Colin Rhinesmith

This afternoon, I had the opportunity to lead a workshop with my fellow Boston Action Tank colleagues Marie Celestin and Felicia Sullivan at the Be The Media! Mini-Conference. The title of our workshop was “Strategies for Shaping our Media Future: Envisioning Change with the Boston Action Tank”. Here’s the description from the website:

The media/communications environment is rapidly changing. Who will control the networks and tools that we use? How can we work pro-actively for media & technology systems to better serve our communities? We will talk about the types of policies, technologies and economics that can create a better media future, and how to win and protect what we need and want. This workshop will use strategy mapping tools in small groups, and is designed for 10-25 people. We hope to learn from you, and to share some tools to help you position your current work in a long-term strategic framework.

During the workshop, we had a terrific group of passionate, committed communications workers located in area non-profits who helped us envision what they’d like to see as their ideal future media system in an age of networked communication.

The topic of social media literacy played a large role in the discussion. Most participants felt that there should be places where community members in physical places can go to gain access to and learn more about networked technologies and their impact on our everyday lives. In addition, most believed that Community Media & Technology Centers are key within this future.

Not surprisingly, I was excited by the response and energized to see the enthusiasm from the group about how community media/technology centers can play a role in this work.

The need for social media literacy is becoming a common thread through my interactions with community members at CCTV and in the discussions I’ve been apart of and read online. I do believe that community media/technology centers can in fact fill that void where people are feeling the need to share physical space with others around their online media use.

At the end of the workshop, the group agreed that they would like to be a apart of future discussions, with previous workshop participants, to expand our conversation today about how to create a shared community-vision for our media future.

I would like to thank the conference organizers for allowing us to be apart of this conversation.

Civic Engagement, Community Media, Community Technology, Conference, Media Justice, Media Literacy, Media Policy, Public Access TV, Public Media

On October 30, I dropped by the WBUR Social Media Group Open House. As their wiki explains

These events were conceived as a means to draw those riding the social media wave together with the old guard to explore ways we may learn from and challenge each other, the aim being to improve our respective crafts.”

After a great tour of the facilities, we split up into two groups. I attended the “Journalism in a 2.0 World” session, facilitated by WBUR’s Director of New Media, Robin Lubbock and Northeastern University’s Dan Kennedy. The session provided the the following:

We’ll kick off this discussion with a brief overview of the local media-maker ecosystem. Who should we be paying attention to and why? How can/should professional journalists engage this community of bloggers, Tweeters and other social/new media makers? What opportunities and pitfalls does collaboration present each group?”

During the session, the group explored how traditional news organizations can bring in other voices & make them be more about what journalists do. Dan Kennedy described the value in having journalists work with bloggers to help bring out the good stuff found on blogs and other participatory media platforms to incorporate it into their reporting.

There was a strong feeling present in the room that online communities need to be moderated, encouraged and grown. It was mentioned that journalists and online editors can play an important role in this process. Furthermore, good writing is key and telling stories is an important part of what can engage audiences within this professional/amateur blend of online journalism.

At one point in the discussion, it was stated that bloggers might not have much to blog about if traditional news organizations didn’t exist, since many link to mainstream news reports in their posts. From my experience working with the citizen journalists in our NeighborMedia program at CCTV, I added that few of the participants in our program rely on our local paper for story ideas. Instead, NeighborMedia journalists often tell unique stories and make the news themselves.

It was a great evening overall. I was very impressed with how WBUR opened its doors to the community to let us contribute to the conversation offline. I look forward to future socials and to see how WBUR incorporates the ideas from these important gatherings into what they do on the web.

Citizen Journalism, Citizen Media, Journalism, Public Media

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

From “Fighting Poverty: Community Media and Communication for Development in the Digital Age”:

Access to the means of voice and communication is central to a people-centred approach to development both for its intrinsic human importance and its rola in shared culture, access to knowledge and education, civic participation in decision making, ensuring good governance through accountability and providing other tools that assist the achievement of development goals. This has been acknowledged repeatedly in major international development reports such as the World Development Report, the Final Report of the United Nations Millennium Project and the Commission for Africa Report among others.

Community media has a vital role to play in giving access to voice and communication for poor and marginalised groups. Frequently excluded from mainstream media. It has had a central impact on development and is of increasing relevance in the context of new information and communication technologies and the trend towards more liberalised communications environments. The impact and value of community media has been repeatedly demonstrated over many years most centrally in its central and critical role in Nepal in the recent peaceful transition to a new democracy.”

Download the full report at the AMARC website.

Community Media, Community Radio, Development, Independent Radio, Media Policy

Reason #1134 why C-Span rocks: Podcasts (iTunes) & YouTube episodes of The Communicators, “C-SPAN’s new weekly series featuring a half-hour interview with the people who shape our digital future.”

Watch C-Span’s “The Communicators” episodes on Obama’s and McCain’s Telecom Policy Agenda for the next administration.

Broadband Policy, Politics, Telecom Policy

On Thursday, the Alliance for Community Media issued the following press release, entitled “U.S House Subcommittee will ask FCC to examine harm to public, educational, and governmental television“:

In response to testimony from Alliance for Community Media members yesterday, the House Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government voiced strong bi-partisan support for public, educational, and governmental (PEG) access for communities and asked the FCC to examine whether AT&T and other cable operators are in compliance with the Cable Act of 1984.

In opening remarks, Subcommittee Chairman Congressman Jose Serrano (NY-D) and Congressman Mark Kirk (IL-R) expressed concern that local PEG access channels are in danger of declining or disappearing as a result of the current regulatory and business environment.

Barbara Popovic, Executive Director of Chicago Access Network Television, representing the Alliance, and Michael Max Knobbe, president of the Alliance’s New York chapter, and Executive Director of BronxNet, presented testimony that detailed multiple problems with PEG access channel delivery arising out of recent actions by the FCC, state legislatures, the cable industry and AT&T. Problems that were outlined included a loss of funding and channels, movement of PEG to higher numbered channels (referred to as “channel slamming”), reduced quality and functionality of existing channels, and loss or reductions in public cable drops to schools, libraries and other public centers. Regarding the issues of AT& T’s treatment of PEG channels, Ms. Popovic said “Bottom line, AT&T, the company that promotes ‘choice’ in cable franchising, is giving viewers no choice when it comes to PEG.” Mr. Knobbe discussed the problems associated with channel slamming, which include additional costs to consumers to view PEG channels.”

Read the complete press release here.

Community Media, PEGTV, Policy, Public Access TV

Broadcasting & Cable published two good articles detailing the positions of McCain and Obama on some of the most pressing media policy issues of our time, including media ownership, the digital television transition, and network neutrality.

Read “Obama’s Media Agenda” here and “McCain Campaign Mum on Media Policy” here.

Thanks to Bob McCannon for the pointer.

Internet, Internet Policy, Media Policy, Net Neutrality

(This is a cross-post - with a different title - from here)

A few weeks ago, I spoke with Jared M. Gordon from NewEnglandFilm.com. He was doing a piece about the Flip Mino cameras and contacted me to learn more about how we’re using them here at CCTV.

The article, entitled “Three Filmmakers, Three Cameras” is now online at their website. Here’s a bit from the article:

“What projects are you currently putting together?

During this year I’ve been the project manager of what we call Bridging the Digital Divide. We’re putting computers and Internet access into the hands of people who need it the most in Cambridge. Another project, the Neighbor Media Program, is a citizen journalism program (neighbormedia.org) in which ordinary community folks are reporting on local news. A lot of what will be involved segues into the Flip Mino…

Tell me about your experience with your current camera of choice. What sort of work have you done with it?

We’ll be distributing [Flip Minos] to neighbor media journalists on a monthly basis. They’ll take them out, hopefully use it to cover stories, and we provide support, training, and all kinds of production skills that can help augment their stories. Some journalists weren’t ready for the advanced cameras and they wanted an easier way to start involving themselves in media production. We bought the Flips for that purpose, then realized that we could use them for our summer institute (youth program).

I have spent enough time to get to know some of its quirks, what it’s good for and what it’s not good for. For the money and for what it is, it’s absolutely worth it. It’s a cool little camera.”

Read more at NewEnglandFilm.com.

Cambridge Community Television, Community Media, Community Technology, PEGTV, Public Access TV, Video

I just learned from Rob McCausland via the Alliance for Community Media listserv that Dee Dee Halleck and Dan Gilmor discussed the question, “Is Public Access TV Still Relevant?” on The Leonard Lopate Show on WNYC today.

I haven’t had an opportunity to listen to it yet, but since the topic was the subject of my graduate thesis at Emerson College, I look forward to hearing the discussion. I am sure it was a lively one.

Citizen Media, Community Media, Internet, PEGTV, Public Access TV