Hi everyone, there is a change in the time for the FCM annual meeting. It will be at the same location and start at 5:00 PM.As a not-for profit 501(C)3 organization, Friends of Community Media (FCM), every year the group meets at an “annual meeting” to elect its board of directors and officers for the coming year.

This year, FCM members will meet on Sunday, April 3rd at 5:00 PM at the address below to elect our board. To be a “member in good standing” Dues for the 2022-2023 fiscal year of $ 10.00 need to be paid. Greg Swartz, the treasurer of the group will be available to collect dues at the event before the meeting begins.

Location:
2022 Annual Meeting of Friends of Community Media will be at 5:00 PM in the:Oak Room, Oak Hall4550 Warwick Blvd Kansas City, MO 64111People may also attend by a Zoom link but will have to have paid dues ahead to vote.AND via the Zoom credentials.For questions, phone 408-655-4567

More information may be found in the previous post which has also been corrected.

-=Tom Crane=-

For those wishing to attend via Zoom, here are the credentials.

FCM Zoom meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89553983659?pwd=ZisyaWpqTk1VUGpPVm5rNU5GUUlaUT09

Meeting ID: 895 5398 3659

Passcode: 695590

One tap mobile
+13017158592,,89553983659#,,,,*695590# US (Washington DC)

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+1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago)

As a not-for profit 501(C)3 organization, Friends of Community Media (FCM) every year, the group meets at an “annual meeting” to elect its  board of directors and officers for the coming year. 

This year, FCM members will meet on Sunday, April 3rd at 5:00 PM at the address below to elect our board.  To be a “member in good standing” Dues for the 2022-2023 fiscal year of $ 10.00 need to be paid.  Greg Swartz, the treasurer of the group will be available to collect dues at the event before the meeting begins.
Following the meeting of the FCM members and the short meeting of the newly elected board, there will be a social event – a potluck – where you may bring something to share.  Interesting discussions will ensue about the nature of the media and what can be done to improve it.

To learn more about FCM, you may go to our website https://ourfcm.org to read the group’s bylaws and other information about the organization.

-=Tom Crane=- chair of FCM.

---

Spencer Graves, the secretary of FCM the following message as a reminder:

The 2022 Annual Meeting of Friends of Community Media will be at 5:00 PM in the:

Oak Room, Oak Hall
4550 Warwick Blvd
Kansas City, MO 64111

People may also attend by a Zoom link but will have to have paid dues ahead to vote.
AND via the Zoom credentials below.

For questions, phone 408-655-4567

VOTING PRIVILEGES AVAILABLE ONLY TO ALL MEMBERS IN GOOD STANDING.

This requires you to have paid your annual dues of $10.  You can do
this any of the following three ways:

* ourfcm.org > Donate button – [you may need to click on the icon for the
“Menu”, depending on your device]:  And do this enough in advance so
Paypal will show that your dues are paid before the meeting.

* Mail a check payable to Friends of Community Media to FCM, 3707
Pennsylvania Ave, Kansas City, MO 64111.  And do this enough in advance
so the check arrives before the meeting.

* Bring your $10 to pay before the meeting.

On February 6^th, 10:00 AM CST, national media reformer, Craig Aaron, will speak on what we can do to improve the media at an All-Souls Forum sponsored by Friends of Community Media. To attend the Zoom session go to the forum link at allsoulskc.org,

The national trend of shrinking local media and journalism in many hometown newspapers disturbs Craig Aaron of

https://www.freepress.net/ who states, “This has severe consequences for our concept of democracy.”

A major organizer of National Media Reform Conferences held in Memphis, Denver, St. Louis, Boston, and Minneapolis, Aaron brought together many icons of national media including Phil Donahue, Dan Rather, Robert McChesney, and FCC administrators, to make the case for more accurate and responsive media.

Results from these events helped efforts to pass legislation to create hundreds of  new local radio stations, caused formation of media reform groups nationwide, encouraged more local media outlets, and showed to the public the importance of net-neutrality.

The February 6^th presentation will tell why citizens should be worried about how media are changing, how media are controlled by a few corporations, and by the decreased coverage of community news.  The presentation will also show how citizens can take action to make the media more responsive to neighborhood, regional, and national needs.

Craig Aaron of freepress.net will make a presentation sponsored by All-Souls and Friends of Community Media on February 6th at 10 AM via Zoom. Credentials will follow in a future post. Here is his biographical sketch.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH – CRAIG AARON

Craig Aaron, who will be speaking on a Kansas City Zoom presentation February 6^th at 6:00 PM CST sponsored by Friends of Community Media and the All-Souls Forum, has been a leader in the efforts to improve democracy in media for many years.

For more than 15 years since 2011, with his leadership with Free Press and Free Press Action, he has led national campaigns to safeguard net neutrality, stop media consolidation, oppose unchecked surveillance, defend community media, and support quality journalism. In his work in Washington he speaks often to policymakers on media and technology issues.

A prolific author, he has written for The Columbia Journalism Review, The Daily Beast, The Guardian, Huffington Post, MSNBC, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Politico, The Progressive, The Seattle Times, Slate and many other news outlets. Craig was also a yearlong fellow from 2018-19 at the Rockwood Leadership Institute and sits on the advisory board of the Media, Inequality, and Change Center.

Before joining Free Press, he was an investigative reporter for Public Citizen’s Congress Watch and managing editor of In These Times Magazine. He is the editor of two books, Appeal to Reason: 25 Years of In These Times; and Changing Media: Public Interest Policies for the Digital Age. Mr. Aaron is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism of Northwestern University.

-30 –

INFORMATION ON HOW TO ATTEND THIS EVENT WILL FOLLOW SOON.

NATIONAL MEDIA REFORM ADVOCATE TO MAKE APPEARANCE

AT KANSAS CITY ALL-SOULS FORUM

On February 6^th, 2022, at 10 AM CST, national media reformer, Craig Aaron, will make a presentation at the All-Souls Forum sponsored by the Friends of Community Media, a non-profit group. The event will be accessible to the public.

The national trend of shrinking local media and journalism coverage as in many newspapers like the Kansas City Star, disturbs Craig Aaron of FreePress.net, who said that this has severe consequences for our concept of democracy.

A major organizer of National Media Reform Conferences held in Memphis, Denver, St. Louis, Boston, and Minneapolis, Aaron brought together many icons of national media including Phil Donahue, Dan Rather, Robert McChesney, Jane Fonda, and FCC administrators to make the case for a more accurate and responsive media.

Results from these events were crowned after a ten-year effort to pass legislation that created hundreds of  new local radio stations in our communities, the creation of media reform groups across the nation, efforts to encourage local media outlets, and the importance to the public of net-neutality.

The February presentation on February 6^th will outline why citizens should be alarmed at how the media are changing, the control by fewer and fewer corporations, and the decreasing coverage of events in local communities both rural and urban.  The event will also show how citizens can take action to make the media more responsive to local and national needs.

– 30 –

From the Associated Press article:

https://apnews.com/article/business-media-journalism-phoenix-native-americans-6324ac76c0fca02e2e7f91cb80369bc1

Jon Stewart vs. Tucker Carlson in 2004 on CNN, caused sparks to fly and made people think about the nature of the news media. Worth watching.

https://www.themarshallproject.org/2021/12/20/the-prison-radio-station-that-s-reaching-men-on-death-row

This Vanity Fair article shows how news about the new virus spread through the media – like a virus!

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/12/how-the-earliest-covid-coverage-shaped-our-world

“Why Me,” asks Howard Beale?,

“Because you are on television, dummy,” responded network-head, Ned Beatty.