids, showcases of Juneteenth celebrations, Africa fests and other Madison cultural events to minor for statewide news outlets to cover. After the Federal Communications Commission deregulated television, cities were no longer required by law to fund local stations. Many community stations, said Kwiatkowski, have been forced to close.
\It's censorship without a doubt ... There isn't going to be a way for people to access mass media. In this day in age, all the radio channels in town are run by Clear Channel, and there are only two newspapers, and all the television is corporate broadcasting, and the only people who are heard are the people who can afford to get on those mediums.""
People like Kwiatkowski believe unfair media is a threat to fair speech and with an increasingly corporate culture in mass-media governed by decreasingly strict rules, the media are becoming more unfair. Now is the time to get involved. Starting Friday and continuing through the weekend, the National Conference on Media Reform will bring scholars and activists into Madison to talk about the issues facing television, print and radio and what can be done.
Speakers range from U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold to journalist Bill Moyers to consumer advocate Ralph Nader, talking about topics including reclaiming radio as a people's medium, misrepresented groups in the media and the FCC deregulation debates in 2003. U.S. Rep Tammy Baldwin will appear as one of the opening speakers.
""We have to remember that the public airwaves are ours, and that people have a responsibility when they use the public airwaves,"" Baldwin said. ""There is a responsibility to be truthful and to provide meaningful information to the citizens of this country ... The reform of the media is essential to our democracy.""
The conference itself will cost $75, but satellite events like a Billy Brag concert on Friday and the keynote address by Bill Moyers on Saturday cost only $15. Many free events have also been scheduled. Ralph Nader will give a free speech in the Memorial Union Great Hall at 6:30 P.M. Friday, and WORT and the Madison InfoShop have organized a day of workshops on creating independent media. Many of the events which can only be attended with conference enrollment will be web cast for free on the conference web site, http://www.mediareform.net. A full schedule of events is accessible at that web site.
The conference has attracted a large number of independent media personnel, including a number of pirate radio stations. Many of these radio stations will be broadcasting in Madison on unused frequencies for the duration of the conference. Among those broadcasting will be Madison's own System P.
""Pirate radio is a demonstration of how easy it is to create your own media and how little you need of the bureaucratic structure,"" stated Woodchuck of System P. ""What I find appealing about pirate radio is you hear what radio can be like when people are invested in it and really want to do something creative with it. Part of this conference is in response to FCC deregulation, especially since Clear Channel has shown how terrible the homogenization of radio has been. You get cookie-cutter radio stations-you can go anywhere and hear the same thing over and over again. With pirate stations you hear stuff you wouldn't normally hear.""
FCC deregulation is indeed a central issue to media reform activists. The FCC has made motions to increase the number of television stations a company can own in a single market, and to allow owners of television stations to own newspapers in the same regions. In years prior, the FCC made similar changes to laws concerning radio. What resulted was the dominance of two radio powerhouses, Westwood One and Clear Channel. With fewer owners of media outlets, some fear fewer viewpoints being represented in the media.
""I think they are moving in precisely the wrong direction, and making matters worse,"" Sen. Baldwin said.
Frank Emspak, head of the Workers Independent News Service will be speaking on increasing the public's voice over the radio.
""Students need to hear a broad spectrum of information. And we don't have it in this society,"" he said.
Not every speaker will be discussing FCC issues. Jack El-Hai, for example, will discuss the interest free-lance reporters have in media reform. In his experience, news agencies have been increasingly unwilling to take liability for news stories. If journalists have to foot the costs of litigation, they have less incentive to conduct investigative journalism.
The National Conference on Media Reform will be a great chance to learn about a topic of growing importance. As Tammy Baldwin said, ""It's an emerging issue. I wouldn't be surprised if this conference moves it to the next level.\
