Enabling Real Public Discourse

How many times have we not really understood a hotly contested issue in the City-County Council?  How many times have we felt something was not quite right about the  news blip we saw on television?  How many times have we felt that our views were not represented in the current debate between The Left and The Right?  How many times have we known of an important story that was neglected by the major media?  Talk radio and occasional town hall meetings have tapped into this desire for public discourse but they fall short of being truly open and independent.

The power of  public access television is in its ability to enable real public discourse and encourage participation. Not just political soundbites.  Not just the views of the annointed-appointed, powerful few.  Not just  the views that benefit corporate sponsors.  Public discourse and citizen participation are the foundations of a democratic society.  "For democracy to work, a broad range of people have to be able to  participate in public discourse.  What happens is that a lot of public discourse happens on newspaper or television or radio. If it's too expensive, it starts to limit the realm of democracy itself," says  David Welch, Co-Founder of One World Media Center.

"It's not Wayne's World.  It's Your World."
(Arlington (VA) Community Television motto)

People like to poke fun  at kooky or controversial public access programming.  In Indianapolis, like most other cities, nearly half the public access programming was religious.  It afforded local churches and religious organizations  the opportunity to share their ministries and good works with their fellow citizens.  Now that public access is gone, far fewer churches are able to afford to be on television. 

Another segment of  the community that benefits significantly from public access television is neighborhood and community organizations and non-profit corporations.  The value of video to such organizations is well recognized, but  without public access television, their ability to produce and broadly
disseminate the videos is highly limited.  "The potential for community involvement through public access TV is seemingly  boundless," writes authors Frances Moore Lappe and Paul Marin DuBois in The Quickening of America.  Public access allows groups to fulfill their educational missions, solicit volunteers, or get their issues out to the public, fully, and in their own words.

With the elimination of public access television in Indianapolis, all but three of the numerous programs on public access are now  gone.  Only "PE McCallister," "Al-Islam" and "The Saturday Evening Post Health Show" have been able to make the transition to commercial television and rates.  Other programs with  strong viewership like "Ham-N-Cheese," "Victory Through Faith," "Country Music Jamboree," "On Your Level," and "Our Community" have ceased regular production.

Following are just a few examples of the 20,000 hours of new programs produced each week in the United States with community media, and how they benefit their communities:

The Dump Patrol

After witnessing East Coast trucks dumping waste in a landfill just a few hundred yards from her home, Terry Moore of Center Point, Indiana organized 75 of the only 250 people in her town to video tape every  out-of state truck entering the landfill for 60 hours a week for over 14 months.  In the process, she discovered that these same trucks were barely cleaned before
being loaded with food to ship back to the East  Coast.  She showed her video on her local public access channel, took her video to the State Legislature and gave it to local television broadcaster.  It eventually aired on "ABC Nightly news,"  "The MacNeil Leher NewsHour" and the "Phil Donohue Show."  Her
efforts led to the regulation of out-of-state dumping in Indiana and testimony before Congress.  "Without the video, I  don't think our message would have gotten out.  The video was something people could relate to" states Moore. 

"Sometimes TV Isn't the problem.  It's the Solution.",
(CAN TV Motto)

"Teen Moms Only," a public access program on CAN TV-21 in Chicago, has won numerous local and national awards and been used by social services agencies around the  country.  The mission of "Teen Moms Only" states:

"Teen moms will be responsible, educated parents.  We will create a safe and healthy environment for our children.  As our children's first teachers, we will read and talk to, praise and nurture  them from birth.  We will not have more children until we are financially, emotionally and mentally prepared.  We will reach out to other teen moms in need of help.  We will seek out support services  that will help us become independent.  We will not be victims."  

The formula for "Teen Moms Only" is simple: teen moms reaching out to other teen moms about the issues that affect them, sharing personal stories, and offering suggestions for successful and responsible  parenting and use of available support services during a live, call-in program.  "All too
often, television reinforces stereotypes and negative images, but 'Teen Moms Only' demonstrates that television also  has the power to break down stereotypes," says Renee Dolezal, an English teacher at Arts of the Living High School who created the program.

"It's 8:30, do you know where your brains are?" 

So starts an episode of "Paper Tiger Television" (PPTV), the legendary Manhattan public access program-turned-institution that has been  "reading" the mass media since 1981.  Some may call it media literacy, but PPTV explains, "A friendly name for detailed analysis, 'reading' a publication or program means
taking it apart,  sometimes page-by-page or scene-by-scene, exploring links between its production, its audience and its sponsor.  While exposing the hidden ideologies in commercial television, film advertisements and print media,  Pager Tiger also aims to disrupt the TV beliefs of its viewers."  The PPTV
repository of over 200 videos, each bearing the unique imprint of the various members of PPTV over the years, includes critiques on  wide ranging topics from violence in children's cartoons and media coverage of domestic and international events, to "Beverly Hills 90210."

The Possibilities

With  increasing awareness about local issues and encouraging involvement as part of its mission, Davis Community Television (DCTV) in California features election programming for the City Council and special elections.   "We expect to play a key role, particularly during elections, in helping the campaigns to get
information out to the voters, and in facilitating robust civic discourse on the issues," explains Executive  Director, Kari Peterson. On election night, DCTV's election coverage features call-in commentary from the voters.

With the increasing concentration of ownership in commercial media, cross-promotion of  programming and products, and vertical programming taking place in the cable television industry, it is all the more important to carve out a place for the community's voice with public access television.  The  potential uses of public access television in Indianapolis and the benefits to Indianapolis are tremendous.