PaulGreen's blog

Being a producer, and a member of Community Access Television of Salina, Inc. is a great way to get started in the world of community media production. But that first step shouldn't be the last one you take!
Across this country, there is a network of organizations dedicated to providing service and support for those interested in creating community media messages. They are definitely worth exploring, and ultimately joining as you continue to grow and evolve as a producer.

The first of which is the organization responsible for helping protect and foster both public-access television and community media centers from coast-to-coast, the Alliance for Community Media. The Alliance hosts an annual conference, attended by access producers, staff and board members - which includes the famous Hometown Video Festival, the video festival that celebrates the very best media created by access centers and their volunteers all across the country.
Membership in the ACM is an important thing for any access supporter. It helps fund the organization, and its lobbying efforts at the national level, as they work to protect not only our access center here in Salina, but all access centers around the country. They also produce a great magazine, the Community Media Review.

The second organization is one that's dedicated to fostering the growth of community-made "new media", as well as helping interested access centers grow to become true multimedia content providers. I'm talking about NAMAC, the National Alliance for Media Arts and Culture. NAMAC's vision includes the development and funding assistance for documentary creation, podcasting, and an entire range of media creation enterprises.

Those are just two of the many collaborative agencies that exist out there to help both organizations and individuals interested in media content creation, media literacy, new media production, and much, much more. I'll be sure to post new links to these places as time goes by. In the meantime, check out both the Alliance for Community Media, and NAMAC.

Another Independence Day has come and gone, leaving behind the faint smell of cordite and charcoal from fireworks and cookouts. It's a time for all of us to celebrate our national independence, and applaud those things which make the United States such a good place. It's good we do that at least once a year. We should probably do it more often. But, as folks interested in community media, we should also take the time to think about how our access centers have worked to provide us with our own special kind of independence - the independence from corporate media messages, and the freedom to take advantage of our First Amendment rights of free speech in an electronic format.

Not a day goes by that I don’t ponder something associated with public-access television. Lately, those ponderings have become more frequent as I become more of an aggregator in my news-browsing habits. I’m always looking for some news about public access policy, or challenges access centers face around the country. What I’ve learned has been troubling, to say the least.

Consider this article from the Columbia News Service. The reporter describes not just one battle for survival at an access center, but mentions that at least 21 production studios in Indiana and Michigan were closed in 2007. At least 21 access centers went dark last year. That, my friends, is a troubling thing to me.

And that’s not all. Another piece from Michigan takes a look at the problems caused by that state’s move to a statewide franchise agreement.

Even in Los Angeles, access centers are not safe. The Los Angeles Times ran a story about the possibility of LA losing its public access channel.

Public-access television was a service hard-won. It wasn’t part of any cable company’s business plan. It’s not provided to us out of the goodness of their hearts, or their
concern for our communities. We enjoy public access, government access, and education access programming solely because people fought for it. Laws were passed
requiring cable companies to provide access services to the communities that wanted it. But the fight to provide you with programming about, and from, your local community is
far from over.

Kansas now has a statewide franchise law in effect. The result of its passage will be a decline in the funding for our local access center. It will also mean an increase in our expenses, since we are now responsible for supplying our channel’s signals to the cable company. That equipment is not inexpensive, and if the cable company asks us for a different kind of signal in the future - high-definition, for example - it means that our access center is responsible for buying and installing that equipment.

For more than fifteen years, Salina has enjoyed programs on its Public, Government and Education access channels. Sometimes that longevity can lead to complacency on the part of a community - whether it be the community-at-large, or the community of volunteers that makes Community Access Television such a special place.

Now is not the time for complacency. There never will be a time for it.