Residents, PEG Station Employees, Government Staff, Supporters… we need your voice!

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is holding public participation hearings in August and September 2024, to hear from communities about the performance of cable companies like Comcast Xfinity, Charter Spectrum, Cox, and others. A 2022 state law, known as SB 28, asked the agency to update the licensing of cable companies, a process known as franchising, and to adopt customer service standards. This is the first time cable franchising has been reviewed in more than fifteen years in California. It is an exciting opportunity to fight for community media, digital equity and consumer protections. Continue reading →

Our wonderful community of producers has worked hard all year and now it is time to see the best of the west recognized. The winners for 2024 were announced and honored at an online awards ceremony on Friday, April 19 at 7pm Pacific. Click here to for a full list of winners and to watch the ceremony!

This year the national ACM conference will take place in San Jose, California, from June 25-27, 2024.  We will not be holding a regional conference this year, so we encourage you to join us in San Jose!  For more information visit allcommunitymedia.org.

If you haven’t already heard, the ACM National Conference will take place in San Jose, California, this summer. We’re excited to welcome ACM members from across the country to the West Region. We hope you’ll join us.

That means this year ACM West will not host a regional conference. Our regional conference will return in 2025, location to be announced.

However, in February, we are offering several meetup opportunities in Hawaii and California. These are free to attend. Our Hawaii members will gather on The Big Island from February 1-3. For more information email Kat Tracy at kat@akaku.org.

For our California members, there will be a meetup at Contra Costa TV in Martinez, CA, on Monday, February 5 – click here to register; and a meetup at Pasadena Media in Pasadena, CA, on Thursday, February 8 – click here to register.

ACM President & CEO Mike Wassenaar will be in attendance at all the meetups. This is a great opportunity to network with and learn from your community media colleagues. There is no cost to attend and you don’t need to be an ACM member (though we hope you’ll consider joining).

Kyle Lowe from CMAC in Fresno, CA, created this recap video of their team’s visit to the 2023 ACM West Conference in Santa Barbara.

The ACM West Board of Directors is pleased to announce our 2023 Conference & Trade Show at the beautiful Mar Monte Hotel Resort on the beach in Santa Barbara, California, February 22-24.

Register Schedule Workshops & Speakers Hotel & Transportation Vendors

California Assembly Bill 2635 makes a small but important change to current California law. It would require the local PEG access channels to be in high definition (HD) or the modern technology used by local broadcast TV if the material is created in HD format. This change would ensure that open captioning embedded into video (for example on Zoom) for deaf, hearing impaired, and elderly audiences are legible. It would ensure that documents presented during public meetings such as maps, spreadsheets, and presentations are not indecipherable.

It’s critical that ACM members and their local governments and supporters take action now to keep the bill alive! For the bill to move forward we need ACM members, community media center users and supporters, and local governments to act NOW!

Here’s what we all can do:

1. Call your Assembly Member and encourage strong support for AB2635. Here’s the contact info and how each member voted on May 2nd: drive.google.com/file/d/1rI2cnR_ILAOricaeW4r2tlm0bAaFDVWQ/view?usp=sharing

2. Send an email to Assembly Members using Media Alliance’s “Take Action” page. This page has helpful “Facts vs Myths” for dispelling the cable industry lies. takeaction.salsalabs.org/AB2635MythFact/index.html. (Also, here’s proof that HD PEG channels did not increase cable rates in Oregon: drive.google.com/file/d/1bP7VZhWnroDNzkdNRE6ULfJLdbuPKmgW/view?usp=sharing)

3. Send this letter of support to your Assembly Member and the persons listed at the top of the letter. Encourage other elected officials or government officials to send the letter also. Link: docs.google.com/document/d/18wIj1O1SUQMH6jcuwjVD_MIbUtv_pITQ/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=112745945501984474403&rtpof=true&sd=true

We all will benefit if AB2635 passes… but we need your support NOW!

NEW ACM Offering, Hosted by the IEE Caucus

Justice at Work Training!

Deadline to register is Friday, June 3

Topics covered: What is social power? Bringing power to people, interrupting bias within ourselves and in institutions, structural inequities and more.

“I have gone through the training with my team. We have found it to be approachable for people new to sometimes difficult conversations on power and oppression. I think you will enjoy Mia’s onsite facilitation and debrief discussion. She is one of my favorite facilitators. Don’t miss this opportunity to start these conversations with your organization and team. Community media plays a critical role in addressing power and oppression in media and fostering a more just and equitable media system.”
        – Matt Schuster, Public Media Network, Kalamazoo, MI

Registrants will have 4 weeks to participate in virtual training modules and review related content in preparation for an in-person training from 1-5pm on Monday, June 27 at the ACM National Conference at the Fairmont Chicago Millennium Park. Virtual sessions must be completed prior to June 27 convening. This event is hosted by the IEE Caucus and facilitated by Mia Henry and Freedom Lifted.

Training is broken down to three areas (4-5 hours online):
– Identity and Power
– Five Faces of Oppression
– Resistance and Solidarity

The capacity for this event is 30 people. Early registration is encouraged to guarantee your spot. The deadline to register is Friday, June 3.

Cost: $75 per person

A group lunch will be served from Noon to 1pm prior to the start of the program on June 27.

Register Now!

The live stream begins at 6 p.m. Pacific Time. Our wonderful region of professionals, community producers and students have worked hard all year and now it’s time to see the best of the west recognized!