Save Community Media

The FCC Comment Period is now over. THANK YOU to all the Foxborough Residents who took the time to share your opinions with the FCC on this important issue. In the coming weeks, we will pass along updates on the FCC actions.

Please take ACTION today to Save Foxboro Cable Access

The FCC will soon decide on proposed policy changes that could drastically limit our ability to provide our services to the community.

We need your help! Tell the FCC that you oppose the Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Docket #05-311. Let them know how important local television is in your community and how has impacted you. The deadline is November 14th! 

Community media provides you with access to cable channels that allow you to exercise your democratic right to free speech. If passed, this proposal could devastate community media centers and PEG (Public, Educational, and Government) stations across the country.

Foxboro Cable Access and PEG stations around the country are funded through cable franchise fees at no cost to our towns and municipalities. The proposed legislation would eliminate a significant portion, or potentially all, of that funding. Local governments would be forced to choose whether or not to fund community media, which could cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars. If the FCC passes these proposed policy changes, many community media centers could be forced to close their doors.

This decision could reduce government transparency, limit free speech, and reduce the public’s access to media channels. We need to raise our voices against these proposed changes.

We have until November 14th to let the FCC know how this could negatively impact our communities. Please submit a comment to the FCC before that date. Here’s how:

  1. Visit the FCC’s website at Bit.ly/SaveCommunityMedia
  2. Click + Express
  3. Fill in your information, including a brief comment about how this proposal could negatively impact you, your organization, or the community.

If you need help coming up with a comment, here are some ideas:

  • Foxboro Cable Access has allowed me to…
  • Community media has raised the visibility of my organization by…
  • As a community leader, I see the value of community media…
  • I have benefitted from watching locally-produced programming because…
  • My children/students have gained skills utilizing our community media center…

If you are a part of local government or work for a town department or on a board or committee. Tell the FCC that FCA:

  • Covers Selectmen, School Committee, and other government meetings throughout the year – helping local government be more transparent
  • Works with local, state and county officials to inform the public about events and information
  • Makes people feel more connected to their neighbors and their town.

Additional Information & Resources

Local Letters of Opposition

View Comments

You can review comments submitted to the FCC here:
https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/search/filings?limit=25&offset=0&proceedings_name=05-311&sort=date_disseminated,DESC 

Your comments will take a few days to post to the FCC website and you should get an email verifying that they received your comments. We will update this page as we get additional information.

Thank You Foxborough!

Residents and community leaders are responding to our call-to-action and we are deeply humbled by the response. Below are a few highlights from comments filed by Foxborough Residents:

Jack Authelet, Town Historian

As residents of Foxborough, we benefit greatly from the local programming provided by the talented volunteers at Foxborough Cable Access.  But it is so much more than volunteers with the capability of electronically linking us to government meetings, community events, and locally generated programs.  

Foxboro cable reaches out like a warm embrace, drawing this entire community – from the very young to the more mature – closer together in good times and bad, the first to alert us if we are threatened, the first to direct us if we must seek shelter, or where to seek assistance in critical situations.  They help us get to know candidates before the election, they enable us to see our government in action when no longer able to attend their meetings.

Cable helps grandparents and great grandparents see their grandchildren in school plays they would have been unable to attend, to view programs designed to help the elderly that they could not have attended in person

Cable TV is like holding a mirror up to the community that ALL might treasure the sights and sounds of life in Foxborough.  It brings the entire community into our homes at a sound we can hear and at a time we can watch.

It would be impossible to fully document the extent to which some volunteers have gone to bring us such excellence in local programming. We have a vested interest in their success and a heartfelt appreciation for their efforts.

It is a privilege to be able to speak up on their behalf, and would encourage government at every level to fully recognize the value of their volunteer hours and do everything humanly possible to encourage their efforts.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak on behalf of a community which benefits so much from their efforts.

Dan Williams, Ahern Middle School Teacher

I strongly oppose this measure, because I value the essential services that our local cable access channel provides to Foxborough. I am an educator and advisor to a Broadcasting Club, and I have seen first hand the importance of the work that local cable does. I worry that if funding is not protected, my local station and others may be forced to close. As a classroom teacher, I know that many parents watch the School Committee meetings broadcast by Foxboro Cable Access (FCA). It is important for citizens in town to be aware of what the school department is doing, and why. Foxboro Cable also covers the Board of Selectman and other government agencies. FCA helps town government to be transparent, so that citizens can hold their local leaders accountable for the work that they do. FCA also broadcasts sporting events, musical performances, and other events that help unite and strengthen the community. I also run a broadcasting club at the Middle School, which is made possible by the support of FCA–who has donated equipment and expertise. My students learn about TV production in Middle and High School, and volunteer at FCA. Many young people have pursued and attained careers in media arts and/or journalism because of the work FCA has done in collaboration with the schools. I value the services provided by FCA to our community and the opportunities that it provides to our students. Local cable stations like FCA help our democracy to function, and they should continue to be funded adequately.

Paul M Woodard, Foxborough Resident

Foxboro Cable Access has allowed our church to broadcast the weekly service so that shut-ins, elderly and inifrmed members of our congregation can participate in worship. This outreach is invaluable to members and would not be possible without Foxboro Cable Access.

Dennis Naughton, Foxborough Resident

To Whom it May Concern: I have been an active member of the Foxborough, MA community for decades. During that time I have seen again and again how our local Foxborough Cable Access has promoted community unity and provided vital transparency. Now, as a senior citizen of the community, the service of FCA is even more vital in my life in remaining informed on the meetings of local boards like Selectmen and School Committee. I cannot imagine why anyone would do anything to endanger such a vital grassroots source of information as our Foxborough Cable Access and strongly urge that no action be taken that would undermine or endanger its ability to serve the people of our community.

The Ames Family, Foxborough

Our household strongly supports the 3 Foxboro Cable Access stations, by keeping us up to date with local government including the selectmen’s meetings and school committee meetings, high school athletic games and the use of the facilities, equipment and stations for students exploring an interest in the communications field. It would be a huge loss if we were to lose Foxboro Cable!

Flaherty Family, Foxborough

We oppose cutting fu ding to local programming. This program allows us to feel more connected to our comunity through viewing meetings we are unable to attend and other programs such as theatre arts as well as keeping us informed of other events/news around town.

Sophia, Foxborough

Why is the FCC again pursuing the path to serve monopolies over the people? Please really think this through. Local cable access channels are still a vital part of many communities that provide coverage of local issues, school sports, local events, local historical reviews and most vital transparency to witness all local government and committee debates & decisions. — I greatly urge you, again, not to pass the proposed rules and instead to think of the public good that can be done by increasing access to the airwaves rather than restricting it.— Paraphrasing another petitioner “Public, Educational and Government channels represent a tiny fraction of the massive profits cable companies make by using cities’ rights-of-way to transmit television into homes, including television transmitted as part of “bundled” internet packages”— Please stop putting corporate profits over the little guys. It only continues to hurt democracy. Thank you.

Gretchen Sharfman, Foxborough

The local cable access channel in Foxboro is very important to me and the community of Foxboro. My kids have learned valuable skills by volunteering at the station, and I love the coverage of local events.

Laurie Bubencik

We love our Foxboro Cable Access! We oppose the Second Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Docket #05-311. The Cable Access people are fantastic at covering all the events for our town and being able to watch the coverage of any meeting or sporting event is great. Thank you. Laurie Bubencik

The Community at Your Fingertips