On April 22, 2010, CitizenNewscaster.com in participation with Access Monterey Peninsula (AMP) in Monterey California and Community Media Access Partnership (CMAP) in Gilroy California conducted what we believe to be the first ever live simulcast of a joint community access studio production. The show was simultaneously produced in both the CMAP and the AMP studios. It was simulcast live on both stations, and it was streamed on the CitizenNewscaster.com website which allowed synchronous participation of the viewing audience. CitizenNewscaster.com is proud to have been in collaboration on this ground breaking project.
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Watch and participate in the live town hall meeting by blogging your comments below. Your comments may be selected by the moderator for discussion during the town hall simulcast.
Town Hall Theme
Communities of Interest: The impact of local dialog on regional identity and the transformative role of public access media in the evolving media landscape
When: April 22nd. 2010 at 8:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.
Where: On this website, on Channel 24 in Monterey County, on channel 20 in Gilroy, Hollister and San Juan Beautista, and via radio simulcast soon to be announced.
The tendency of consolidated corporate media is to move away from local production of broadcast content in favor of distantly produced programming that often bypasses local issues. As a consequence, community members are often distanced from the proceedings of their own communities. Public access media holds the potential to play a transformative role in the public dialog through the production of meaningful and locally produced programming.
One way to engage local communities could be to use volunteers from local schools, colleges, and businesses to create content on issues local residents are concerned with.
By respectfully and seriously addressing local concerns using local talent a public media entity could engage it’s audience in ways syndicated corporate media NEVER could.
Thank you for keeping it real Timothy! We need your unbiased reporting more and more in this world where the “real” news (big tv broadcasting companies) are sounding more and more like unfiltered internet vlogs everyday.
Thank you!
I watch allot of AMP TV and feel it is very important for information by and for local citizens. Ironically, I understand it was created as a trade for deregulation allowing corporate take-over of our media in the 1990’s, including one corporation controlling two of our local “network” stations resulting in mass layoffs at local TV (and even more at local radio!). I still feel deregulation of media was a mistake as Bill Clinton admitted at the Radio & Records Convention of 2001. More individual media owners each employing media professionals would help lessen the unemployment problem as well as expand viewpoints. More power to AMP as a rare alternative to the mistake of mass media consolidation!
I really appreciate the access to media that AMP provides. It truely is democratic. My only complaint is that there is not enough outreach. People don’t seem to give AMP and the many fine producers they have enough credit and prestige for the work that they do. I think there needs to be a public relations campaign!
I have a question for the presenters: How do you predict that this new collaboration between media partners and technologies will transform the way in which we obtain our news in the community?
If you want to reach a wider audience you guys need to get organized and really think about what your message is. When I read “Town Hall Meeting” I thought it was literally a town hall meeting. I even went so far as to look up the agenda for a Zoning Commission meeting tonight and tried to comprehend what that meeting had anything to do with saving public access media!
I think this could possibly be a great tool in bringing the community together, but first, it has to be a tool the people can understand and use.
I had no idea there was a public blog available for CMAP in my area. Thank you for sharing the website on tonight’s show, Saving Public Media: A Live Town Hall. Although the audio and lighting could be improved, the program was very informative about current issues facing our community. I feel CMAP is a good outlet for small-town folks to voice their opinions to a broad audience. I enjoy watching the events in our town, which gives me a sense of being involved and taking an investment in my community. I frequently will attend events and think, “Where is CMAP? THEY should be here broadcasting!”.
In regards to Candace, the previous blogger that was mentioned on air during the program, I think she misread the theme of tonight’s Town Hall Meeting. It was not aimed at zoning commissions and budgets, but rather how public access media is unique and valuable to a community. With the recent hype of healthcare reform and the increasingly publicized “town hall meetings” coverage, it was assumed that this publication would be a controversial circus. To disagree with her point, I think this site was easy to navigate, find, and the coverage was on television was decent.
With more funding available, I think CMAP could really become a valuable asset for our community.
How can public access media engage more with their communities?
We are working to make make channel 24 the most popular channel on the Monterey Penn. We may be a little to ambisious but we see the impact of our efforts, we hear thank you’s dailly and see the smiles in the faces of the folks that we put on TV. Please let’s do all we can to continue to exercise this constitutional right through this medium.
How many public access stations are there in the USA? And in particular in California? How many stations were lost nationally and at the state level in 2009?
Hey There, this weblog seems funny and narrow when I open it using Opera. Nonetheless, it seems to be fine in IE. Does anyone else observe this?
Thanks to all those who participated in this public access town hall. The event was the first of a kind for public access, bringing together multiple studios, the internet and people from the local community.
This blog is closed until the next event.