Wisconsin "Video Competition" Bill Proponents Shut Out Opponents' Views; Opponents Speak Out Anyway

Judith Davidoff provides details in the Capital Times on the extent that Rep. Phil Montgomery, the "video competition" bill's chief Assembly sponsor, entertains opposing points of view:

Bob Chernow has been chairman of the Regional Telecommunications Commission for two decades. The commission negotiates cable franchise agreements on behalf of 33 communities in southeastern Wisconsin, representing about half of the state's population and cable subscribers.

As chairman, Chernow thought it would be important to meet with Rep. Phil Montgomery, author of a state bill calling for deregulation of the cable industry.

Chernow said it took 45 days of constant calling just to get an appointment with Montgomery, R-Green Bay. When Chernow and a West Allis official finally met with Montgomery, Chernow said it was clear the state representative was not interested in anything they had to say.

"We went into his office, and he pulls out a gyro sandwich and starts scarfing it down," Chernow recalls. He said Montgomery then got angry at the suggestion that city representatives should be involved in hammering out details in the bill.

"He started screaming at me," Chernow said. "I mean really screaming at me."

Chernow said Montgomery then started to lecture him on how the bill, which is being pushed hard by AT&T, would save consumers money.

"He had his facts all wrong," Chernow said. "If you look at Texas, the rates have not gone down."

"The attitude he had was 'We're not going to listen to you. We've already made our mind up. We don't care who we step on.' "

Now the little guys are talking back. In a clever PSA campaign, the public access folks are arguing that those soapbox channels are really little local business incubators. The DailyPage's Kristian Knutsen focuses on Blame Society's spot featuring Chad Vader's creators:

"This is what Blame Society Productions looked like back in 1993," explains Aaron Yonda in a voiceover atop the clip. "And this is what we look like today," he continues as the strains of an acoustic "Imperial March" start playing atop scenes from their breakout hit Chad Vader.

"But how did we get from this to this?" asks Yonda rhetorically over another pair of before-and-after images. "With the help of locally-funded public access TV stations," he responds. Yonda goes on to credit cable access with the success of their programming and, more importantly, their subsequent ability to work as filmmakers in a state that's quite a distance from either coast.

The spot can be seen here.

More certainly to come, soon.

- Barry Orton

Comments

[jim guilfoil]

Please write the Governor and ask him to veto any telecommunications bill that does not protect the PEG needs of local communities. Citizen participation in their local councils and school boards is the bedrock of democracy. The profits of ATT and other telecom corporations should not supercede the public good.

[proletariat]

I really enjoyed hearing you on Stu's show. Funny, I always imagined you younger - graduate student like.