Don't take Access for granted

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.