media reform

In this last month, the fight to end the high costs of phone rates in the prison system got a major boost when the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Consumer Advisory Committee (CAC) held its spring meeting and decided to address the high cost of Prison Phone Calls—specifically the FCC’s role in increasing competition for different phone companies, so not one single phone carrier has the monopoly and free reign to inflate their charges that results in low-income families paying up to $6 a minute to call their loved once who are incarcerated.

This past July when the 3rd Court of Appeals remained back to the FCC its attempt to loosen ownership rules largely due to the FCC’s failure to address women’s and minority media ownership a few women’s media organizations decided it was time to become more proactive on women’s media policy. Digital Sisters, New Moon Girls, Women in Film/DC and Media Equity Collaborative galvanized around the National Coalition of Women’s Organizations (NCWO) to formulate a new women’s media policy.

NAMAC's Policy Strategist Belinda Rawlins reports on Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association.

In the last issue of MAIN, NAMAC co-director Helen De Michiel covered the National Conference for Media Reform, organized by Free Press in St. Louis this past May. After discussing the various clarion calls sounded at the conference, she observed that NAMAC’s own constituency seemed sparsely represented among the participants. She emphasized the imperative for NAMAC members to get involved in the burgeoning campaigns for media reform and media justice.