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NAMAC at Arts Advocacy Day 2012

NAMAC's Executive Director, Jack Walsh, and Policy Strategist, Belinda Rawlins, came together from their respective west and east coast offices to attend Arts Advocacy Day 2012 in Washington, DC.

How Education Can Save Us from the Digital Divide

Amy PuffenbergerWhen I think about the importance of media and arts education, there is nothing more important than access; access to quality media and arts education for all individuals regardless of age, sex, race, socioeconomic status, etc. If you use media in any way, you should have access to some form of media literacy education. And, even if you don’t love art or aspire to become the next Andy Warhol, you should have access to some form of arts education.

Q+A: Hakim Bellamy, Media Literacy Project

A short conversation with Hakim Bellamy, Strategic Communications Director for the Media Literacy Project. 

NAMAC Policy News Roundup

Each month, NAMAC will look back at the last few weeks for a quick overview of some of the stories we've been watching.  We hope you'll find them interesting, too.  

September started off with a bang as the Department of Justice moved to block the AT&T / T-Mobile merger. 

The 2011 National Rural Assembly
Traci L. Morris

NAMAC Blogger Traci Morris reports on her trip to the 2011 Gathering of the National Rural Assembly.

House Rejects Amendment to Further Cut NEA
Americans for the Arts

From Americans for the Arts:

The Walberg amendment to H.R. 2584, the House Interior Appropriations bill that would have cut an additional $10.6 million from the National Endowment for the Arts failed 240-181 earlier today. All 185 Democrats present voted against the amendment and 55 Republicans joined them.

Data Caps Could Cut Artists off from the Cloud
Aalok Mehta

The case of André Vrignaud highlights the serious issues that artists, photographers and musicians might face as both data caps and cloud computing become increasingly common—and contradictory.

Read More.

Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association

NAMAC's Policy Strategist Belinda Rawlins reports on Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association.

NAMAC's Policy Work This Year

Jack WallshAcross the arts and public media arena, we began this year on the defensive.  As of this writing (3/31/11), the newly elected members of the House put forward bills to slash NEA funding by $43 million in the current fiscal year.  Additionally, they eliminated the Arts in Education programs from the Department of Education and zeroed-out the Corporation for Public Broadcasting that provides funding for the Independent Television Service and the six members of the National Minority Consortia, as well as public television and radio support.

Native Nations Day at the FCC
Traci L. Morris

Following up on last month’s blog, which provided a short overview of Native American Telecom Issues, is this review of a historic event held on March 3, 2011, at the Federal Communications Commission, Native Nations Day.  This open commission meeting was an example of the FCC’s expanding commitment to Indian Country, which started with the establishment of the Office of Native Affairs and Policy (ONAP), last summer.  The entire staffs of ONAP, multiple FCC offices and all FCC Commissioners were in attendance.   Even more exciting to see, was the room filled to capacity with Native folks, Tribal organizations, and Tribal Leaders.