The turbulent seas of public access - 1985 National Federation of Local Cable Programmers conference

Afterimage, May-June, 1998 by Lauren-Glenn Davitian

How closely can access advocates work with communications ministers who view the benefits of an unfettered free market with suspicion and are looking seriously at ways to curb the proliferation of American mass media? France, which has always been permeable to foreign influence, is currently drafting a detailed policy for the dealings of information technology. Henry Barntault of Control of Electronic Media in Paris described his government's efforts to set import quotas, encourage co-production, and dedicate 15% of the airtime to local production (20% of which is to be for community video production).

These efforts can be heartening to the access worker interested in world events. Coproduction with national film, TV or cable producers is the first opportunity for grassroots mediamakers to reach larger national audiences. Workshops in Britain have joined with Channel 4 to make programs about nuclear testing sites. Workshops are commissioned by the Nicaraguan government to produce pieces on toilet paper shortages. But even this recognition does not guarantee the integrity of indigenous access movements. Sanctioned projects may have value as social action programming - but that is not the extent of local representation. One example of this tendency: Canadian Radio and TV Commission's picture of a legitimized and active access community does not account for, and stands in striking contrast with, the reports of Quebec's community TV centers which have been working for 15 years in nearly 30 French-speaking communities to provide local video workshops.

With or without permission, every community finds the appropriate tool to express itself. Video production is just one way to get the conversation going. Pirate radio proliferates in Africa, Brazil and even Spain. Newspapers and billboards are more traditional means to accomplish the same function of local participation in issues of mutual concern.

Examples from both the U.S. and abroad indicate that the vitality of public access does not necessarily depend on the stamp of federal legislation, but on the enthusiasm of advocates and community members. Hence the irony of a national coalition of local programmers becomes clearer. Certainly much of public access's recognition and legal guarantee would not have been possible without the organization of an insightful leadership with national aspirations. The NFLCP can boast of strength in membership, a history of successful advocacy and the beginnings of an international coalition. Yet it is the smallness, the local character the intimacy of community production that makes access unique, interesting, and finally, accessible. In order to preserve these qualities and maintain the strength of a national coalition, access workers must work harder than before to reach into local communities, decentralize media production and build a locally responsive information network.

Lauren-Glenn Davitian is the founder and Director of Chittenden Community Television, Burlington, VT.