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Electronics retailers team up with media and consumer advocat
Cost DTV Box Option”
Media groups calling for socially responsible DTV transition
04.16.2009 – Contact/Interview Requests:
Karlos Gauna Schmieder
karlos@centerformediajustice.org
(c) 505 363 4962
USA - On April 17th local retailers in New York, Minneapolis, the SF Bay Area,
Seattle, New Mexico, Philadelphia, San Antonio, Kentucky, and across the country
will participate in an unusual national campaign to call for a “no cost” cost converter
box option to consumers presenting NTIA coupons.
In partnership with the media advocates and community organizations of the Media
Action Grassroots Network (MAG-Net), Consumer’s Union, and consumer groups,
electronics retailers from across the country will pledge to support a socially
responsible DTV transition by stocking and selling $40.00 analog pass through
converter boxes. While the boxes aren’t free, they are fully covered by the coupons
provided by the National Telecommunications Association (NTIA).
These community groups have asked retailers – from Best Buy, Walmart, Target and
Radio Shack to local electronics stores like Mosquito Productions in Minnesota – to
participate. Retailers who agree to stock the analog pass-thru converters for $40
(the amount of credit on coupons given out by the National Telecommunications and
Information Administration) will receive a window sticker demonstrating their
commitment to a socially responsible DTV transition.
MAG-Net groups say the costs associated with the transition could leave millions of
US residents – including seniors, those with mobility issues, communities of color
and poor Americans – in the dark.
“The DTV transition should be more than business as usual,” says Amalia
Anderson, MAG-Net Coordinator. "Retailers have a social responsibility to offer low
or no cost options for consumers who rely on TV for important emergency
information and local news.”
Mosquito Production, a small local retailer l