Media Contact:
Karlos Gauna Schmieder505-363-4962karlos@centerformediajustice.org
For Immediate Release: February 17, 2009
Advocates Applaud DTV Transition DelayBut say a No-Cost Converter Box would help close the gaps
USA
– Despite the DTV transition delay signed into law by President Obama last week, themuch anticipated digital television transition remains under scrutiny as advocates from aroundthe country proclaim that the numbers of households still set to lose TV signals is too great aprice to pay for better TV quality.
“If the digital TV transition produces better quality TV for those who can afford to transition, buteliminates television access for those who can
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t - well, that seems like a violation of basicrights”, said Deanne Cuellar of the Texas Media Empowerment Project in San Antonio, Texas.“That
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s why here in San Antonio, we
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re getting the $40 coupons into the hands of those whoneed them most and applaud our local Best Buy for working with us to make a No-CostConverter Box with an analog pass-through is available.”
Along with the Esperanza Center for Peace and Justice, the Texas Media Empowerment Projectis one of dozens of community organizations that have taken up the responsibility of providingtransition assistance to ensure those TV audiences with limited mobility, fixed income, or whoface other barriers to transition aren
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t left behind. The newly launched Reclaim the Media DTVAssistance Center in Seattle also won a no-cost converter box from the Fred Meyer NorthwestRegional branch of stores. Still, there aren
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t enough of the $40.00 coupons initially offered bythe National Telecommunications and Information Administration to go around, and majorretailers like Target, Walmart and others are slow to sell the necessary converter boxes at theprice of the coupons despite overwhelming demand. For tens of millions of households, theDTV Transition remains costly and problematic.
The No-Cost Box is a solution being proposed by the Media Action Grassroots Network (MAG-Net), which currently has four DTV Assistance Centers in Seattle, San Antonio, Minneapolis,and the Bay Area. In partnership with the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, theseassistance centers are urging their local retailers to carry a $40 converter box to ensure that lowincome families, with the help of the $40 coupons provided by the NTIAA, are able to preparefor the digital television transition at no cost.
In Minnesota, Main Street Project and the Minnesotano Media Empowerment Project have beenworking to get a No Cost Box. “Mosquito Productions is willing to provide a $40.00 converterbox. I met with the owner yesterday and he
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s also willing to work with us to bring a truck full ofconverter boxes to our various events—even to rural areas of the state,” said Amalia Deloney.“Mosquito Productions, a small, locally-owned store is willing to do what Target was not—even after we collected and mailed hundreds of postcards and signatures from an online campaignfor a No Cost Box,” said Steven Renderos, Project Director of the Minnesotano MediaEmpowerment Project.
Media Action Grassroots Network (MAG-Net)
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