QuickTime Video

Back in March, I spoke with Felicia M. Sullivan, Executive Director of Organizers’ Collaborative and former Director of Community Programming at Lowell Telecommunications Corporation about a number of issues related to PEG access TV and the Internet.

This short video features an excerpt from our conversation about the early use of networked technology in public access Television.

Thanks to Rob McCausland (Director of Information and Organizing Services for the Alliance for Community Media), and his incredibly resourceful Clippings for PEG Access TV, I can subscribe to an RSS feed of daily news on issues related to community television from around the world.

These daily updates have played a large part in the research for this project. I’ve also been able to learn a lot about many of the dedicated community media workers who help to raise awareness about the importance of local media and why they matter for their communities.

In yesterday’s Clippings, there is a link to an interview with Capital Community Television’s Executive Director, Alan Bushong in Salem, Oregon’s StatesmansJournal.com. In it he addresses two questions that have become integral to this study:

Why do PEG Access TV & Community Media Centers matter?

How have PEG Access TV & Community Media Centers changed with the rise of YouTube and other social network platforms?

In the article, The Statesman Journal’s Chris Hagan asks, “Why is it important to have a station like this in a community?” Bushong responds (with emphasis added)

“I think there are a couple of reasons. First I think it’s nice to have a commercial-free alternative for viewers. I think the second big advantage is that it is local; it’s people that you know. I still believe in the importance of the geographical community, my neighborhood. I know there are cyber-communities. I have a lot of friends I communicate with by e-mail, but it’s still our neighbors that take care of our cats when we go on vacation. We still shop at the grocery store a mile away. So I think it speaks to the importance of the community. And finally I think it’s so important to give voice to those who have had little opportunity to speak to any size of audience. Even with the Internet, where people have that opportunity, I think they need to use as many media as possible. They should use the Statesman, they should use local radio, they should use our channels, the Internet. I just think that opportunity of voice is very important for the viability of a community. Our society should not be defined by New York, Chicago and L.A. We should be as important.”

So to my first question, Bushong says here that PEG Access TV provides:

A commercial-free alternative for viewers

It is local; it’s people that you know

Giving voice to those who have had little opportunity to speak to any size of audience

Read the rest of this entry »

I was just reviewing the Benton Foundation’s excellent report on Community Media by Fred Johnson (UMass Boston) with Karen Menichelli (Benton Foundation) and learned today that Fred will be speaking about the report at a Progressive Communicators Network-Boston Forum event next Wednesday, here in Boston. Here are the details:

“What’s going on in Community Media?
A Report from the Benton Foundation

Presenter:
Fred Johnson
Community Media and Technology Program, UMass/Boston
Author of the Benton Foundation Report on Community Media
(http://www.benton.org/benton_files/CMReport.pdf)

Wednesday, September 26, 2007
6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
at United for a Fair Economy
29 Winter St. , Boston, 2nd Floor
(Light Refreshment will be served)

For more information or RSVP, email Tom at: t.louie (AT) progressivecommunicators (DOT) net

The Progressive Communicators Network-Boston/New England is the regional chapter of the national Progressive Communicators Network (PCN.) PCN exists to strengthen and amplify the power, voices, and vision of grassroots movements that are working for social, economic, and environmental justice. Our members use communication strategy, framing and messaging, and media tools to: 1) enhance the influence of social change movements on public policy and opinion, and 2) realize a world without poverty, racism, and other forms of oppression. The Network is a project of Spirit in Action, a movement-building support organization located in western Massachusetts. (Learn more at www.progressivecommunicators.net).”

I’m still looking for feedback on my last post regarding cable access centers using Internet video, but I wanted to contribute a new thread to this discussion.

As mobile web technologies rapidly advance with the release of the iPhone and other portable devices, it strikes me that the “Place of Social Media” becomes increasingly important (for reasons I hope to further explore moving forward). As an inadvertent plug for Eric Gordon (my thesis adviser)’s blog and issues related to Hub2 (a course I’m participating in this semester), I’m realizing that the role of physical community media centers using social media tools is more important than ever.

Why?

Community media centers that offer social media tools and educational opportunities to learn about them provide very unique physical spaces - beyond one-time workshops - where a local community can interact with others in their community and with online networks simultaneously. There are very few place-based social media centers that exist in quite the same way.

For example, Cambridge Community Televison, Manhattan Neighborhood Network and other cable access TV centers offer classes on videoblogging and podcasting. Worcester Community Cable Access and Medfield.tv use Drupal-powered websites that allow community members to comment on others’ videos and blog posts. These are place-based social media centers that use the web to “act locally” while “thinking globally”.

These centers are quite unique. They provide opportunities for residents to learn with and from one another in their community, while providing a physical space - open to and serving the public - for learning and support within online networks.

There’s much more to explore here and it’s not just theoretical. It’s rare.

Over the past year, I’ve been exploring online, and talking with community media workers about, a variety of “web 2.0″ tools being used at Community Media Centers. Blogs, podcasts, wikis, social bookmarking, video mapping, and other social media platforms have generated much interest and discussion around which tools are most relevant to their center’s work and community’s needs.

Out of all of these areas, participatory Internet video seems to be the most exciting and relevant discussion most directly related to the medium of PEG access TV. So, I’ll be moving towards developing a framework upon which to further investigate, provide context, and invite feedback on the uses and narratives (e.g., YouTube v. Public Access TV debate, etc.) surrounding the implementation of participatory web video at community media centers.

I’m looking for feedback and discussion around some of the following questions:

1. Which web video platform does your center use (eg, YouTube, Google Video, blip.tv, etc.)?

2. What was your motivation for choosing this platform?

3. Is this platform participatory (is it a videoblog, etc.)? If so, do you offer an RSS feed?

4. What metadata schemes are you using? Meaning, how do you tag your videos?

5. What difficulties are you finding in using, or teaching your producers about, these online video platforms?

6. What has the response been from your community?

7. Has there been any positive impact or social change that has resulted from using a web video platform at your center?

I’m sure there are many more questions and points to consider. So, if you work at this intersection, I hope you’ll join the discussion. Thanks!

“Saddles” photo by miladus

Sometimes all you need is a little inspiration (or push) to get you blogging again. Amy Gahran’s recent article, “Blogging Without the Time Sink” was just what I needed:

A blog post is not (or at least, it shouldn’t be) a writing assignment you must prep for and deliver as a finished package. Let go of the idea that you must have everything nailed down, organized, and edited before you publish. (A tough one for journalists, I know, but consider it a kind of experiment or Zen exercise.)

On that note, I’m back to it! I’ve been away for a bit this summer, getting married to my beautiful wife and honeymooning on the west coast. We had a lovely time and now we’re both back to work.

I’m revved up to officially start my grad thesis (this project) next week. It’s hard to believe that all of the planning and exploration over the past year on this topic is finally leading up to the beginning!

I’m looking forward to learning more, making a lot of mistakes, trying not to assume too much, and gearing up to be torn apart by a number of folks (particularly in the access community) who know way more than I do about the everyday ins & outs of grappling with new Internet technologies and learning what tools work best with their communities needs.

If this sounds like you, I’m still looking for your feedback and experience. Particularly to understand the contributions from the PEG TV community to the larger conversation about how a Community Media Center can best utilize the Internet - in concert with a cable channel(s) - to help amplify voices, connect and share with others, and empower local communities.