[Peace] Update: Democracy Now! Petition (new site)

[Randall Cotton]

I've just set up another petition location at:

World Harvest
519 E University Ave
Champaign

I spoke with Mohammad Al-Heeti (the owner) and he was very enthusiastic
about helping with this effort.

So that's 6 location total, 2 each in Urbana, Champaign and campustown (see
below for the rest). I think that should do it. Now I'll publicize this a
bit more with posts to various other mailing lists as well as the IMC web
site.

R

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Randall Cotton" <recotton at earthlink.net>
To: <peace at lists.groogroo.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2004 6:32 PM
Subject: Update: Democracy Now! Petition


: I just finished setting up 3 more locations for the petition:
:
: Strawberry Fields (at the public bulletin board between the cafe and the
: store)
: 306 W Springfield Ave
: Urbana
:
: Jerusalem Restaurant (at the counter)
: 601 S Wright St
: Champaign (campustown)
:
: and
:
: WEFT (in the lobby just outside the studio)
: 113 N. Market St.
: Champaign
:
: So this is in addition to the other two spots:
:
: Urbana/Champaign Independent Media Center
: 218 W. Main St.
: Urbana
:
: and
:
: Boardman's Art Theater (the AWARE table there)
: (this is really just a convenience for folks seeing Fahrenheit 911)
:
: Please stop by and put your name on the petition before July 11th at the
: latest
: (so I can present the names to the UPTV commission on the 12th).
:
: Thanks much =8-)
: R
:
: : ----- Original Message ----- 
: : From: "Randall Cotton" <recotton at earthlink.net>
: : To: <peace at lists.groogroo.com>
: : Sent: Friday, June 25, 2004 4:19 PM
: : Subject: Need help! (Democracy Now! Petition)
: :
: :
: : : Hi all,
: : :
: : : I've been working on getting UPTV to broadcast Democracy Now! on
: : : Champaign/Urbana's cable-TV system. This would be on channel 6, Urbana
: : : Public Television (UPTV) and ideally, DN! would be broadcast live at
7AM
: : : every weekday. I've been keeping AWARE folks up to date on my efforts
: and
: : : they have endorsed this project at AWARE meetings and have also
approved
: : : funding (if necessary) for up to $350 (that would be the maximum cost
: : needed
: : : to implement this proposal for the first year).
: : :
: : : But I need folks to help me with a petition (either by just signing it
: : : yourself or by signing other folks up) to help get this going.
: : :
: : : The petition reads:
: : :
: :
:
: --------------------------------------------------------------------------
: : -
: : : We, the undersigned residents of the Champaign/Urbana area, thank the
: : Urbana
: : : Public Television (UPTV) Commission for considering the acquisition of
: : Free
: : : Speech TV (FSTV) and regular broadcasts of "Democracy Now" from FSTV,
: and
: : :
: : : We strongly encourage the commission to vote in favor of making FSTV
: : : available for retransmission on UPTV and to broadcast the live feed
for
: : : "Democracy Now!" every weekday at 7AM.
: :
:
: --------------------------------------------------------------------------
: : -
: : :
: : : And I'm hoping to get at least 200 signatures by Monday, July 12th,
when
: : the
: : : UPTV Commission has their next meeting.
: : :
: : : You can sign the petition yourself at the AWARE table for Taste of
: : : Champaign/Urbana (which starts 5PM today and runs through the
weekend).
: I
: : : also plan to have it available at the AWARE table at Boardman's Art
: : Theater
: : : during Fahrenheit 911's run (the film starts today, of course, and
I'll
: be
: : : there at the 7:30 show with petition in-hand). I'll also have it at
: AWARE
: : : meetings and other gatherings.
: : :
: : : And please reply to me if you're interested in signing folks up
yourself
: : : (that would help a lot and I'd really appreciate it) - I'll get you
: blank
: : : copies of the petition.
: : :
: : : If you're curious about all this, but want to know more, read on...
: : :
: : : You may or may not know this, but Democracy Now! (democracynow.org on
: the
: : : web) does indeed have accompanying video. While it was born as a
: strictly
: : : audio program for radio, for some time now DN! has been broadcasting
as
: a
: : : full-blown video program. Usually, the video is just of Amy and any
: guests
: : : she has in the studio, but increasingly there's also video footage of
: : : newsmakers, speeches and documentaries.
: : :
: : : Of course, that's not the only reason to get DN! available on UPTV.
: While
: : : you can hear DN! on WEFT, 90.1 FM at 4PM on weekdays, the program is
: : : actually produced at 7AM central time, so it's 9 hours old by the time
: it
: : is
: : : rebroadcast on WEFT. My proposal is to broadcast it LIVE as it happens
: on
: : : cable channel 6, 7AM every weekday  morning. In addition, many people
: are
: : : unable to listen to Democracy Now! on WEFT because it broadcasts
during
: : : working hours. Finally, having Democracy Now! available on cable-TV
: would
: : : make it easy for people to record the program using a VCR or DVR
: (Digital
: : : Video Recorder - e.g. Tivo) and more accessible for folks who don't
: often
: : : listen to the radio. I believe many folks may discover DN! for the
first
: : : time by accident just by flipping through their cable channels and
: : anything
: : : that makes independent, alternative, non-profit news and analysis more
: : : accessible to the general population can only accomplish good things.
: : :
: : : There are already over 100 public-access cable-TV stations across the
: : : country that broadcast DN!, so this isn't exactly a bold new
precedent.
: : : Check out:
: : :
: : : http://democracynow.org/stations.pl?op=fullsearch&broadcast=tv
: : :
: : : to see a complete list.
: : :
: : : But I do need help. In particular, I feel I need to put together a
: : petition
: : : to influence the UPTV Commission (the body that governs/advises UPTV).
: : I've
: : : already made a proposal to the UPTV Commission at their most recent
: : meeting
: : : to acquire broadcasting rights for "Free Speech TV", which will, in
turn
: : : allow them to broadcast Democracy Now! (which is one of Free Speech
TV's
: : : programs). They'll be considering my proposal at their next meeting on
: : July
: : : 12th. It's not a certainty that they'll vote to approve this proposal.
I
: : : hope to have 200 signatures by then (and more after that) to help
: : influence
: : : the commission.
: : :
: : : Feel free to reply to this message (but please don't include the whole
: : peace
: : : list) if you'd like to know more. Or you can contact me by phone at
: : : 722-8470.
: : :
: : : Thanks =8-)
: : : R
: : :
: :
: