San Francisco, CA– From Seattle and D.C. to Philadelphia and Los Angeles, people are taking to the streets in nonviolent protest against corporate globalization. The next historic confrontation will take place from
September 20-23, 2000 in San Francisco, when the National Association of Broadcasters holds its annual radio convention at the Moscone Center.
San Francisco, CA– From Seattle and D.C. to Philadelphia and Los Angeles, people are taking to the streets in nonviolent protest against corporate globalization. The next historic confrontation will take place from
September 20-23, 2000 in San Francisco, when the National Association of Broadcasters holds its annual radio convention at the Moscone Center.
The independent media and anti-globalization movement (Seattle, Washington, Melbourne, Prague) are preparing to confront them, holding a huge protest and counterculture party outside (and inside) the conference.
– “The NAB is just like the NRA. It uses lobbyists and campaign contributions to corrupt the political process, benefit giant media corporations, and keep the airwaves out of the hands of the public. The NAB interferes with
democracy, so we’re going to interfere with the NAB,” – Andrea Buffa,
executive director of Media Alliance. –
The NAB is the lobby group for the broadcasting industry. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the NAB has been described by one federal official as “the most perfect lobbying machine you could ever design.” The
NAB spends millions of dollars every year on campaign contributions and lobbyists to keep the airwaves out of public hands. They pushed for the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which encouraged the formation of media
monopolies and led to unprecedented consolidation in the radio industry.
They grabbed the digital TV spectrum for existing broadcasters, in effect siphoning billions of public dollars for huge media conglomerates. Most recently, they’ve been lobbying to kill low power FM radio (also called micro radio), which the Federal Communications Commission recently decided to legalize.
The National Association of Broadcasters is the WTO of the broadcasting industry. It spends millions of dollars every year lobbying to keep the airwaves out of the hands of the public. We can thank the NAB and the media giants that it represents for:
• Putting out the trash called commercial radio and TV.
• Stereotyping youth, people of color, and working class people.
• Censoring and misrepresenting the issues that we care about—from homelessness and immigrant
rights to the environment and labor.
• Pushing for legislation like the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which legalized media monopolies,
creating The Gap and Starbucks of the airwaves.
• Engineering the giveaway of billions of public dollars by handing over the digital TV spectrum to the
corporate media.
• Fighting tooth-and-nail against grassroots media efforts like low-power radio that would bring hun-dreds
of new voices and perspectives to the airwaves.
Bring your microradio transmitters, your dancing shoes, and your militant nonviolent attitude.
Join Media Alliance, Project Censored, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Micropower Action Coalition, Global Exchange, Prometheus Radio Project, Direct Action Network, and other organizations in protest!
Act up, party down, raise hell, shout out.
Calendar of Events for NAB Week
September 15 through September 24
Friday, September 15, 2000
A Paper Tiger TV exhibit of the Independent Media Center movement runs through late September at the UC Berkeley Art museum. They will be showing videos on September 15 at the Pacifica Film archive. For more information check the news section of the main IMC web site – http://www.indymedia.org. This is an excellent outreach opportunity.
Sunday, September 17, 2000
Make Art and Puppets!
UC Art Museum, 2625 Durant St., Berkeley
Redstone Building 16th and Capp S.F.
11 AM Â 3 PM
Join us for a Sunday of unrest in preparation for NAB actions; make props, learn radical cheers, bring a shirt to silkscreen.
Whose Media ? Our Media !
Unitarian Fellowship in Berkeley
(1924 Cedar at Bonita)
7:30 PM
Creating global grassroots media. This is a forum and discussion on independent media with speakers who include, Dennis Bernstein, of KPFA, Andrea Buffa of Media Alliance; Stephen Dunifer of Free Radio Berkeley; DeeDee Halleck of Paper Tiger TV and Kiilu Nyasha. It will be held at the Unitarian Fellowship in Berkeley. Some short videos will be shown and time will be set aside for folks to discuss plans and organize for the NAB convention. Sponsored by Flashpoints Radio and IndyBay Media.
Wednesday, September 20, 2000
Join the California National Organization for Women in an action to raise awareness of the impact the media has on women and girls! We will be holding a press conference and protest outside the National Association of Radio Broadcasters Convention, combining NOW’s “Love Your Body Day” & “Watch Out Listen Up” campaigns!
12 noon to 1PM – Moscone Center,
700 Howard Street (corner of 4th)
San Francisco, CA
Thursday, September 21, 2000
Press Conference and Speak Out
Colin Powell (father of FCC Commissioner Michael Powell) makes the keynote address to the convention.
8:30 a.m. The Moscone Center,
747 Howard Street (at Third),
San Francisco
Micropower Broadcasting Workshops
FRB shop facility
2547 8th St,. #24, Berkeley (at Parker St., enter at Bay #3)
10 AM to 12 Noon – Fundamentals of Micropower Broadcasting
1 PM to 4 PM – How to build FM transmitters
4 PM to 6 PM – Micropower antenna basics and construction
A Micropower Celebration Party
Unitarian Fellowship in Berkeley
(1924 Cedar St., at Bonita)
7:30 PM
Speakers, music and the “Free Radio†video will be featured.
NAB Union Busting, Censorship and Labor
214 12th (at Howard)
National Association of Letter Carriers Local 214
7:30 PM
Presented by the Labor Action Committee to Protest the NAB.
Panel discussion speakers include Norman Solomon, nationally syndicated media critic; Dick Meister, labor journalist; Annie Long, president of SF AFTRA-SAG; Richard Edmondson of SF Liberation Radio; Bill Fiore, Representative IFPTE Local 21 & Producer of Bay Area Union News
Donation Requested. For more information call : Labor Video Project @ 415-282-1908, or e-mail lvpsf@labornet.org
AK Press presents….
Norman Solomon
22 Shotwell (at 14th Street),
San Francisco
7 PM. – Reception at 8 P.M.
Meet your fellow media activists, booze, shmooze, and share information about upcoming events.
Call 415-864-0892 for more information.
“This is What Democracy Looks Like”
Roxie Theater – 12:00 midnight
16th at Valencia St., SF
documentary on Seattle WTO protest
Friday, September 22, 2000
Web and Internet Media Workshops
New College, 777 Valencia St,
San Francisco
10 AM -12 Noon – Basics of web & streaming media – audio
1 PM – 3 PM – Basics of web and streaming media – video
3 PM – 6 PM – Digital Audio & Video editing basics
Radio: For the NAB or for the Public Interest?
Golden Gate University Auditorium,
536 Mission Street, 2nd Floor,
San Francisco
7 PM – $5 donation requested
An educational event about the effect of NAB-supported legislation on media consolidation in the radio industry and the diversity of media ownership and programming. Speakers will include Quincy McCoy, formerly of the Gavin Report and author of No Static, about the decimation of Black-owned radio stations and community programming; Nicole Sawaya of Pacific News Service, formerly the outspoken general manager of KPFA radio who was fired by the Pacifica Foundation; Ofelia Cuevas of People for a Better TV; and Richard Edmondson, founder of San Francisco Liberation Radio. The panel will be moderated by Independent Press Association Executive Director John Anner.
Punk Rock for Free Speech
Kimo’s, 1351 Polk Street, San Francisco
10 PM – $5
Shotwell and Murder Takes No Holiday will perform live, videos by Whispered Media.
Jeff Perlstein from the Seattle IMC will speak.
Benefit for the SF Independent Media Center!
Sponsored by Alternative Tentacles.
Saturday, September 23, 2000
Micropower Broadcasting War Council Meeting
New College, 777 Valencia St,
San Francisco
10 AM to 4 PM
Rally and March
4 P.M.
Pre-rally music jam & info, 2 PM
U.N. Plaza, Market Street between 7th and 8th,
San Francisco.
Rally at United Nations Plaza with speakers, music, and performances. Readings by Michelle Tea and others.
March to Union Square at 5:30 P.M. Creative props and art welcome!
Independent Musicians Concert
6:30 PM
Union Square at Geary and O¹Farrell
Spoken word by Jello Biafra, concert by independent musicians, just a block away from the hotel where the NAB will present their Radio Awards. Past Marconi Award winners include: Dr. Laura, Howard Stern, Rush Limbaugh.
Sunday, September 24, 2000
Independent Media Summit
New College, 777 Valencia Street,
San Francisco
10 AM to 4 PM.
The first Independent Media Center (IMC) was created last year to cover the WTO protest actions in Seattle. Since then over twenty IMC’s have been created, a remarkable achievement in a very short span of time. This summit will be an opportunity for those involved in the independent media movement to assess where we’ve been, where we are now and where we’re going next. By evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of this movement we can effectively plan and strategize for future action.
Full Sprectrum Underground Analaysis and Coverage
An Independent Media Center (IMC) will be set up at Media Alliance to cover the NAB events. If you can help out with this in any way please get in touch with them. Using the past IMC models they will have individual teams responsible for print, video, audio, web-casting, server upkeep, etc. 415-546-6334, extension 315..
Affinity groups are encouraged to plan independent actions throughout the duration of the NAB Conference. Possible targets could include the NAB/FCC Breakfast on Friday morning and the NAB/Congressional Breakfast on Saturday morning. And of course, the exhibit floor itself.
If you can help organize for this event, Media Alliance is having regular meetings every Wednesday at 6:30 pm
Media Alliance
For further information, see:
Media Democracy Now.org
SF Liberation Radio
Free Radio Berkeley
<a href="http://www.radio4all.org/Radio4all
National Association of Broadcasters
510-549-0732
* Micropower Broadcasting Counter-Convention *
September 20 – September 23
Bringing maximum static to the National Association of Broadcasters Convention
To coincide with the National Association of Broadcasters Radio Convention, the Micropower Action Coalition will be sponsoring the following workshops and events.
Registration and check-in for the Micropower Convention will be on Wednesday, September 20 and Thursday, September 21. Location is the Free Radio Berkeley facility, 2547 8th Street, Unit 24, Berkeley. The facility will be open 11 AM to 10 PM on Wednesday and 9 AM to 7 PM on Thursday. For people needing housing, a housing board will be set up.
Information phone number is 510-549-0732
On Thursday, September 21, a Micropower celebration party will be held at the Unitarian Fellowship, 1924 Cedar at Bonita in Berkeley starting at 7:30 PM. Speakers, music and the “Free Radio” video will be featured.
Micropower Broadcasting Workshops, 9/21 & 9/22:
Thursday, September 21:
Hands-on micropower broadcasting workshops at the FRB shop facility in West Berkeley. If you want to learn how to build FM transmitters, this will be your opportunity.
-10 AM to 12 Noon – Fundamentals of Micropower Broadcasting
-1 PM to 4 PM – How to build FM transmitters
-4 PM to 6 PM – Micropower antenna basics and construction
Friday, September 22:
Several web and internet media workshops will take place at New College in San Francisco.
-10 AM to 12 Noon – Basics of web and streaming media – audio
-1 PM to 3 PM – Basics of web and streaming media – video
-3 PM to 6 PM – Digital Audio & Video editing basics
On Saturday, September 23 a Micropower Broadcasting War Council will take place from 10 AM to 4 PM. at New College, 777 Valencia Street (between 18th and 19th) in San Francisco
For further updates on additional workshops and events:
www.mediademocracynow.org – www.freeradio.org
510-549-0732
Organizations that have endorsed the NAB protests include Media Alliance, National Writers Union Local 3, Global Exchange, Independent Press Association, Micropower Action Coalition, Civil Rights Forum on Communications Policy, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, Prometheus Radio
Project, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Rainforest Action Network, Direct Action Network, WE Interrupt This Message, National Lawyers Guild Committee for Democratic Communications, Coalition on Homelessness, Project
Censored, and many others.
Author: thee_InVection_report
News Service: TheExperiment Network
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