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Madison
City Channel NEEDS YOUR HELP!
The
ability of cities to exercise local control over cable television
providers is under attack.
Legislation that has been introduced in the U. S. House of
Representatives and the U. S. Senate as well as legislation that
may be proposed in the Wisconsin Assembly and Senate would take
away cities' ability to enter into contracts - known as
franchises - with cable companies and other television services
providers.
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There
are many things wrong with such legislation, but here we're
focusing on a feature that would prohibit communities such as
Madison from negotiating fiscal support for PEG Access television
such as Madison City Channel.
A large portion of the funding that makes Madison City
Channel the valuable local resource it is comes from a small fee
that each of us as cable subscribers pays as part of our monthly
bill.
The amount and purpose of this fee was negotiated locally
between the City and the cable provider as a way of helping ensure
that citizens of Madison would continue to have access to the
deliberations of their local government.
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Local
negotiations - a local franchise - for local funding for local
government programming.
This legislation could remove the ability of cities to
negotiate this funding - just get rid of it - and then force
communities such as Madison to either add these costs to our
property tax bills or possibly pull the plug on Madison City
Channel altogether.
Check
out the attached program called "Keep It Local", which
presents examples of the value of local Access Programming from
around the country.
And
then - please - make your voice heard.
If you think this legislation - removing local controls
in favor of state or even national franchising - is a bad idea,
then let your elected officials know.
We've
made it easy by attaching sample letters you can send to your
State and Federal representatives.
Simply find the appropriate legislator, click on their
link, and fax them, email them, call them - you can even use
snail mail if you'd like.
But please, do it
now.
The threat to local control and local programming is real
and it's urgent, so don't wait.
Make your voice heard on behalf of our community and speak
up in favor of keeping it local.
Thanks
for your support!
Brad
Clark
Station Manager
Madison City Channel
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