Page 417 - Battleground The Media Volume 1 and 2

| Publ c Access Telev s on

PartnershiPs as synergy oF Mission rather than
exPloitation oF reVenue streaMs

To fulfill their mission as a community resource, public access television centers utilize part-
nerships with regional nonprofits. Some access centers located in cities like New York ben-
efit from the cable operator’s large subscriber base and allocate monies from the franchise
to community-based organizations in the form of grants. This money is then used to pur-
chase equipment, train members, and support production projects to increase the diversity
of producers and content, while solidifying partnerships between public access centers and
their community members. Notable centers like Manhattan Neighborhood Network have
jump-started the communications efforts of organizations working with homeless youth, im-
migrants, families of incarcerated people, and other underserved populations.
At other facilities like Brooklyn Community Access Television (BCAT), educational col-
laborations drive many partnerships. BCAT has joined with community colleges, youth orga-
nizations, cultural institutions, and advocates for victims of substance abuse and HIV/AIDS
to both create programming and learn how regional television can assist in meeting their
organizational missions.
In the winter of 2007, BCAT entered into collaboration with Girls, Inc. to teach video pro-
duction and media literacy skills to young women in Brooklyn. These young women, rang-
ing in age from 15 to 16, determined that the issue of sexual harassment was most relevant
to them and their community and explored the subject through research, inquiry, and the
active process of video making. The young women learned all aspects of production from
conceptualization and planning through production, postproduction, distribution, and ex-
hibition. They interviewed community members, asking them why some boys and men en-
gage in unwanted sexual advances toward women and girls. They examined mainstream
media’s influence on culture and how images help create the permissible environment for
sexist behavior. Challenging these precepts through the construction of alternatives, these
young women completed their project by screening their work to members of their com-
munity. The young women used the video to provoke discussion on a topic “normalized”
by the conventions of a medium dominated by male ownership. Collaborations between
organizations like BCAT and Girls Inc. return public access television to its oppositional role
as agitator, reimagining television to serve our needs as citizens, residents, and people, and
not just consumers.
See: http://mnn.org/; http://bcat.tv/bcat/default.asp; http://www.girlsincnyc.org/; http://girlsincnyc.blog
spot.com/.

CommuniTy anD DivErsiTy
The public access television center is conceived as a physical space that
should mirror its community, reflecting the diversity of its people and issues. It
is a place where isolated and fragmented publics can be brought together creating
a more cohesive entity.