Big Brother Bullies PEG

An April 5 blog posting dealt with the advertising blitz by an outfit called TV4US pushing what one communications industry expert calls cable "un-regulation" legislation introduced in Wisconsin's Legislature as Assembly Bill 207 and Senate Bill 107. The advertising focuses on spiraling cable bills and the need for relief for consumers.

Wisconsin State Journal columnist Susan Lampert Smith pointed out yesterday one of the dark sides of the proposed legislation. She wrote that the "cable bill, which is streaking a greased track through the Legislature, will, in its current form, kill city government and cable access channels across Wisconsin."

At stake is the future of community Public, Educational and Government (PEG) channels. They are to local government and community affairs what C-SPAN is on the national scene and WisconsinEye is supposed to become at the state level.

PEG channels from Oshkosh to Madison are raising red flags and trying to mobilize citizens to fight to preserve this vitally important outlet for local democracy. The Wisconsin Association of PEG Access Channels is trying to raise awareness statewide of the threat AB 207 and SB 107 pose to public access television. A central clearinghouse of information about the threat to PEG is SaveAccessWisconsin.org.

For still more information, go here.