Alliance for Community Media
The ACM was founded in 1976 as the National Federation of Local Cable Programmers (NFLCP), with the stated mission to “protect and increase freedom of expression, diversity of ideas and community communication through electronic media”.The NFLCP persuaded industry and government regulatory agencies to dedicate a portion of the new cable broadcast spectrum to public-access television, a requirement that was codified in federal communications law in 1984.Originally established as a single non-profit entity, the ACM shifted its membership and lobbying activities in 2011 to a 501(c)6 organization, while maintaining 501(c)3 status for the newly named Foundation for the Alliance for Community Media – to manage educational and charitable endeavors such as the Hometown Awards[4] and the Emerging Leaders Institute.In 1996 the ACM was a petitioner in a U.S. Supreme Court decision involving the potential censorship of material that an operator "reasonably believes ... depicts sexual ... activities or organs in a patently offensive manner.At the national level, the Hometown Awards began in the early days of the NFLCP, and typically attracts hundreds of entries, including locally produced shows, public service announcements, sporting events, and community highlights.