Donna Gacek writes-
Hi Joe,
The interview was great! You are really amazing – do you ever sleep?
Anyway, I’m writing to say that we would appreciate your support in helping
to create awareness about the CAP Act and asking citizens to write to their
senators:
The Community Access Preservation Act (CAP Act), H.R. 1746 was introduced in
May 2011 by Congresswoman Baldwin of Wisconsin and Congressman LaTourette of
Ohio. The passage of this Act is critical for the survival of local
Community Media Centers and local communities. Unlike public
broadcasting which receives a federal appropriation from Congress, community
media does not receive federal or state funding but relies on fees paid by
cable companies through franchise agreements. Additionally, community media
is often the only source of local news and information in many communities.
The CAP Act responds to several immediate threats to public, educational and
governmental cable channels around the country:
It amends the Communications Act so that public, educational and
governmental access funding may be used to support basic operational costs,
including employee salaries;
It reaffirms the principles of the Communications Act that cable providers
should not discriminate, and should treat our members the same as other
local broadcast channels;
It promotes the preservation of public, educational and governmental
channels and ongoing funding from cable providers for local programming,
digital literacy training, public security and workforce development.
Community media provides local programming and services not available by
broadcasters or cable companies. High school basketball games, Board of
Selectman and School Committee meetings, worship services, workshops for
video production, youth programming and local news and information are
critical for our citizens. On average, a local community media center
produces more than 1,100 hours of original local programming each year, with
some centers producing upward of 15,000 hours per year.
Click this link to take action on this issue:
http://www.votervoice.net/link/forward/acm/9qW8M4.aspx
Thank you!
Donna
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