Friday, January 24, 2014

ACCESS TV COMES TO MEDFORD, CHANNEL 3 GETS RELIGION

154,740

WE WON!

VICTORY IS OURS   

THE MEDFORD MASS. TV3 BATTLE


the Medford Mass TV3 Battle! The War is Over!

Citizens Win!  Frank loses!

FRANK PILLERI LOST.  PILLERI AND HIS COHORTS, RON DELUCIA, HARVEY ALBERG AND ARTHUR DELUCA GO DOWN IN DISGRACE AS THE CITIZENS GET THEIR ACCESS TV CHANNEL BACK

FRANK PILLERI GOES DOWN IN DISGRACE  ...WATCH FOR our history of Medford Access TV to air when the new station emerges! The shocking story of TV3 will be a 10 part mini-series. You will be glued to your seats! 

the upcoming August trial will potentially be filmed for part of that mini series.  Permission was refused when asked to film the arraignment in Somerville District Court.  But that's ok, Superior Court is a different matter and the public's right to know will prevail, we are quite confident in that.


THE ENTRENCHED CRONIES ARE DISGRACED, AND ONE OF THEM IS ON TRIAL FOR A FALSE BOMB THREAT!



http://medford.patch.com/groups/joe-vigliones-blog/p/whats-good-for-the-community-with-public-access-television

"Public Access television has been for many years the main platform for the general public to express its views to the widest public available in an unfettered 1st amendment free speech manner"  is the opening statement in a lawsuit that was presented in one of the states fighting to preserve access TV. 

     The city of Medford now has a golden opportunity to move forward. The citizens will have a chance to see what they've been missing out on, as Medford has never, ever, ever had a real public access TV station.  Access is not about the few controlling the message...it is about the community having a voice.   

Mayor McGlynn says in the article posted on Patch:


“I look at this as an opportunity to search for fresh approaches to community access television that are based on a foundation of transparency and inclusiveness and that also allow for the fullness of artistic and individual expression,” McGlynn said in a statement.
   Those words spoken by Mayor Michael J. McGlynn are now something we can hold the Mayor to.  He got them right from my playbook as T.O.T.A. - this writer's idea to clarify access tv - was the battle cry in 2005 - Transparency, Oversight, Term Limits, Accountability.  It's what this citizen was asking of the Mayor when I met with him in 2006.  Now we can dwell on the fact that it took the Mayor eight years to get religion, but why bother?  The committee's chairman is a very nice man, the Reverend George "Chip" Hines.
   What is interesting here is that Father Chip, according to the Pilot newspaper dated January 17, 2014  in its CLERGY APPOINTMENTS section notes this:

Father George C. Hines from Pastor of St. Joseph Parish, Medford, to Pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Parish, Sharon, to Pastor of Blessed Sacrament Parish, Walpole, and to Pastor of St. Mary Parish, Walpole.
   What the community is not aware of, and what the old Medford Community Cablevision, Inc. was probably not aware of, was that the Mayor had decided to appoint Father Chip Hines to the board of MCC TV3.  When things started disintegrating to the point of no return it seems that appointment was a moot point, redundancy here intended. Thus the cute little comments you might have seen on my commentaries "TV3 to get religion" but, as I said earlier, time to move forward, not backward.
* * * * *
   Now in a perfect world the Mayor would also call up School Committee Person Robert E. Skerry and accountant Richard Giovino and add another five individuals to that oversight board, the Cable TV Commission of Medford. 
   With only a 3 person panel, having a 5-7 person cable TV commission would help guide the panel with information the panel might not be aware of. The more the merrier if we are to bring about a clean, exciting new opportunity to Medford while keeping the problems of the past away from this situation for at least the next five to ten years.
   My opinion - as stated at a city council meeting, was and still is that the Mayor needs at least a five person panel, not a three person panel.  The good news is that Allison Goldsberry, Fred Laskey and Chip Hines are all good people and easy to get along with.  Gold star for Michael McGlynn there.    But their most obvious asset to the Mayor is their alignment with the McGlynn Administration and not necessarily their understanding of access television - Father Hines appearing on the Catholic Channel and Allison having been a board member of MCC giving them some experience, but clearly not the experience that some in the community who have spent decades and decades in access have. Which is easily solved, of course, by expanding the panel from three to seven.
   And without the panel having more than three people, a cable TV commission could serve to make the new public access entity more...well, public. 

* * * * *
   The presence of Goldsberry is good in that the old TV3 Medford can't complain it is not represented.  Fact is, Allison Goldsberry was appointed or elected to the old MCC Board and actually disagreed with the former president of the station.  That gives her knowledge that can be of some value to the citizens of Medford.  What were her disagreements and now, with her experience at the high school, what is her particular vision.  That input is good, but is of greater value when combined with four additional people on this panel which currently only has three.
   That was part of my argument at the city council and I stand by that position.
   This is not just about any one producer - be it sports host Johnny Byers (who is delighted with the news and intends to be at the Monday night meeting at the Medford High School Library) - or sports enthusiast Chris Donovan or the video company Gravity or Jimmy Morse dot com or Kitty Connection or this writer.  It is about the community.
   A fresh start without the problems of the past is what is needed. 
   Last night on WinCAM - Winchester Community Access and Media - Barbara Harris of The Toys talked about her upcoming benefit concert with Leslie Uggams, Dionne Warwick, The Cookies ("Chains" - a song covered by The Beatles) and others.  It is for the New York City Foodbank which feeds about 400,000 people a day...a worthy cause (and full disclosure - I helped bring some of the artists to the benefit concert).  Public Access is great for benefits, for other non-profits to get the word out.  We also had Buzzy Linhart discussing meeting John Lennon as the great engineer who worked with Lennon, Roy Cicala, passed away this week. And our film critic, Frank Dello Stritto, spoke about the Hercules movie airing tonight on our Friday Night 9 PM movie show.

   Access is alive and well.  This host has brought many, many Medford residents to access TV in Winchester, Winthrop and other stations, as well as on MadeInMedford.com
 
But the internet is still in its infancy when it comes to being a "public access venue."  Those who have cable TV and no internet, especially our senior citizens, would rather watch the P/E/G channels.

   Now, at long last, we will have that opportunity.  It is something a few of the councilors and this writer have fought for over the past decade. It's a key moment in access TV in Medford and we will make the most of this opportunity that we pay for and that we deserve.


McGlynn announces 3 person panel!


http://medford.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/mayor-announces-members-of-new-cableaccess-committee


Channel 3 finally gets religion with a Chip off the old Church on the panel!

McGlynn appointed the following members:
  • Father Chip Hines, pastor of St. Joseph’s Church in Medford, who also co-hosts Catholic TV’s movie review show “Spotlight,” will serve as the committee’s chairman.
  • Frederick Laskey, executive director of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, who formerly co-hosted a show in Medford about energy issues
  • Allison Goldsberry, webmaster for the Medford Public Schools and City of Medford, who also teaches web design at Medford High School and is in charge of the school’s educational access TV station