Your Free Speech is at Risk Today at the Hawaii Capitol

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As many of you know, Public Access Television is under a huge threat. For Oahu, Olelo Community Media will have to shut down its community media centers and suffer a 67% funding cut. The public’s ability to have an alternative voice will be shut down and Hawaii’s corporate media dominated airwaves will prevail. Of course, this may be because we have been so successful in using public access TV to call attention to important issues.

OPPOSE HB 2652 TODAY! – Relating to Public, Educational and Governmental Access Facilities.

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The vote is on Monday, February 6, 2012 at 2:15pm. Please check out HB 2652 and then register your opposition to this destructive bill. This will destroy over 20 years of building an effective model for giving the public a voice. Write a letter, make a phone call, say something or in the end we will all lose.

Who to call by 2:00pm, Monday, 2/6/12 and leave a message opposing this:

The hidden agenda here is to silence the public voice as proven by this deceptive committee action.

It is financially irresponsible to force each sector to buy the same broadcasting equipment and resources to air their programming.

Across the country, when Public, Education and Government (PEG) are separated, the public has lost its voice.

LEGISLATIVE DOUBLE CROSS

The committee voted to defer the bill on 1/30/12 after hearing unanimous opposition from the community. On Friday they switched their action and decided to vote on the bill on Monday, 2/6/12. Conveniently, Super Bowl weekend will take everyone’s attention away from this. Public access television must be very effective to warrant this devious action to shut it down. Help protect Free Speech in Hawaii! Oppose HB2652!

Click here to submit testimony.

Donna Wong is the Executive Director for Hawaii’s Thousand Friends. Reach her at 808-262-0682 and see more at www.hawaiis1000friends.org

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2 COMMENTS

  1. This isn’t a “free speech” issue. This is all about Olelo, a private non-profit corporation, and it’s allies trying to protect their little “fieifdom” and their monopoly on the cable franchise fees (a State collected surcharge on cable users – i.e. public funds). Olelo has accumulated huge amounts of cash and assets that it now claims are no longer public property, and has spent tons of money (yes, public funds) trying to fend off attempts by the state DCCA to hold it accountable. Now that Olelo’s past CEO has been appointed by Governor Abercrombie to be the new Director of DCCA, and someone from Olelo’s law firm is now Deputy Director, and another Olelo executive is in charge of the Cable Division, there is little chance for the sun to ever shine on this fiasco. The administration is now part of the problem. Unless, the legislature really looks into this incestuous use of pubic funds quickly, it will be institutionalized.

    Do you want to turn over total control of public access, and who gets to speak, to a private corporation that is not accountable for its agenda, or accounting of public funds? Olelo is taking public funds and assets and turning themselves into just another privately held network.

  2. Keith, the same has occurred on Maui with AKAKU. They have purchased a small shopping center and are fully a for-profit organization. Taxpayers should not be supporting them. The programming would improve if they had to satisfy the consumer. Take them off the dole.

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