Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Dear Tactical Media People,

Here are the notes from our November 16th meeting:

Charlotte says: Update on projects is tonights discussion.
Fred says: Discussion of announcements involving due dates, and questions:
1.Do we need to make any corrections for this class (issues anyone)?
2.Why aren't we focusing on national policies at all?
3.Steve says: When are the screenings going to happen? Matt L.'s Screening is happening December 14th. Everyone needs to meet here at 5:30 PM.
Other screenings maybe in the next semester.

Updates:

Jay has a ready color-printed flier for the Video Workshop date and events.

Pam says: The dates and times and the room are reserved for the Video Workshop.

Party: People are talking about having our social party at the Double-Tree Guest Suites near Umass Boston.

Due Dates IMPORTANT so in everything is in bold:

Note: First, sign up on the Tactical Media Wiki! Jason will help you out with this.

Post the definitions that we've been talking about (on the handouts sheet) by: December 7th, 2006.
Fred wants to see everyone's definitions of the terms (everyone's individual definition of each term) on the Tactical Media Wiki.
Jonell is going to have information up on the Tactical Media Wiki in a seperate category from the terms, by: November 30th, 2006.
Everyone should make corrections, arguments, or additions of each others submissions. These should not be made in the same place as the Dec. 7th definitions, they should be commented on in a separate place on the Wiki which the Wiki group will create for all of us. AND everyone, together, should come up with a definition of what Community Media means and post that on a separate place on the Wiki by: December 14th, 2006.
Read Chapters 1 and 2 in the book and put up 3 critical questions that you have from the reading on the Tactical Media Wiki by: Next class, November 30th, 2006 please.

Enrollment (registration for classes) opens on November 27th , 2006. You need to register by January 1st, 2007 to avoid the late fee. On January 18th, classes will be canceled that don't have enough students that are enrolled in them.

Friday, November 10, 2006

Tactical Media Minutes for November 9, 2006
Notes: Steve
Facilitator: Charlotte

AGENDA
1)Housekeeping
2)Group project report
3)Discussion on election and its implications for communications policy

HOUSEKEEPING
-Please see Jay for notes/facilitation sign-up to ensure that we have folks filling the two roles for the remainder of the semester.
-Reality check: next week we will take 20-30 minutes to assess where we stand both collectively and individually given that the semester is winding down.
-Reminder: CMT students have priority use of the video/editing room. It is a good idea to familiarize oneself with its resources.
http://www.cmt-vmr.blogspot.com/
>Sign-up to use the room for extended time periods and check out equipment with Peter Adams. There will be a potential competency available for conducting and documenting a full video/editing room inventory (see Fred).
-Be sure to read the first two chapters of the class text Community Media: A Global Perspective by Ellie Rennie. This is a prelude to the Media and Community Building Competency.

GROUP PROJECT REPORTS
-Collaborative Media/Wiki Group
>little to report as things are moving slowly
>basic introduction to the wiki is complete and more substantive instruction will commence next week.
-Video Production Group
>Dates: November 30 and December 7 are solid. Hours are 3pm to 5pm.
>the Taylor Center is reserved for the event.
>insertion in the Mass Media calender is in process as well as the flyer promoting the event.
>Jay will have a to-do list up on the blog.
-Screening
>Matt Landry and co. will be presenting a documentary on citizen journalism on December 14 in the Taylor Center from 630-730pm. Please specify if anone has issue with extended time slot that Matt requested. The documentary is only 14 minutes long and will be followed by a Q&A period.
-Future Project
>all in the Tactical Media Group will be required to do an independent project that Fred will detail next week in terms of possibilities.
>here is on option(to be done preferrably this semester by up to 2 students).
>>Research who the new communications policy leaders are, post-election, at both the state and federal levels. Then discuss the potential shift in policy. Fred and Jason will lend support. Jonell has expressed interest. If anyone else is interested they should speak with Fred.
ELECTION AND IMPLICATIONS
-we had an open dialogue on election results and what the various thoughts were. If you haven't done so, read Jason's op-ed in the Mass Media entitled, Thoughts on Election Day.
-Here are some of the topics flying around the Taylor Center during our interchange of opinions.
>Whose right? Whose left?
>>Don't be too quick in categorizing Democrats as the keepers of the progressive faith. Some indeed are, while others may offer up some surprises.
>The failure of Question #2
>>fusion voting, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_fusion
>>list voting, http://www.fairvote.org/pr/whatis.htm
>>the inherent kink in the american electoral process(in addition to slander campaigns and voter intimidation and psychotic state differentiated voting processes) is the barrier to initiating a party. The parliamentary system significantly differs in that parties are easier to start and are represented in accordance to the respective percentage of votes won.
>The Progressive Era, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_Era
>What do voters consider important when voting for a particular candidate?
>>issues possibly, however, personality and looks are crucial factors that often transcend issues.
>Why did Deval win?
>>did he play it safe?
>>did he stay away from from "heavy" issues and intuit the weakness of Healey both on issues as well as aesthetics?
>The Kennedy/Nixon Debate of 1960, http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/K/htmlK/kennedy-nixon/kennedy-nixon.htm
>The new role of federal legislation
>>policy changes may be forthcoming as different appointees present different perspectives on the issues at hand(ex. Stevens Bill)
>>federal legislation may in fact transform itself towards a more favorable climate in terms of the public interest and thus therfore change the strategy of those involved in media activism.
I found this Free, Interactive Course in Studio and Field Production ! I have only reviewed the site, but it looks pretty good. Thought people might be inerested in it.

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Notes for 11/2/06
Facilitator-Jay Cleary
Notes-Pam Ross
We welcomed a guest to the meeting, Nicole Agusti, who is in the Public Policy Graduate Program with Jason.
First on the agenda was an update of projects being planned by Tactical Media Group. Charlotte gave the overview of our meeting for the Video Production workshop, which included Bruce Lundeen, Steve, Jay, Charlotte, Pam and Yianno. It is being planned as a two parter, first on Nov.30th from 3-5PM to cover production techniques and hands on experience with equipment. The second workshop, possibly on Dec.7th, will cover storytelling and editing techniqe. Group assignments: Steve will check out reserving the space for workshop, Jay will work on the flyer, Charlotte will contact the newspaper for advertising, and Pam will get a list of CMT students from Fred so that we can get them involved for their video production competency if they need it.
Fred wants us to define our audience and decide if we will keep it on campus, set limits for attendence and set up an RSVP on list serve.
Jason held a meeting for the Collaborative Media project with Guled in attendence. There is some conflict in meeting times for projects, limiting attendence, so Jason suggested we set them up to be at different times, in case same people want to be involved in both. The plan is to set up our own WIKI contain community media info and definition that we can then contribute to Wikipedia, as of yet there are no defnitions for comunity media, only refers to public access. Jason will check out the necessary software, interfaces, etc. Sequoia located a server we can use if needed.
Guled had info re: tactica media @ wikispaces.com-- temp. username :tacticalmedia
password: tactical if you want to go and check it out.
Second item; Scheduling. Steve has been in contact w/ Matt re: the short documentary done at CCTV, wants to screen for our class and Fred would like to see us open it up to public as well. Steve will talk to Matt again re: his availability. Dec.7 is a possibility.
Fred asked if anyone is interested in writing articles for Mass Media; possible topics would be net neutrality, policy. Jason and Fred discuss if writings should be op-eds or as a column, should meet academic standards and would meet competency requirements.
Clarification re: competencies from Fred: Multimedia class next semester with Nettrice Gaskin should be taken by CMT majors. Competencies will be met if we participate in projects, post to blog, participate in discussion. There are four all together and can be achieved over two semesters. Fred will be asking us to do some specific assignments from Community Media book and we should be getting our definitions together as noted in curriculum outline on Fred's blog. These will be included on our wiki and possibly then contributed to Wikipedia. He would like to present this at Media Reform conference that he will attend in Memphis in January. Watch for changes and assigments in Fred's syllabus.
Policy: we updated Fred about where we went in discussion week prior in his absence. That info is posted in notes from that week. In addition we talked about following movement of policy when comes up next session in Congeress; U.S. lack of broadband speed and quality as compared to Japan, etc. and what will happen in future if Verizon/Comcast type Duopoly prevents free internet, would it ever go private. Jason mentions China's attempt to censor content, will they be able to do it or not? Something to watch for future.
Gather and include more info on Intellectual Property/Copyright, Key Concepts and Policy for Wiki.
Jason presented maps from Boston Wireless Task Force that he found @ Boston.gov/wireless showing where and what type of cable is already in place around the city. Questions were who owns and controls what and what will be done with in future. Articles can be found on "Wireless in Boston" from Mayor's Task force at that website. Talked briefly at end of class about "dumb network, big pipes" meaning fast broadband, cheap, free, fast for everyone, basically the opposite of net neutrality.

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Tactical Media Communication Policy Notes
10-19-06
Fred Johnson

Public Interest and the Media
- Thinking about impact on community
- Politics
- Democracy
- Diversity of ideas/culture

Political Philosophy: Radical <-->Liberal – not all that useful, recall Jason’s remarks. Very valuable way of understanding communication policy debates with the current heavy emphasis on “libertarianism.”

Democratic
+
Individual +++ Collective
+
Totalitarian


Terms of the debate:
Conservative – think market will figure it out
Liberal --- Regulation and Reform in the public interest while allowing corporations to thrive
Radical – Public ownership
Monopolies vs Market

Monopolies DON’T:
- innovate
- diverse
- do the unpopular
- share
- price competitively
+ they sell services at a low price to kill smaller competitors, then jack up prices (price gouging)

Points of view
- corporate
- regulatory
- consumer affairs – ask if PEG access raises rates

Two other ways to view the policy discussion:
- Media Culture: Issues like access and representation, current affairs programming.
- Infrastructure Development

Media Policy – Levels of Regulation:
1.-Federal
2.-State
3.-Local (county/municipality)
4.-GAT (global, formerly WTO) *new

Media Policy Venues or sites
1.-Courts
2.-Legislative Bodies
3.-Administrative bureaucracy
4.-International????

Regulatory Categories (based on type of software; differences in business models & computer management):
- Broadcasting
- Cable
- Telephony
- Internet

Emerging Issues:
1. Copyright
2. Definition of communication service vs. cable service (Title 1 & 2)
3. Must carry
A FCC regulation requiring that cable TV systems must carry all locally-licensed television stations. This was done to prevent cable from destroying free over-the-air television.
elastic demand for cable keep prices high and censor local stations
4. General Public License (GPL) agreement
a. Open source and free distribution
b. Creative Commons
5. WIFI (or now WIMAX)
6. Public ownership / monopoly
a.The Shell Game
7. Broadband over powerlines


Key Concepts in Communication Policy

Net Neutrality

-Maintaining the free flow of digital information on the internet; open and equal access for all
Concentration of ownership/ Duopoly
-Any marketplace where consumer choice is limited to two service providers
-Cable and DSL providers control almost 98% of the marketplace
Digital Divide

-Gap between communities in their access and knowledge of technology
- Tied to educational and economic restraints
Access to Internet, Broadcast
-Assistive Technology
-Web content accessibility
Public Interest
-Community Programming

-Community Media
Copyright Law, Intellectual Property Rights


Tuesday, November 07, 2006

take a look at the Internet Rights Charter. it's I think so important to policy issues

http://rights.apc.org/charter.shtml
this is a link to an article that discusses digital inclusion, the fundamental necessity of community wireless, and the imopprtance of digital literacy and more importantly accessability! check it out as it is enlightening!

http://www.govtech.net/digitalcommunities/story

go to this link and search digital inclusion!

Friday, November 03, 2006

here is link to file a comment with the FCC regarding local access and local empowerment. take a look and file!
http://www.freepress.net/fcc/comment.php?d=05-311
brad will, an independent journalist with Indymedia, was killed friday in oaxaca while video taping the protest taking place in the city between the community especially teachers unions who are demanding increased rights and the state government. the action has spread and is characterized by large scale solidarity from a myriad of social sectors. i found this relevent because as we prepare to do video workshops it is important to realize that apparently some things are still off limits to cover and this should inspire us to work on all fronts to create a more just society.
http://www.indymedia.org/en/index.shtml

* We, along with all of Brad's friends, reject the use of further state-sponsored violence in Oaxaca.
* The New York City Independent Media Center supports the demand of Reporters Without Borders for a full and complete investigation by Mexican authorities into Oaxaca State Governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz's continued use of plain-clothed municipal police as a political paramilitary force. The arrest of his assailants is not enough.
* The NYC IMC also supports the call of Zapatista Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos "to compañeros and compañeras in other countries to unite and to demand justice for this dead compañero." Marcos issued this call "especially to all of the alternative media, and free media here in Mexico and in all the world."

Thursday, November 02, 2006

10/26/06
Jason was leading us in different discussions, Pam also helped as well.
Facilitator- Sequoia
Note Taker- Yianno

We began the meeting by finishing up what was being talked about last week
Next we went over a Policy Discussion
Communication Policy Wiki
Reported Video Workshops and Other group projects

One question that was first addressed during the meeting was “Can they setup these so called toll” according to Jason they can. They have certain credibility to do it. It definitely would not be fair at all though for most people. We also talked a little of how phone companies are trying to make it possible to use video phone. Another invention that was also promised to us by the phone company. There was also another strange thing that was brought up about how certain parts of this country people can’t get a phone. There are very few instances where this can occur. Cable companies have also been complaining about how they want the same treatment as the phone companies.

Big Picture- we talked about how certain internet movies can be seen globally so fast. For instance the Chinese Back street Boys. How did it travel so fast to so many different peoples computers. We found out that there are 100’s even 1000’s of different video cites where any person could view different videos and share them. Which lead up to our next discussion on copyrighting. Copyrighting is something that subsist in a wide range of creative, intellectual, or artistic forms or "works” The symbol for copyright is © (Unicode U+00A9), and in some jurisdictions may alternatively be written as either (c) or (C).

We then talked about the different workshops that were being offered and who wanted to do what.

Video Workshops- Charlotte, Stephen, Jay and Yianno
We have our first meeting November 3 4:30 p.m

We found out what people are interested in.
People can choose whether or not they want to host their own screenings

Writing Article for Mass Media- Stephen showed interest
Wiki Related stuff- Pam, Sequoia, Jonell and Gulet
Learning about Editing- Gulet, Charlotte, Jay and Yianno
10/26/06
Jason was leading us in different discussions, Pam also helped as well.
Facilitator- Sequoia
Note Taker- Yianno

We began the meeting by finishing up what was being talked about last week
Next we went over a Policy Discussion
Communication Policy Wiki
Reported Video Workshops and Other group projects

One question that was first addressed during the meeting was “Can they setup these so called toll” according to Jason they can. They have certain credibility to do it. It definitely would not be fair at all though for most people. We also talked a little of how phone companies are trying to make it possible to use video phone. Another invention that was also promised to us by the phone company. There was also another strange thing that was brought up about how certain parts of this country people can’t get a phone. There are very few instances where this can occur. Cable companies have also been complaining about how they want the same treatment as the phone companies.

Big Picture- we talked about how certain internet movies can be seen globally so fast. For instance the Chinese Back street Boys. How did it travel so fast to so many different peoples computers. We found out that there are 100’s even 1000’s of different video cites where any person could view different videos and share them. Which lead up to our next discussion on copyrighting. Copyrighting is something that subsist in a wide range of creative, intellectual, or artistic forms or "works” The symbol for copyright is © (Unicode U+00A9), and in some jurisdictions may alternatively be written as either (c) or (C).

We then talked about the different workshops that were being offered and who wanted to do what.

Video Workshops- Charlotte, Stephen, Jay and Yianno
We have our first meeting November 3 4:30 p.m

We found out what people are interested in.
People can choose whether or not they want to host their own screenings

Writing Article for Mass Media- Stephen showed interest
Wiki Related stuff- Pam, Sequoia, Jonell and Gulet
Learning about Editing- Gulet, Charlotte, Jay and Yianno