Call to Action

BREAKING NEWS!! Above is the new STATEWIDE LETTER PORTAL to support the COMMUNITY MEDIA REINVESTMENT ACT! (S2581 and A5900) If you live in New York State it is urgent that you use the portal to electronically send a message of support for this bill! Not only will this bill create dedicated funding for Community Media in every City, Town and Village in New York, but it will ALSO create an equal amount of revenue to the General Fund of every town! This funding will replace the revenue has been lost by the decline of cable franchise fee, a source of income that has helped support local budgets! HOW DO YOU HELP? Just write in your address with zip code, and your message (which you can customize with your own first paragraph) will be sent to your local legislators and key sponsors and committees that can advance the bill! It is URGENT that we get this bill as a part of the NY State budget since it will create an extra $270 million for New York State from streaming media and satellite. As you can read in the paper “REVENUE STREAMS” below, 30 other states are already taxing digital media. So why not New York?? Massachusetts has a similar bill in the works. Please add your voice to increase our municipal incomes and also help hyper local community media survive and thrive, particularly in under-served areas. The bill also provides for expansion of broadband into areas of very few homes per linear mile which were not reached by traditional cable. Click HERE to see an updated income projection table just compiled in 2024, along with an updated letter from the author of “REVENUE STREAMS”, Dr. Lee Shaker. IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR NEW YORK STATE! To get a perspective of how important Community Media is, and to get an understanding of what needs to be done to ensure that it has the funds to continue on, we invite you to download the RESEARCH PAPER from this website entitled: REVENUE STREAMS: HARNESSING DIGITAL MEDIA COMMERCE TO REINVEST IN NEW YORK’S TOWN AND CITIES by Lee Shaker & Antoine Haywood. Click HERE to to view or download! To learn about what the ALLIANCE FOR COMMUNITY MEDIA is doing on the National Level in public policy visit: http://www.allcommunitymedia.org/policy-advocacy/advocacy If you have a relationship with your House Representative and want to help contact ACM President Mike Wassenaar at mwassenaar@allcommunitymedia.org. If you have a personal relationship with your NY State Assemblyperson or NY State Senator and want to help advocate for Community Media in New York State and/or your local area, watch the video “The Future of Community Media in New York State” and contact Anthony Arrien at arrien@optonline.net for support materials for your visit with your New York State official.  A volunteer representative from ACMNY can accompany you on your legislative visit to give a presentation while you as a constituent can affirm your support. In alliance, Anthony Arrien Chair, Alliance for Community Media of New York 845-528-7420 arrien@optonline.net