PEG Access TV and Why Local Newspapers Matter

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

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