[1299] in Public-Access_Computer_Systems_Forum
Telecomms radio shows begin 9/23
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Steve Cisler)
Wed Sep 23 13:10:27 1992
Date: Wed, 23 Sep 1992 11:16:10 CDT
Reply-To: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum <PACS-L%UHUPVM1.BITNET@mitvma.mit.edu>
From: Steve Cisler <sac@apple.com>
To: Multiple recipients of list PACS-L <PACS-L%UHUPVM1.BITNET@mitvma.mit.edu>
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
I thought these would be of interest to librarians and other infonauts.
-Steve Cisler
Telecommunications Radio Project The Communications Revolution Series 1992
INFORMATION SHEETS
The Telecommunications Radio Project (TRP) presents a new Communications
Revolution series of thirteen hour-long live broadcast programs at noon (PST)
every Wednesday from September 23 to December 16, 1992. These timely
programs on telecommunications will inform your audience of the following:
the tremendous possibilities that existing and future telecommunications
technologies such as push-button information, computer networking, audio and
videotex, interactive tools for education and training, offer to individual
consumers and their communities;
how they are affected as consumers by the ever-changing technology, products
and services, and laws of the telecommunications industry;
the powerful impact that these technologies have on all of our lives as
individuals, and as a culture and society.
PUROSE The purpose of the Communications Revolution series is to provide
clear, comprehensible and useful inforrnation about various telecommunications
issues, products and services. We aim not only to educate individuals, but
also to raise public awareness of the larger social issues and the
potential for influencing policies through participation in community
advocacy organizations.
FORMAT and USAGE Each show begins with a highly produced 5-7 minute
documentary segment, followed by an in-studio panel discussion, and listener
participation via statewide phone hook-up. Originating at Pacifica-KPFA FM
in Berkeley, the programs will be simultaneously uplinked by satellite and
offered to public and comrnunity radio stations throughout California, as well
as other states.
HISTORY
TRP is an extension of the highly successful 1990 Communications
Revolution series which was picked up by about twenty stations nationwide,
including approximately seven California stations. The 1990 series was honored
with several prestigious national awards including CPB, NFCB, and the
American Bar Association's Silver Gavel Award and, the best of all accolades,
renewed funding by the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC).
FUNDING
TRP is funded by the Telecommunications Education Trust
established by the California Public Utilities Commission. The Trust was set up
after the PUC fined Pacific Bell for selling unnecessary phone services to
customers, many of whom were low income residents, nonEnglish speaking
immigrants, and the disabled.
GOALS
The goals of TRP are the following:
1. Assist listeners in becoming informed consumers and active users of the new
technologies by breaking down the fear and mystification often linked to them.
2. Explain how and why public telecommunications is regulated, empowering
individuals and organizations, especially those of color, to understand and
participate in public policy processes.
3. Facilitate the networking of individuals and organizations so that they are
able to share and benefit from telecommunications technologies.
4. Alert the public to the potential dangers that telecommunications could pose
to our privacy, health and freedom.
PROGRAM DESCRIPTIONS
Program 1: Listening In: The Politics of Electronic Encryption.
Broadcast Date: 9/23/92
New telecommunications technologies challenge the parameters of custom and
law which define and enforce privacy in communications. The U.S. Government
wants to secure its own communications while reserving the ability to decode
private and corporate communications.
Program 2: Techno-Kids: The Significance of Modem Telecommunications
Technologies to ChildrenQIt's Child's Play.
Broadcast Date: 9/30/92
How do kids use such telecommunications technologies as computer networks,
video games, telephone services? Do our generation of kids experience the world
differently from past generations as a result?
Program 3: Marian the Librarian Meets the CyberSpace Info-Surfer.
Broadcast Date: 10/07/92
Find out how modern telecommunication technologies such as computers,
modems, and compact discs have radically changed information storage and
delivery systems in our libraries.
Program 4: From Iron Horse to Cyber Steed: Regulating Public Utilities.
Broadcast Date: 10/14/92
Learn about the history and current impact of government regulation,
legislation, and lobbying on public utilities and, in particular,
telecommunications technologies. How did they come to be regulated?
Program 5: Hot Issues for Cool Converts: Transforming Spy Satellites and Other
Cold WarriorTeleToys.
BroadcastDate: 10/21/92
The American telecommunications industry is closely tied to the U.S. defense
effort. How has military funding of R&D shaped telecommunications research?
Has this served us well or ill?
Program 7: Govemment Information in the Electronic Age: Challenges to the
Principle of Democratic Access.
Broadcast Date: 11/04/92
Governmental cost-cutting measures and the increasing reliance on electronic
record-keeping have reduced the amount of government documents printed and
distributed at low cost or free. Many governmental agencies now find it cheap
and convenient to let private companies process, repackage and sell public
information and reap huge profits. Most corporations can easily pay for this,
but few small organizations and individuals can.
Program 8: The Workplace of the Future.
Broadcast Date: 11/11/92
Visions and predictions concerning the effects of telecommunications on the
office and the factory. How might these technologies transform the workplace
and the essential nature of work and commerce?
Program 9: Sweatshops: From Woolen Mills to Word Mills.
Broadcast Date: 11/18/92
The real physical and psychological impact of telecommunications on workers,
the work environment, and relationships among workers, as well as between
employees and managers.
Program 10: Punch In Your Number Here: Privacy and High Tech Consumer
Services. BroadcastDate: 11/25/92
Loss of privacy is often the hidden cost we as consumers pay for the
convenience and instant gratification offered by hightech shopping
services. Computerized demographic information is often for sale to the
IRS, retailers, creditors and private investigators. How much privacy are
we willing to sacrifice for convenience?
Program 11: Educffion: Exploring the World from the Classroom.
BroadcastDate: 12/02/92
What are kids really learning from computers and other communications
technologies used in the classroom? Is uneven distribution creating a new
class of information rich and information poor?
Program 12: Extending the World of Disabled Citizens. Broadcast Date:
12/09/92
Telecommunications technologies expand human capabilities, taking us
beyond the physical restrictions of space and time, and out of our bodily
limitations. How accessible are these products and services which
redefine our experiences of our bodies and our abilities?
Program 13: Phone Psychology.
Broadcast Date: 12/16/92
An updated view of the creation and evolution of the telephone, the
services it provides, and its impact on our society, how we conduct our
personal lives, and how we perceive the world.
Time: Noon, Pacific Time.
The stations:
California Stations (by city)...
KHSU Arcata
KPFA Berkeley
KPFK North Hollywood
KMUD Redway (?)
KCBL Sacramento
KPBS San Diego
The rest of the nation (by state)...
WMNF Tampa, Florida
KSUI Iowa City, Iowa
KSAI Minneapolis, Minnesota
KSMU Springfield, Missouri
WCPN Cleveland, Ohio
WYSO Yellow Springs, Ohio
WBAI New York, New York
WXXI Rochester, New York
WEOS Geneva, New York
KRCL Salt Lake City, Utah
KPBX Spokane, Washington
KUOW Seattle, Washington
