Colin Rhinesmith

The second year of our NeighborMedia program at CCTV kicked off on October 8th. Three returning participants from last year’s program and nine new participants will take part in this year’s program.

Many of the new participants are currently taking classes at CCTV in areas such as video production, audio journalism, and new media production. We are also offering a course in digital photography specifically for NeighborMedia participants. The next few months are considered a training period for participants before they are expected to produce stories using our website and our cable channels.

Interestingly, many of our new participants are also current or former professional print and photo journalists. Many got involved in our NeighborMedia program because of the changes taking place in their respective industries. I have learned that many print and photo journalists are expected to have multimedia production experience. As a result, they are finding our program at CCTV to be a perfect fit based on their interests, needs, and trends taking place.

I am excited that these folks are finding a home at CCTV to gain these new skills. At the same time, I am also excited that those participants with little to no journalism background can participate on the same playing field. I am looking forward to watching how this blend of professional and citizen journalism will develop over the coming year.

I’ve also set up a NeighborMedia Facebook group where those involved in the program can share their stories online. I hope this space will also provide an opportunity online for others to participate in the conversation.

Cambridge Community Television, Citizen Journalism, Citizen Media, Community Media, Journalism, Media Education, PEGTV, Public Access TV

I am excited to announce that the second year of NeighborMedia (a New Voices Grantee) is getting started next week. We’re having an orientation at CCTV next Wednesday to welcome this year’s group of up and coming citizen journalists who will be sharing their stories about issues that matter to them and others in Cambridge.

Some of the individuals in the program come from professional journalism backgrounds and others do not have any experience producing media at all. This is why I am most excited about this group. They also share a common trait. They care passionately about local issues and want to express their views with others in Cambridge. All of them live, or have lived, in the community and can speak about their experiences in a way that uniquely separates them from many of the freelance journalists employed by our regional media conglomerates.

At a time when news organizations are investing large sums of money to retrain their staff to do more with social media tools, community media centers such as CCTV are uniquely positioned to help ordinary people have a voice using new and traditional media tools.

That’s why I feel so privileged to have the opportunity to help lead this important effort. I am thankful for the foundation that Julie Adler and my other co-workers established during the first year of the program. The evaluations conducted at the end of the first year (over this summer) were invaluable towards the planning and coordination of this year’s program. We’re excited to get started next week, and I hope you will follow their progress at NeighborMedia.org.

Cambridge Community Television, Citizen Journalism, Citizen Media, Civic Engagement, Community Media, Public Access TV