What is the Friends of Community Media group?

FCM is a group of your neighbors that promotes community-based media including the Internet, who educate citizens on the media, and who want media to be responsive to the public-interest in their coverage.

FCM is currently very worried about that a very few large corporations and money-people want to do away with Internet protections gained under the Obama Administration. This is known as “net neutrality” – or an open-Internet for all.

What do the money-people want to do to the Internet?

Under the Trump Administration, the danger is that a few money-people and large corporations want to make you pay more to access the Internet at a reasonable speed, and probably control what you see or don’t see.  They use the name, “The Restoring Internet Freedom” rule where their use of the word “freedom” is really a smokescreen for turning the Internet over to moneyed interests and enacting Internet censorship.

 What can ordinary people like us do?

Join the resistance by letting your voice be heard at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) by August 15^th with comments on what has been posted on the issue.  Almost 10 million already commented to the FCC – most are against dismantling net neutrality – and others are bots from large corporations that are in favor of the new rules.

What can I do and what should I write?

Friends of Community Media already prepared and filed an extensive rebuttal to the new rules on July 17^th in a comment to the Federal Communications Commission.  When sending in your comments, refer to our comment to the FCC which shows up as:

By August 15^th send your comments on FCM’s comment to:

https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/filings

The link to the entire text of FCM’s comments is here:

https://ecfsapi.fcc.gov/file/10718681816260/FCC%2017-60A1.pdf

On Monday 7/17/17 Friends of Community Media filed a comment with the FCC protesting the abolishing of net neutrality regulations.  Doing away with these rules, would give major media companies unprecedented authority to raise Internet service providers fees, and power to censor content on an open-Internet.  Many thanks to Amy, Gordon, and Spencer for the work they put in to do this!

For a full text of the FCM document, here is the link:

https://ecfsapi.fcc.gov/file/10718681816260/FCC%2017-60A1.pdf

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                Contact:  Spencer Graves  (408) 655-4567

FORUM ON NET NEUTRALITY EFFORTS TO TAKE PLACE IN ON SATURDAY

            Kansas City, July 10, 2017 – On Saturday July 15^th, Friends of Community Media (FCM) will convene the first of a series of forums on the media at 2:30 PM in the annex-room at 39^th and Main (rear door) in Kansas City.  This meeting includes a panel with open-media advocate Spencer Graves and (tentatively) Ernesto Falcon, an attorney and Legislative Council with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a citizen’s advocacy group specializing in Internet law, and possibly others.  Bring your concerns and questions.

This forum will discuss the efforts of the Federal Communications Commission under the Trump Administration to reverse the 2015 Open Internet rules with a “Notice of proposed rulemaking 17-60A1 on Restoring Internet Freedom”:  Trump’s FCC wants to restore the freedom of telecoms like Comcast to censor your internet usage, destroying net neutrality.  The “data” justifying this change were cherry-picked, according to the New York Times, FCC Commissioner Clyburn and others.

Recent polls by Mozilla and Civis Analytica found that 76 and 77 percent of Americas support net neutrality. [1]

The forum will encourage citizens and groups to send comments on this proposed change to the FCC before their July 17 deadline and to your representatives in the US House and Senate.  Perhaps the easiest way to do this is via “BattleForTheNet.com”.

– 30 –

Friends of Community Media is a Kansas City nonprofit group working to enable citizens to create their own media and influence existing media.  FCM promotes diversity both in media ownership and diversity in views that media portray to the public.

[1]      Sam Gustin, “Most Americans Support the Net Neutrality Rules that Trump’s FCC Wants to Kill”, Motherboard, July 10, 2017.

OTHER UPCOMING EVENTS:

July 15th FCM Forum on Net Neutrality – at 39th & Main – KKFI Annex Room 2:30 – 4:00

July 20th FCM/KKFI Broadcast ascertainment forum – KKFI Annex Room

Meeting  Sunday, 7/2/17 at 39th and Main 11:30 AM at the KKFI conference room to prepare the final draft of the FCM bylaws changes for presentation to the FCM board.  All welcome to attend.

Due to the current size of the organization and the difficulties in managing the membership of the board, Gordon pointed out that the current Friends of Community Media by-laws should be amended. Currently Article VI, Section 2 reads

“Sec. 2.  The board of directors shall consist of no less than five and no more than eleven directors.   At the regularly scheduled membership meeting taking place immediately before the annual meeting the number of board members to be elected for that year will be determined by a vote of the members.  All directors shall be elected by the  membership, and a majority of the members of the board shall be elected from the membership.  In each odd numbered year, half plus one of the members of the board shall be elected, with the remainder of the board being elected in the following even numbered year. Each member of the board of directors shall serve for a term of two years, and may be elected to no more than two consecutive terms.”

A motion is in order to remove the following lines from Article VI, Section 2 of the Friends of Community Media By-laws enacted on 3/28/07.

“In each odd numbered year, half plus one of the members of the board shall be elected, with the remainder of the board being elected in the following even numbered year. Each member of the board of directors shall serve for a term of two years, and may be elected to no more than two consecutive terms.” 

The complete Article VI, Section 2 of the Friends of Community Media By-laws would now read,

“Sec. 2.  The board of directors shall consist of no less than five and no more than eleven directors.   At the regularly scheduled membership meeting taking place immediately before the annual meeting the number of board members to be elected for that year will be determined by a vote of the members.  All directors shall be elected by the  membership, and a majority of the members of the board shall be elected from the membership.”

FCM Annual Member Meeting Agenda 4/8/17

Pay Dues (for those who haven’t $10)

Establish quorum (majority of members who have paid dues and attended previous meeting)

Remove automatically those who haven’t paid dues or attended a meeting.  (Bylaws Art V Sec 3)

Minutes read and corrected from 3/25/17 meeting

OLD BUSINESS

Website update

Discussion of proposed upcoming events and locations

NEW BUSINESS

     Elect membership committee (5)  Article IV and chair (1 year  term) – discuss next year’s criteria

     Determine size of board for 2016 (5-11) (article VI)

     Elect board for 2017-2018

Adjourn

 FCM Annual Board Meeting Agenda 4/8/17

New board meets, elects officers –Pres/chair, VP/co-chair, Treasurer, Secretary

Quorum established

Minutes from last board meeting

Treasurer report

IRS Form 990 status

OLD BUSINESS

NEW BUSINESS

    Elect officers

Adjourn