Oct 20 Events with FCC Commissioner in Portland regarding digital transition

Dear Friends, Community Leaders, and Editors,

On behalf of the Oregon Alliance to Reform Media, I am sending this timely news release. Please publish in the next edition, include on your websites and blogs, and feel free to share this widely immediately.

In consultation with Oregon ARM, I am also seeking additional community partners to join us in educating our various constituencies about getting our televisions ready by February for the transition to digital. Do know just having a cable service may not be enough. Please write or call me as soon as convenient, and I will send a summary of what needs to be done between Oct. 20 2008 and February 2009.

A news conference is also being organized for the morning of Oct. 20 with community leaders and FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein.

Atentamente,

Andrea Cano Portland, Oregon (503) 804 2785

Since I am not on-line 24/7, if you need an urgent repy or answer to a more immediate query, please call me instead.

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For Immediate Release Oct 8 2008 Contact: Mary Beth Henry 503 823 5414

Digital TV Road Show with FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein to Tune-In Portland on Oct. 20

Portland, OR - With five months to go before all major over-the-airwaves television broadcasts in the United States switch to digital signals, 22.4 percent of all homes in the Portland area are not ready for the conversion to all-digital TV, according to a study by the Nielsen Company. Another media outlet reported that, based on the Nielsen study, the Portland metropolitan area was the “least prepared for digital conversion.”

In order to inform the general public, the Federal Communication Commission and local partners are organizing and promoting two admission free DTV Tune-In events are slated on Monday, Oct. 20, 2008:

DTV Road Show Bus at Pioneer Courthouse Square (Corner of SW 6th and Morrison in downtown Portland) from 10 am to 2 pm.

DTV Town Hall with FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein at the PSU Native American Cultural Center (710 SW Jackson) from 2 pm to 3:30 pm

Essential points for the conversion process include that if 1) Televisions are hooked up to cable television or another subscription video service, your service will not be impacted though you might not get ALL of the channels available, 2) If a consumer owns an “analog” TV set that is not connected to cable and functions with the help of “rabbit ears” or an antenna, they will not be able to watch broadcast TV channels on it as of February 17, 2009. 3) The federal government is giving away $40 dollar coupons for analog-to-digital converter boxes. 4) Information about how to get a coupon, where to buy the converter boxes, and how to connect the converter boxes to analog TV sets.

Organizations and community groups, senior and retired communities, racial and ethnic neighborhoods, church and faith communities, rural and limited income communities, and all other civil sectors, are encouraged to send people to these one-time only events. For further information, contact Mary Beth Henry (503) 823 5414.

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Sharon Hasenjaeger Assistant Director Institute for Nonprofit Management Portland State University Tel: (503) 725-8221 Fax: (503) 725-8045 [email protected],  www.inpm.pdx.edu for information on INPM’s nonprofit courses and events