CIPB CHAPTERS
BINGHAMTON, NEW YORK

CONTACT INFORMATION

ACTIVITIES

We are presently working with (i.e. harassing) the local "public broadcasting" affiliate to try to create more transparency, community involvement in program selection and creation, and accountability to the public. (I put that in quotes because there is little "public" about the station.)

We are working on several fronts, but mainly trying to get new Community Advisory Board bylaws that will give the CAB some power. (I am a big fan of how the Pacifica stations are structured -- very bottom-up. Do a Google search for "pacifica bylaws")

Interesting sidebar: several of the most active people on the CAB, prior to the bylaws changes, were well known peace activists. Since the CAB has been restructured, these people have been excluded because their "station membership could not be verified". Now, here's the great part: The Trustee who created the new bylaws and verified the pool of candidates is a manager from a large defense contractor.

I am working on a multi-jurisdictional petition for auditing. Making a complaint to one government authority is like shooting darts: There is some small chance of hitting the target. So, I figure to increase your chances, shoot more darts. Various forms of my complaint will go to, the CPB (CAB and open meetings violations), the FCC, and several state departments.

Best Regards,
Bill Huston
July 2004

BINGHAMTON MAN SUES CABLE GIANT OVER PUBLIC ACCESS TV

Binghamton, NY -- "I just want to make TV shows", says Bill
Huston, "but they won't let me". Time Warner Cable, that is.
Huston has been trying for several years to take equipment certification classes, and use Time Warner's studios to make a live TV show. But Time Warner says they are not obliged to under the law, or their contract with the municipality. Huston disagrees, and filed a lawsuit last Friday, which seeks an injunction and three million dollars in damages.

"This is about a matter of principle", says plaintiff Huston, who is suing without legal representation, "and those principles are free speech, information diversity, and right of a community to locally originated programming, not created by the government or to benefit corporations".

"The arrogance of these cable giants is incredible. Time Warner
Cable has been the monopoly cable provider in the area since 1995, and their partner Newchannels Corp since 1978. As far as I can determine, they have never been compliant with Public Access requirements", Huston alleges. "And the [New York State Public Service Commission] not only does not enforce the present law, but now they're rewarding these giants for such lousy service by giving them a 15 year franchise, and the rest of the metaphorical farm. It's outrageous."

The NY PSC was just in Binghamton on Monday for hearings on proposed rule changes, which would be a "grab bag giveaway" to the cable industry, according to Thomas J. Hillgardner, a NYC based attorney who specializes in Public Access law. Huston and about a dozen others spoke to oppose the rule changes.

Huston, who runs the website www.BinghamtonPublicAccess.org, cites the present rules which require a dedicated Public Access channel. Time
Warner Cable's Binghamton division provides only a combined Public + Education and Government channel. Under the new rules, only a combined channel is required.

"What good are these rules if there is no enforcement mechanism," Huston asked at the Monday hearings. "The local provider has failed to obey the law for at least 20 years, maybe more, and the PSC keeps renewing their franchise like everything's A-OK. What kind of abuses does it take to get them to act? Does the PSC make even the most basic audit before granting a franchise? Who do these people represent, anyway?"

Volume 9 of the New York Code Rules and Regulations, part 595.5 also states they are obligated to provide "facilities and equipment" to use the Public Access channel capacity. Time Warner provides only a video playback device. "What about the people that don't own a camcorder? Seems like a camera is necessary, and they don't provide one", Huston says.

"I've pretty much exhausted all my available remedies, short of a lawsuit", Huston explains. "No one is interested. Not the City, not the PSC, not the Attorney General, and certainly not Time Warner. So now, it's up to the courts to decide."

The complaint is here:
http://www.binghamtonpublicaccess.org/special/lawsuit

For more information about this press release, contact the Binghamton Public Access Coalition: phone: 607-724-1755,
or by email: tvinfo@BinghamtonPublicAccess.org, or visit http://www.BinghamtonPublicAccess.org

Letter: Kudos for 'Democracy Now!'

The following was published in the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin on Thursday April 17, 2003.

Cheers to Jeffrey Blum's April 6 article on Pacifica Radio's Democracy Now!, which was recently added to local NPR affiliate WSQX. Our group (Citizens for Independent Public Broadcasting) was involved in the campaign to lobby management to put the program on the larger station, WSKG.

Blum says, "NPR programming is not controversial compared to the content provided by Pacifica." However, many people hold a different opinion, including Jeff Cohen (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting), David Barsamian, Robert McChesney, Jerry Starr and local media critic Peter Hudiburg.

We in the progressive community look to NPR and PBS as alternatives to the pro-military, pro-corporation, anti-environment, pro-war-on-drugs, anti-labor biases of the commercial media, but we consistently find the same biases.

Unlike All Things Considered and Jim Lehrer's NewsHour, Amy Goodman's team and Democracy Now! do not accept corporate underwriting and produce news that is refreshingly critical.

WILLIAM HUSTON

Click here for original text

PREVIOUS ACTIVITIES

As you are aware, the Binghamton chapter of Citizens for Independent Public Broadcasting organized a campaign to bring Amy Goodman's Democracy Now! news and public affairs program to WSKG, which included an online petition and telephone requests.

Well, our efforts have paid off! WSKG will be airing the full 2 hour edition of Democracy Now! on sister station WSQX (91.5 Binghamon, and 90.7 Corning/Elmira) starting this Monday from 12-2pm!

Now we need to thank WSKG.

Please, if you are able, become a member of WSKG today. They are really struggling for cash right now (like we all are), but this is a MAJOR victory for progressives and those of us in the peace movement. If you pledge $65, you get a great looking coffee mug. At $45, you get a nifty portable radio. If you can't pay that, give 'em $10 or $5; give them whatever you can.

It is just *really important* that we say thanks for this wonderful new program.

Become a member on-line: http://www.wskg.org/membership.htm
Pledge line: 1-877-975-9754

BE SURE to tell them your pledge is for DEMOCRACY NOW!

Thanks to all of you who participated in the campaign!

Here is the press release from Greg Keeler, Director of Programming:

----- Forwarded message from Gregory Keeler -----

Date: Sat, 15 Mar 2003 14:55:09 -0500
From: Gregory Keeler
Subject: Democracy Now on WSQX 91.5, Binghamton

Pacifica Radio's DEMOCRACY NOW! Comes to Binghamton on WSQX 91.5

Binghamton, NY - WSQX 91.5, Binghamton's "jazz and news alternative" will begin daily weekday broadcasts of Pacifica Radio's DEMOCRACY NOW! Monday, March 17 at noon. The program will be heard in Binghamton at 91.5 FM each weekday noon-2pm. DEMOCRACY NOW! is a national, listener-sponsored public radio program, pioneering the largest community media collaboration in the country, committed to bringing the voices of the marginalized to the airwaves on issues ranging from the global to the local.

WSQX is also heard in Corning, NY at 90.7 FM.

WSQX 91.5 is one of three services provided to the Binghamton area by WSKG Public broadcasting. The organization also supplies WSKG Radio(classical, National Public Radio News) at 89.3 FM and WSKG TV (PBS) Channel 46.

"We've never received so many requests for any other single program in the station's history," said WSKG's Director of Programming, Gregory Keeler. "After careful internal debate, we decided that Pacifica Radio's DEMOCRACY NOW! provides a progressive voice many people in our area are hungry for." The new program will pre-empt two hours of jazz previously heard mid-day on WSQX 91.5. "We realize some listeners will miss the mid-day jazz, but this particular slot seems to provide the best service to our area while maintaining the National Public Radio news programming already heard on WSQX." Jazz will continue to be heard during morning and afternoon drive time on WSQX 91.5, as well as evenings and overnights.

Since WSQX 91.5 first went on the air in 1995, the station has provided additional listening times for WSKG Radio's popular NPR News program MORNING EDITION (8:30am - noon on WSQX). WSQX 91.5 also broadcasts NPR's TALK OF THE NATION with NPR's Neal Conan taking listener calls 2pm-4pm Monday through Thursday. On Fridays from 2-4pm, it's TALK OF THE NATION: SCIENCE FRIDAY. Host Ira Flatow takes listener calls while talking with today's brightest minds in the field of science.

DEMOCRACY NOW! goes beyond the rhetoric and party politics offered by the mainstream media. In 2000, Democracy Now! pioneered a unique multi-media collaboration involving non-profit community radio, the internet, and satellite and cable television.

DEMOCRACY NOW! aired live two-hour daily specials at the Republican and Democratic national conventions, direct from the Independent Media Centers in both Philadelphia and Los Angeles. The project resulted in the most dramatic increase in audience in Pacifica Radio history, expanding its potential audience to twenty-five million households.

DEMOCRACY NOW! focuses on a range of issues that demand attention, highlighting grassroots efforts to enhance and ignite democracy. Some call this "public journalism" or "civic journalism." We call it Radio in the Pacifica tradition.

DEMOCRACY NOW! brings to life the ideas and voices of some of the best minds of this generation (and previous ones), including activists, muckrakers, visionaries, artists, risk-takers, academics and "just folks" who share a commitment to truth, democracy, justice, diversity, equality and peace.

The Team includes some of this country's leading progressive journalists who've garnered dozens of awards for their ground-breaking work in radio and print journalism. More about DEMOCRACY NOW! may be found at www.democracynow.org.