Writing

Connections: PEG Access Television and American Democracy By B. R. Forbes Originally published in the Fairfax Cable Access Corporation newsletter, Storyboard, Spring 1997, and derived from a speech delivered at the Alliance for Community Media Far West Regional Conference on Saturday, October 19, 1996, in Santa Monica, CA. I have a difficult time explaining to my mother exactly what I do for a living. Oh, she knows my title of Executive Director and that the name of the organization is the Alliance for Community Media. But she's not quite clear about what I do exactly, except that I travel a lot and argue about politics with my father. Since my little hometown does not have any form of public, educational and governmental access on cable television, she simply cannot make the connection between what I do and how it effects her life. One day, in desperation, I blurted out that my job was "defending democracy and the American way of life!" Her response was, "...that's nice, dear..." Of course, I cannot blame her for not understanding -- because there simply was no strong connection between her life and my job. In fact, it's taken me over four years to understand the connection myself. As a volunteer producer at Fairfax Cable Access Corporation, I was completely consumed with getting our program together: taking courses, recruiting crew members, managing studio productions and field shoots, tracking down tapes, editing segments, and somehow turning in a half-hour magazine show every week... I assumed that the institution of FCAC existed just to allow me to produce my show -- that is, until rumors began circulating that the FCAC board of directors may "censor" our program! Suddenly, I could no longer take for granted the production facilities of FCAC. So, with the support of our crew members and the FCAC Producers Guild, I was elected to the Board of Directors of FCAC. As a Board member, I first learned about cable television franchises, the political environment of Fairfax County, and the difficult roles the Board and the Executive Director play in maintaining FCAC. With my professional background in public broadcasting and management consulting, I was able to facilitate the Board's long range strategic planning efforts. Through this process, I learned even more about the threats facing FCAC -- and suddenly I could no longer take for granted the institution of FCAC itself. Now, as executive director of the national organization charged with protecting and advancing community media, I see even more connections. I understand how fragile an institution public access is. For example, without the intervention of the Alliance, local cable franchise fees could have been eliminated by the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Or, if we had lost the case of Alliance for Community Media versus the FCC (also known as DAETC versus the FCC), before the Supreme Court, local cable operators could have eliminated all live programs, demanded that they review all tapes before being cablecast, and censored all programs with even a shred of perceived "indecency," such as programs on breast cancer and AIDS education. All of a sudden, my assertion that my job is "defending democracy and the American way of life" takes on new meaning. Consider this: the American form of democracy is based upon voters making individual decisions at the ballot box. People make their ballot-box decisions based on the information and ideas that they receive through the media. Obviously, whoever controls those media, controls the information and ideas. Therefore, American democracy depends on what Thomas Jefferson called a "marketplace of ideas," especially when it comes to unpopular opinions or information. The "unpopular" ideas will never be a part of the commercial mass media which must cater to the majority. And, as history has taught us, the majority is not always right. That is why public access media is so important today -- especially in the face of the current media merger-mania. Our job is to protect and advance this fragile institution of public access in any way we can, in whatever role we play. Producers need to keep presenting new ideas, involving more of their community in their programming, and supporting their local public access staff and board in every public and private forum. Board members need to diversify the governing body with individuals with specific expertise and with representatives of every element of the community; provide clear leadership for the executive director; cultivate political support within the community; and keep informed of legislative, regulatory, and judicial actions at the state and federal levels which may affect their local institution. And everyone needs to help their friends and neighbors understand the connection between what they see on television and the state of the country. Then the next time someone asks you what you do, you can say with pride, "I defend democracy and the American way of life!

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