mediageek

mediageek

  • No Injunction to Stop RFB Yet

    Word has it that today the judge hearing the FCC’s case against Radio Free Brattleboro did not grant the Commission’s request for a preliminary injunction to shut the station down. The judge apparently has asked for further briefs from both sides, especially regarding RFB’s claim that they have no legal recourse to broadcast because the…

  • Radio Free Brattleboro Goes To Court Monday

    The Brattleboro Reformer has covered the travails of RFB with remarkable fairness and depth, especially for a small-town newspaper. It must be at least party due to the success of RFB in making itself valuable to the community of Brattleboro. On Friday the paper had a nice overview of the situation and the station’s legal…

  • On Today’s Radio Show: Mbanna Kantako from the Archives

    On today’s mediageek we’re going into the archives to play a talk given by microradio pioneer Mbanna Kantako of Human Rights Radio at the University of Illinois, Springfield, in Feb. 1998. This talk originally aired on the predessor program to mediageek, Radio Free Conscience. With all the activity going on in free radio it’s important…

  • Brattleboro Newspaper Calls on Sen. Leahy and Rep. Sanders to Support Free Radio

    The Brattleboro, VT daily newspaper the Reformer published an editorial today calling on Vermont’s Sen. Patrick Leahy and Rep. Bernie Sanders to support Radio Free Brattleboro. Both men have been outspoken proponents of free speech causes, with Leahy being honored for his work in support of the Freedom of Information Act, and Sanders being one…

  • Brief Dish vs. Viacom Followup

    Yesterday I asked if Dish would pro-rate my subscription charge for the loss of my Viacom channels — Comedy Central being the only one I miss. Well, the answer is, yes. Dish is running a continuous feed of a short video featuring CEO Charlie Ergen explaining the situation (from Dish’s POV), and he tells us…

  • A Really Free Press

    I surfed on by the (apparently frozen in late-2003) ‘new’ Factsheet 5 website, but found a nice interview with Mike Hoy of Loompanics Unlimited, publisher of great titles like Secrets of Methamphetamine Manufacture, The Art & Science of Dumpster Diving and Methods of Disguise. About twelve years ago I bought a Loompanics title at an…

  • Radio Free Brattleboro Wins Public’s Authority to Broadcast

    John alerts me to the fact that Radio Free Brattleboro won the support of nearly 2/3 of Brattleboro voters who pledged their support of the station in this ballot initiative: “We, the undersigned registered voters of Brattleboro, Vermont, request that the following advisory question appear for vote by Australian ballot on the Town Meeting Ballot…

  • Media Giants Behaving Badly, and Nobody Wins

    Last night I was watching the Daily Show on Dish Network when a scroll went across the bottom of the screen addressed to Dish Network viewers, apparently from Comedy Central owner Viacom, telling us that Dish was going to drop Viacom owned channels. Then, about halfway through the scroll, the message was covered out by…

  • D.C.’s Unlicensed Community Radio: Radio CPR

    I was reading the most recent issue of Clamor Magazine and came across a short review of a benefit CD for Radio CPR put out by indie powerhouse Dischord records. This is the first I’ve heard of Radio CPR (stands for “Community Power Radio”), which surprised me, especially considering its been on the air for…

  • In today’s Salon, reporter Eric Bohlert further deconstructs Clear Channel’s recent born-again decency: “But the pattern seems clear: Clear Channel turns a deaf ear to continuous complaints about its rampant consolidation and hardball business practices, but when Capitol Hill shows interest, the company springs into action. ‘They don’t want to be before Congress and they…