Chicago Media Action
P. O. Box 14140
Chicago, IL 60614
October 10, 2003
Ms. Sandra Guthman
Chairman of the Board of Trustees
5400 North St. Louis
Chicago, IL 60625
Dear Ms. Guthman:
Chicago Media Action is an activist group dedicated to analyzing and broadening
Chicago’s mainstream media and to building Chicago’s independent media. In light
of the fact that the airwaves belong to the PUBLIC, the membership of Chicago
Media Action hereby makes the following four demands:
1) We demand that WTTW CEO Dan Schmidt be fired immediately.
[The Chicago Tribune has exposed that he cost WTTW over 10 million dollars through
his errors and mismanagement. In addition, the station is laying off employees at
the same time that a) WTTW pays Schmidt a $280,000 annual salary and b) Schmidt
re-built the station entryway at a cost of $2.1 million. As owners of the
airwaves, we will no longer tolerate this gross malfeasance.]
2) We demand that a government audit be performed on all WTTW functions
immediately because we want to know how OUR money is being spent.
[Multiple complaints have been filed and fines have been levied against WTTW for
misconduct. Also, there is an accounting theft scandal where up to $600,000 is
alleged to have been embezzled by WTTW employees. We are concerned that what is
known thus far may be just the tip of the iceberg.]
3) We demand a monthly series of documentaries followed by live town hall meetings
on WTTW during the prime time evening hours. This program must be organized by
people from the community whose views have, up to now, had little or no
representation on WTTW.
[Chicago Media Action has proposed a "documentary-followed-by-live-town-hall-
meeting" series to WTTW, but the station has rejected all of the proposed
documentary films. The subjects of the rejected documentaries included the war
in Iraq, the Patriot Act, and the need for campaign finance reform.]
4) We demand that by February of 2004, a completely independent commission must
evaluate and make recommendations regarding the following proposed solutions to
WTTW’s funding dilemma:
a) Creating more diverse programming which serves the communities
now being underserved by WTTW, thus creating a NEW and wider
pool of viewers who will financially support the station.
[Ignoring the demographics of Chicago, Channel 11 has no African
American as the primary host of any of their regularly scheduled,
locally produced shows (“Chicago Tonight”, “Check, Please”, ”Wild
Chicago”, “Artbeat Chicago”, ”Chicago Stories” or “Sound
Opinions”). It would appear that cash-strapped WTTW has little
interest in tapping into the significant financial resources of the
Chicago African-American community. As of this month, WTTW
is producing another new talk show, hosted by local white music
critics. However, WTTW rejected a proposal (made in October of
2002 and again in March of 2003) which asked for a program more
relevant to the Chicago community. The rejected proposal
requested that Cliff Kelley and Salim Muwakkil co-host either a
regular “Chicago Tonight” segment or a political commentary/talk
show produced by WTTW.]
b) Creating an independent public broadcasting trust to improve
funding and reduce the content control imposed by the
corporations who fund WTTW and the Public Broadcasting Service.
c) Establishing a WTTW Board of Trustees which is elected by
the public.
[Currently the Board of Trustees elect themselves with no public
input or accountability. This lack of public participation has
resulted in a board consisting mostly of corporate elites. The
overwhelming majority of the self-selected WTTW Board is
composed of presidents, CEOs, and Chairs of corporations such as
Salomon Smith Barney, Com Ed, Bank One, Peoples Energy, etc.,
who clearly cannot represent the interest of the working class.
The vast majority of the viewing public IS working-class. It is only
through public elections that they will achieve fair representation
on the WTTW Board.]
Public television was originally intended to be commercial-free. PUBLIC
television was founded to represent the interest of the PUBLIC and is obligated to
do so. The core of the problem is that WTTW's financial mismanagement has
substantially increased its already heavy obligation to represent the interests of
corporate funders, who run commercials on this supposedly PUBLIC station. We
believe that the solutions listed above will help to resolve these conflicting
obligations.
Chicago Media Action can be reached by email at cma@chicagomediaaction.org or by
phone at (866)260-7198. We look forward to your response.
Sincerely,
Chicago Media Action
Mitchell Szczepanczyk, President
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[This sample letter of support to mailto://
sandy@polkbrosfdn recalls the 4 demands.]
Dear Sandra Guthman,
As a follow-up to the letter sent to your office by
Chicago Media Action on October 11, 2003, I am voicing
my support of four demands to WTTW.
(1) Fire WTTW CEO Dan Schmidt.
(2) Call for a government audit of WTTW funds, which have
been badly mismanaged.
(3) Implement a regular series of monthly town halls
and documentaries, organized by and for the diverse
community of citizens that comprise Chicago.
(4) Work with an independent commission to establish: [a]
new programs for underserved communities, [b] a trust to
separate program content advertisers, and [c] public
elections for the Board of Trustees.
Sincerely,
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