Graham Spry

I was just reading about Graham Spry (1900-1983). He was a Canadian broadcasting pioneer who helped create the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission which became the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Although he used appeals to his fellow Canadians to support either media control by "the state" or "the United States", he was actually a great ally and supporter of American efforts to create a viable public broadcasting organization. Unfortunately for us here in the U.S., commercial interests already had too strong a foothold to overcome and we were left with the double-damned system we have now. (I'll explain that in a moment). On the other hand, our loss was a lesson that taught Canadians what to avoid and what to anticipate from Canadian AND U.S. business interests' activities to block public broadcasting.

It is interesting to find someone who must have had similar beliefs and attitudes as myself, who lived and then died during part of my lifetime, all without my ever knowing about him.

The most important thing to know about what he worked to achieve is that it was not as insignificant as one might be tempted to believe. We know about framing. We know about gatekeepers. We know about paradigms. But do we know enough to detect the frames, gates and paradigms that lead us to believe that the current system of large media powerhouses is the most natural, highest quality, most in keeping with the ideas of free speech possible?

Non-commercial broadcasting systems like the BBC, the CBC and numerous European systems have delivered decades of high quality programming created in the public interest. Now however, we are seeing the failing of those systems as a result of those same decades being used by commercial interests chipping away at support for public broadcasting.

We now find ourselves in a time where public broadcasting is often more pro-business than commercial broadcasting. When public broadcasting succeeds it is damned as too commercial and for competing unfairly with the private sector; or disparaged for failing to raise sufficient funding via true non-commercial efforts. The margin that remains for public broadcasting is so narrow, even Garrison Keeler said he sees no reason for public broadcasting (in the United States) to continue.

But with sufficient public insistence on a seat at the broadcasting table, it is still possible to realize Graham Spry's dreams for airwaves that are used to serve the public they belong to.

Here's an email from a list I'm on

Free Press Action Alert

Dear Friend,

Tell the FCC to Stand Up to Scare Tactics and Open White Spaces for Everyone.

Sign Our Halloween
Action Card

"They're Ba-ack..."

This Halloween, the powerful lobbyists at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) are trying to scare Washington with horror stories about "white spaces" -- vacant TV channels that can be used to bring high-speed Internet to rural and low-income Americans across the country.

The NAB’s hired guns have bombarded policy makers with false claims in a desperate, last-ditch attempt to hoard these airwaves and to disrupt a critical FCC vote taking place in just six days.

The FCC's five commissioners must not buckle under the intense lobbying pressure:

Tell the FCC: Don't Give in to NAB Scare Tactics

Here are the facts:

1. If we open white spaces now, we can bring the social and economic benefits of a fast Internet connection to tens of millions of Americans now on the wrong side of the digital divide.

2. FCC engineers have tested white spaces devices and determined that the technology can deliver high-speed wireless Internet, without interfering with adjacent TV broadcasts.

3. The NAB and Big Media are doing everything in their power to close off access to white spaces because they fear competition from new innovators and losing control of the public airwaves.

The NAB is furiously spending millions of dollars on dirty tricks and political intimidation to scare the FCC away from white spaces. They have high-priced lawyers and lobbyists, but we have you.

Take just one minute to sign this Halloween action card and forward it to your friends. Free Press will deliver your cards to the FCC on Halloween and make sure they "treat" us by opening white spaces for eveyone's benefit:

This Halloween: Stand Up to the Lobbyists' Scare Tactics

With your support today, we'll expose Big Media's fear-mongering and make certain that white spaces are used to make fast, affordable Internet service a reality for everyone.

Thanks,

Timothy Karr
Campaign Director
Free Press
www.freepress.net
www.savetheinternet.com

1. Maybe NAB lobbyists have seen Poltergeist one too many times. But whatever the case, we need to set the record straight by the time FCC commissioners gather to decide the future of white spaces on November 4. Click here to help Free Press fight back.

2. Learn more about the fight to open white spaces at www.freepress.net/whitespaces

Media Reform Now

Welcome to Media Reform Now!

About a year ago I saw excerpts from the film, "Rich Media, Poor Democracy". It was like finding Jesus. For years I've been frustrated by the lack of content in the very places purporting to supply it, ie; the news media. This film made a lot of things clear - or at least as clear as things can be while sound and images rush by at 24 frames per second. So, I bought the book of the same name, "Rich, Media, Poor Democracy: Communication Politics in Dubious Times" by Robert W. McChesney, published by The New Press, New York. (www.thenewpress.com). It's an excellent read if you like facts with your assertions. McChesney has written several books. Another I own but have not read yet is "The Problem of the Media: U.S. Communication Politics in the 21st Century" - he does not do short titles. It looks like an updated version of "Rich Media" as that earlier book was published prior to, for example, widespread blogging. McChesney delves into how our broadcast system came to be accepted as the natural order of things and how this default positions harms democracy. He also talks about what to do about it - more on that in later posts...

I am looking for professors and like-minded students to work with in this area. As a new student in California State University, Fullerton's Masters of Communication program I've only just met the graduate advisor and my current three professors. So, any guidance from anyone who knows more than I would be appreciated.

I love the article I just read by Scott London entitled, "How the Media Frames Political Issues". ( http://www.scottlondon.com/reports/frames.html). It's a great answer to the commonly heard phrase, "the liberal media" - liberal my *!

*asterisk