Events

Current Activites of FCM and in the past

Media Hatist Visits Kansas City

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Article in Wichita Eagle by By David Mastio, 9/6/24

Headline: “Tucker Carlson, defending Hitler, Kremlin propaganda: ‘conservative’ media in crisis”

“This week, Tucker Carlson, a man who had a prime-time speaking slot at the Republican Convention where he sat next to Trump, invited Nazi sympathizer Darryl Cooper onto his streaming show and into the lives of millions of his fans to rehabilitate Adolf Hitler as a spurned peacemaker who was pushed into Jewish genocide by a war-mongering Winston Churchill. This is insane.

“Next week, Carlson is bringing his fascist apologia show to T-Mobile Center in Kansas City. Some people are paying more than $100 to get close. The next day, Carlson will be speaking before thousands more in Wichita at InTrust Bank Arena. I don’t think this is what T-Mobile and InTrust had in mind when they paid for naming rights to these venues.”

https://www.kansas.com/opinion/article292021650.html

 

FCM Event on Saturday, 5/4 Was Successful

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Friends of Community Media sponsored a well-attended event with Palestinian non-violent peace activist Awad Mubarek at All Souls Unitarian Church in Kansas City last Saturday. FCM president Spencer Graves, interviewed by KCTV, MC’ed the event.

Important Palestinian Peace Event

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                  

Contact:  Spencer Graves (408) 655-4567                                   

PALESTINIAN PEACE ACTIVIST TO SPEAK THIS WEEKEND MAY 4 AND 5

Kansas City, Missouri – 4/29/24

Doctor Mubarak Awad, Palestinian-American from Jerusalem, will speak on “Standing up for Palestine”, with baklava donated by the Jerusalem Café available at 1:30 PM for the event at 2-4 PM, on Saturday, May 4th at All-Souls  Unitarian Universalist Church, 4501 Walnut in Kansas City, followed by a Q&A session.

Awad Mubarak is a Christian Palestinian, born in Jerusalem in 1943. He has a PhD in psychology and has US citizenship. In 1983 he founded the Palestinian Centre for the Study of Nonviolence in Jerusalem. He was expelled by Israel in 1988 for organizing nonviolent civil disobedience in the First Intifada.  He then founded Nonviolence International, advocating for active nonviolence and nonviolent campaigns worldwide.

In the session about events in Gaza and calling for a ceasefire, ideas to be discussed include actions that people can take.  These include contacting senators and representatives, participating in peaceful demonstrations and events, putting up yard signs protesting the treatment of Gazans, advising religious communities to host a educational forums, and how to contribute to humanitarian aid for the region.

Dr. Awad will also speak at the 9:30 All-Souls forum on Sunday, May 5 to be broadcast on community radio station KKFI 90.1 FM May 14th 7-8 PM, and the event will also be available later on the YouTube “AllSoulsKC” the second “Forum”.

Donations requested.  Net proceeds will go to the Palestinian American Medical Association (PAMA) for humanitarian aid. Contributions may be made  through the “donate” button on the ourfcm.org website, or by mailing a check to “Friends of Community Media”, 3707 Pennsylvania Ave, KC, MO 64111.  

Friends of Community Media is a 501(c)3 Kansas City non-profit organization founded in 2007, with the goal of promoting community-based media.  It also assists local groups to create independent media, influence existing media, and promote diverse media ownership.

In its history it has conducted the “Media 4 Us week” literacy event, sponsored progressive media awards, brought in guest speakers on media topics, worked with the United Minority Media Association, and conducted media literacy classes. 

Information on this event and on Friends of Community Media may  found on the group’s website:  ourfcm.org.

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Looks Interesting

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Training Session for Netroots Nation 2024! Will you please help choose the title?” – Sue Wilson
 
1. “How Local Communities can Hold TV and Radio Stations Accountable”
2. “Empowering Local Communities by Holding the FCC Accountable”
3. “Making Local Broadcasters Accountable to Your Community”
4. “How to make Local Broadcasters Accountable to Your Community”
5. “How to Stop Local TV and Radio from Poisoning Your Air” Don’t like any? I’m open to suggestions. THANKS!

Sue Wilson may be contacted on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/SueWilsonTV

 

Decline in Local News Coverage Affects All Americans

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From Associated Press 11/15/23

“The decline of local news in the United States is speeding up despite attention paid to the issue, to the point where the nation has lost one-third of its newspapers and two-thirds of its newspaper journalists since 2005.” Giant media corporations continue to dominate American information outlets – even digital media decline.

https://apnews.com/article/local-newspapers-closing-jobs-3ad83659a6ee070ae3f39144dd840c1b

FCM Meeting Next Week

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Want to learn more about the media?

The next monthly meeting and potluck for Friends of Community Media will be held at 5 PM CST, October 28th at 3707 Pennsylvania Avenue, Kansas City.  Issues discussed will be upcoming events.

Program Next Week on Information Access

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Spencer Graves, President of Friends of Community Media, will address the All-Souls Forum in Kansas City on Oct. 29th from 9:30 – 10:30 AM CST. The media-related topic will be “Information is a public good: Experiments in better government”.

This will be occur both in person at All Souls UU Church, 4501 Walnut Street, KCMO 64111, and via YouTube Live at:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIoASyxWDu-DqHJZh-2gcjQ

The audio from the presentation will also be broadcast 11 days later on Nov. 9th on:

http://kkfi.org

Below is a related link to Mr. Graves’ Wikiversity article called, “Information is a public good: Designing experiments to improve government”. This article covers the topic in more detail than will be discussed Oct. 29:

https://kkfi.org/program-episodes/information-is-a-public-good-experiments-in-better-government/

FCM Sponsors Event With Community of Reason

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Friends of Community Media is now a co-sponsor for the Oct. 29th session of Community of Reason. This program (2-4 PM CST) will feature Romary Daval, General Secretary of “Un Bout des Médias” (translates – a purpose for the media), speaking to us via Zoom from Paris.

“Un Bout des Médias” is roughly a French counterpart to the U.S. Freepress.net but their activism program seems to be getting more traction than the media reform movement in the US is getting. They actively raise funds for nonprofit journalism organizations giving journalists more power in editorial decisions than may be possible in the U.S. due to legal structures.

For information:

 

http://www.communityofreasonkc.org/