The FCC is coming to Monterey. What do you want to tell them about Bay Area broadcasters?

The Federal Communications Commission is holding a hearing on July 21 at the Monterey Conference Center, 1 Portola Plaza.  The FCC’s Monterey hearing is the only event on the West Coast for members of the public to testify to the FCC on how well local broadcasters are fulfilling their public interest obligations and how the regulatory agency can encourage better service to their communities.

There are a couple of ways for you to participate, either in person or by sending in an evaluation of local news broadcasts.

Media Alliance is holding preparatory meetings for people interested in parcipating. The meetings will be

• SANTA CRUZ, Wed 7/14, 7-9 pm, Louden Nelson Center
• SALINAS, Sat 7/17, 10am - 2pm, SEIU 817, 334 Monterey St
• MONTEREY, Sat 7/17, 3-5 pm, Monterey Public Library

If you can’t make it to the public meetings, Media Alliance is working with Grade The News, a media project at Stanford, to collect information on Bay Area newscasts. You can download PDF’s of the scorecard and instructions from Grade The News. Here’s how it works:

Choose one or more local newscasts. Tape them to slow them down for analysis.  Print out the instruction document as your guide. Also print out one PDF news scorecard for each newscast you intend to assess.  Mark them with a pencil, in case you change your mind on an answer.  Rate the media on their best work. Skip stories shorter than 20 seconds long.

The deadline for returning the scorecard by Web or fax is Thursday, July 15.

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