Friends of Community Media Annual Meeting

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Greetings:

      April 8, 2-4 PM, is the time for the 2023 annual meeting for Friends of Community Media.  This will be a hybrid event followed by a pot luck in the Oak Room of Oak Hall, 4550 Warwick Blvd, KCMO 64111.  Zoom credentials appear below.

      People who wish to attend in person are asked to RSVP, so I can notify the Oak Hall reception staff of whom to admit.

      Help us plan a series of events featuring local media leaders discussing media reform to improve democracy.

* McChesney recommends distributing 0.15% of GDP (roughly $100 per person per year) to local new organizations via local elections.

* This is comparable to the US Postal Service Act of 1792, which helped catapult the US into its leadership position in the world today.

* Most cities could fund this by matching what they spend for accounting, advertising, media and public relations.       Dues are $10 per year.  FCM members who have not contributed at least

$10 since January of this year can pay in person or via the PayPal “Donate” button on the “Donate” page: “https://ourfcm.org/donate/“.

      The key agenda item will be to elect four people for 2-year terms on the Board.  The terms of Spencer Graves, Lynn Norris, and Richard Thompson end with this meeting.  Susan Sarachek was on our board but is no longer with us.  (Tom Crane, Craig Lubow, and Greg Swartz were elected to 2-year terms last year.  Their terms will expire with the 2024 annual meeting.) 

Other agenda items will include a proposed series of public events with local media leaders, a fund raiser at Hamburger Mary’s scheduled for April 29 (Saturday), Grassroots Radio Conference,

Also considered will be the past, future, and management of this website.  A more detailed agenda will be distributed as we get closer.

Hope to see you then.      Spencer Graves, President, Friends of Community Media. 408-655-4567

 

Local Newspapers Matter, Their Demise Portends Trouble

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Headline: “Local journalism made me what I am today. Without it, we’ll all be the poorer”

Sub-head: “For budding journalists and citizens alike, the demise of local newspapers will leave a void that’s impossible to fill”Article in The Guardian by John Humphrys, 3/30/23

“. . . Then there’s the old controversy: how much has the ubiquity of BBC local news been to blame for so many local papers going out of business? As Hall acknowledges, in broadcasting the genuinely local commercial stations have for the most part been merged into larger entities. This has “important ramifications” for reporting on local councils, courts and so on.

“A few years ago, the BBC set up the Local Democracy Reporting Service to head off charges that it was killing off local newspapers. The scheme pays for journalists who can work for any local news outlet. There are 165 of them and about 1,000 individual news outlets are signed up.”

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/mar/30/local-journalism-journalists-newspapers

 

 

 

Disappearing Local News Calamity is Outlined in this Article.

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Article from Nieman Lab by Joshua Benton, 3/9/23

Headline: “The scale of local news destruction in Gannett’s markets is astonishing”

Sub-head:  “It might not be as mustache-twirling a villain as Alden Global Capital, but its enormous scale has meant enormous losses for local journalism.”

“And its most recent SEC filing reports that, as of the end of 2022, Gannett had just 11,200 U.S. employees remaining (plus another roughly 3,000 overseas).

“. . . Gannett has eliminated more than half of its jobs in the United States in four years. It’s as if, instead of merging America’s two largest newspaper chains, one of them was simply wiped off the face of the earth.

“That’s a cut substantially deeper than the rate of newspaper revenue decline. Why? . . . “

 
https://www.niemanlab.org/2023/03/the-scale-of-local-news-destruction-in-gannetts-markets-is-astonishing/
 

Alternative Medium Has Good Stuff

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Looking for a good source of “alternative” news and “alternative facts”? Truth Social has it all! This article in the New York Times shows us the benefits of subscribing to that site! You’ll find really valuable stuff there, too!

Article in the New York Times by Stuart A. Thompson, 1/27/23

Headline:  On Trump’s Social Network: Ads for Miracle Cures, Scams and Fake Merchandise

Sub-head:  Truth Social, the social network started by former President Donald J. Trump, has struggled to attract large brands.

To explore this special alternative source of media, check out the NYT article!

“Between posts about conspiracy theories and right-wing grievances was an unusual advertisement: a photo of former President Donald J. Trump holding a $1,000 bill made of gold, which he was apparently offering free to supporters.

“But there were a few catches: The bill was not free, it was not made of gold, and it was not offered by Mr. Trump.

“The ad appeared on Truth Social, the right-wing social network started by Mr. Trump in late 2021, one of many pitches from hucksters and fringe marketers dominating the ads on the site.”


https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/27/technology/trump-truth-social-ads.html


Right Wing Radio Monitoring

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From EIN Presswire – continuously monitors up-to-ate concervative talk radio broadcasts

Headline: “Right-wing/Conservative Talk Radio News Monitoring”


https://uspolitics.einnews.com/news/conservative-talk-radio

“Established in 1995, EIN Newsdesk helps millions of users track breaking news across thousands of trusted websites. Users may set up custom email newsletters and RSS feeds or search among thousands of preset news sections. As a member, you may also submit your own news using the EIN Presswire distribution service. Membership is free and we do not sell or lease any information about you. Press release distribution, dedicated APIs, and custom services generate the revenue that allow us to offer you free basic access”

Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying (PRESS)

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Important! Save our press freedoms and protect reporters from spying and threatened intimidation! This legislation could do it!

Freedom of the Press Foundation
(https://freedom.press/news/tell-sen-durbin-to-advance-the-press-act/)
is asking everyone to “Tell Sen. Durbin to advance the PRESS Act, the
historic press freedom legislation”.  This bill, H.R.4330
(https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/4330), passed
the House on a voice vote, which means that if the bill actually comes
up for a vote in the Senate it may be viewed as an uncontroversial and
non-partisan issue.  They suggested Durbin, because he’s the Chair of
the Senate Judiciary Committee.

They asked supporters to contact Durbin’s office and ask him to support
the PRESS Act by calling 202-224-2152 or using his webmail form
(https://www.durbin.senate.gov/contact/email).