One of the many great things we do at JAG is to educate our membership. There are several ways we accomplish this. We produce a monthly newsletter, monthly legislative newsletter, monthly membership meetings, annual conference and special online webinars and round table discussions. These online sessions can be an asset to both your station operations and your production skills.
By Mark Albala, Vice Chairman, TV Committee, Oakland, New Jersey
Many of you do not know that the borough of Oakland was the test case for Altice’s HD service for municipal broadcasts. The purpose of this article is to present the two-year journey of the dedicated team of volunteers, who partnered with Oakland’s elected officials and ultimately obtained permission from Altice to broadcast HD quality municipal coverage over Altice.
by Ed Cologna, Station Manager, Newark, Roselle, Fanwood, and Hillside TV
PEG Media Changed My Life
A long time ago, in 1990, I lived as a young man in my twenties who didn’t know what to do career-wise. I wasn’t affluent, drove a really beat-up car, lived in my mom’s basement, and fixed electronic equipment on the side. I had the potential of youth, although like many twenty-somethings, I didn’t even realize that until later. I applied for the FBI as a communication specialist but didn’t take the job once it was offered. It wasn’t for me. I wanted to help build the future of America’s energy and was hoping to work on the superconducting supercollider project in Texas, which promised to be the basis of fusion reaction technology.
Have you been paying attention to new and pending legislation that could affect our industry? Well JAG has, especially our legislative committee. That committee, under the leadership of Dave Garb, has been working with our partners at NATOA and the ACM to keep track of such legislation and are informing not only our members, but leadership throughout the state and the New Jersey League of Municipalities. I urge you to read our special legislative newsletter that has been sent out. You can also find it on the JAG website, or click on this link: https://jagonline.org/2023-newsletters/
On the 33rd Anniversary of ADA,
The Biden-Harris Administration is working to make it easier for people with disabilities to access public services. They are taking new steps to strengthen the ADA and improve online accessibility to state and local services for those with vision, hearing, cognitive, and dexterity disabilities.
There are times when running a station, you will find you may need additional support and information. How do you get that information? Who is available to give you that added help? With JAG as a resource, you will find there are many places you can get the information and help you need.
Resolution Opposing American Broadband Deployment Act As was reported in the recent Special Legislative Update, the American Broadband Deployment Act of 2023 (H.R. 3557) was passed by the Congressional House Energy and Commerce Committee. If enacted, it would impose new restrictions on local authorities’ ability to regulate a variety of state and local land use and zoning issues pertaining to the deployment of the telecommunications infrastructure. This would include wireless and wireline deployment, as well as new limits on requirements and renewals of cable franchise agreements.
Myself and two others of the C-NET staff were fortunate enough to be able to attend the 2023 JAG Conference in Edison, New Jersey. This was, for all practical purposes, the return to in-person conferences for JAG, after a fully remote conference in 2021 and a “hybrid” conference in 2022. Gathering together in person was as exciting and satisfying as I had hoped.
Community Recognition Award The Jersey Access Group presents to the West Milford Town Council, and in particular Mayor Michele Dale and council liaisons Ada Erik and Marilyn Lichtenberg, for their continued support of their municipal channel WM77. West Milford launched its channel just 10 years ago, but since the beginning, the council, the mayor and …
Up here in the highlands of New Jersey, we at WM77 have been lucky to win two JAG “awards of excellence” in the past two years, one in the category of “Fairs, Festivals, Car Shows and Arts and Crafts,” and one for single camera coverage of our Town Council meetings. While it’s always nice to be recognized for outstanding work by your peers, for a small station like WM77 it has meant a lot more than just a pat on the back and a trophy for Town Hall.
Posted: August 18, 2023 by Doug Seidel
Spotlight Oakland: How Oakland, New Jersey became Altice’s test case for HD broadcast service
By Mark Albala, Vice Chairman, TV Committee, Oakland, New Jersey
Many of you do not know that the borough of Oakland was the test case for Altice’s HD service for municipal broadcasts. The purpose of this article is to present the two-year journey of the dedicated team of volunteers, who partnered with Oakland’s elected officials and ultimately obtained permission from Altice to broadcast HD quality municipal coverage over Altice.
Posted: August 18, 2023 by Doug Seidel
Weaving the Threads of Community: My Journey with PEG Media
by Ed Cologna, Station Manager, Newark, Roselle, Fanwood, and Hillside TV
PEG Media Changed My Life
A long time ago, in 1990, I lived as a young man in my twenties who didn’t know what to do career-wise. I wasn’t affluent, drove a really beat-up car, lived in my mom’s basement, and fixed electronic equipment on the side. I had the potential of youth, although like many twenty-somethings, I didn’t even realize that until later. I applied for the FBI as a communication specialist but didn’t take the job once it was offered. It wasn’t for me. I wanted to help build the future of America’s energy and was hoping to work on the superconducting supercollider project in Texas, which promised to be the basis of fusion reaction technology.
Posted: August 15, 2023 by Doug Seidel
Change is Coming to Support ADA
by Dave Garb, Legislative Committee Chair
On the 33rd Anniversary of ADA,
The Biden-Harris Administration is working to make it easier for people with disabilities to access public services. They are taking new steps to strengthen the ADA and improve online accessibility to state and local services for those with vision, hearing, cognitive, and dexterity disabilities.
Posted: July 13, 2023 by Doug Seidel
Broadband Update: July 2023
by Dave Garb, Legislative Committee Chair
Resolution Opposing American Broadband Deployment Act As was reported in the recent Special Legislative Update, the American Broadband Deployment Act of 2023 (H.R. 3557) was passed by the Congressional House Energy and Commerce Committee. If enacted, it would impose new restrictions on local authorities’ ability to regulate a variety of state and local land use and zoning issues pertaining to the deployment of the telecommunications infrastructure. This would include wireless and wireline deployment, as well as new limits on requirements and renewals of cable franchise agreements.
Posted: July 13, 2023 by Doug Seidel
The Success of JAG Conference
by Cynthia Hahn, C-NET Executive Director
Myself and two others of the C-NET staff were fortunate enough to be able to attend the 2023 JAG Conference in Edison, New Jersey. This was, for all practical purposes, the return to in-person conferences for JAG, after a fully remote conference in 2021 and a “hybrid” conference in 2022. Gathering together in person was as exciting and satisfying as I had hoped.
Posted: July 13, 2023 by Doug Seidel
JAG Recognition Awards 2023
Community Recognition Award The Jersey Access Group presents to the West Milford Town Council, and in particular Mayor Michele Dale and council liaisons Ada Erik and Marilyn Lichtenberg, for their continued support of their municipal channel WM77. West Milford launched its channel just 10 years ago, but since the beginning, the council, the mayor and …
Posted: July 13, 2023 by Doug Seidel
The Unexpected Benefits of the JAG Awards
by Geoffery Belinfante, West Milford
Up here in the highlands of New Jersey, we at WM77 have been lucky to win two JAG “awards of excellence” in the past two years, one in the category of “Fairs, Festivals, Car Shows and Arts and Crafts,” and one for single camera coverage of our Town Council meetings. While it’s always nice to be recognized for outstanding work by your peers, for a small station like WM77 it has meant a lot more than just a pat on the back and a trophy for Town Hall.