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It's finally an O.K. Newsletter! |
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The Ohio/Kentucky Alliance |
Volume 1, Issue 1 |
Media Literacy | Web Page | Tommy's Tunes | Chip's Change | Blue Chips | Public Policy | Side Notes | Zooming in ...
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It's finally an O.K. Newsletter! |
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The Ohio/Kentucky Alliance |
Volume 1, Issue 1 |
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by Brian Vonderschmidt, Waycross Community Media |
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On November 14, 1997, the Ohio/Kentucky Chapter of the Alliance for Community Media presented a Media Literacy workshop at the facilities of Waycross Community Media in suburban Cincinnati. This all-day session introduced the basic principles of Media Literacy to staff members of Access Centers from Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky. The workshop was presented by Fred Johnson, a media educator, documentary film maker and media artist who is currently teaching at Mt. Hood Community College in Portland, Oregon, and Cathy Nostrand, the Education Manager of the Community Media Center of Santa Rosa, California. Both are active in the field of media and media literacy. Participants got a chance to explore the history of the concept of media literacy, how it began, how it became a social and communication science and how its use has made consumers of mass media more open to how the medium affects them. Current network TV programming techniques, commercial applications, media manipulation and the impact on the educational community were just a few of the topics covered. Besides the basic lecture, group discussions were facilitated. A practical exercise was also included -- to demonstrate how easy it is to manipulate images to conform to a pre-determined message. Finally, the participants spent time sharing, concerns about implementation, what has worked well in their own centers, how they could apply Media Literacy to their current workshops and training sessions and how they could use the information as they create future programs. After all, media literacy is not just for the unenlightened, but for all consumers of media. |
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OK Alliance on the web--www.waycross.org/okalliance/ |
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The O.K. region has its own spiderman of sorts. Brian Vonderschmidt from Waycross was suckered into serving as our Web Services Chair and creating the official OK Alliance web page. Send him your announcements, job listings, stories or anything else you own the copyright to that you would like to share. Contact information can be found on pg. 2. |
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YOUR O.K. ALLIANCE CHAIR VICE-CHAIR TREASURER SECRETARY INFO. SERVICES PUBLIC POLICY--OH PUBLIC POLICY--KY CONFERENCE PLANNING AT-LARGE--Education AT-LARGE--Web Services |
Tommy's Tunes by Tom Bishop, OK Alliance Chair Wow, it's been a busy year for Ohio & Kentucky Chapters. First of all, we are now the OK Alliance, a combined organization that operates as one chapter within the Alliance for Community Media. We elected new officers including Vice-Chair Gail Robinson, Treasurer Chip Bergquist, Secretary Brian Losekamp, Ohio Public Policy Chair Joyce Miller, Kentucky Public Policy Chair John Higgenbotham, Conference Chair Ric Hayes, Information Services Chair Thom Schneider and Education Chair Rod Swartz. We held our first workshop event in a number of years in November with a Teaching Media Literacy Workshop taught by Media Working Groups (see cover story). This informative seminar, which had 26 attendees, was hosted by Waycross Community Media and locally sponsored by Cincinnati Community Video. A big thanks goes out to all the gang at Waycross, to Ric Hayes for his help in producing the brochure and especially to Joyce Miller for pulling the whole shebang together. If you have suggestions for next fall's workshop, please contact Ric Hayes at (937) 438-8887. Enclosed in this newsletter is your membership application for the OK Alliance. If you'd like to see more events like the Teaching Media Literacy Workshop, now is the time to show your support through membership in the organization. Our next business meeting will be at the Central States Spring Regional Conference in Columbus, Ohio on May 7, 8 and 9. Exact meeting times to be announced. |
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Chip Change by Chip Bergquist, Treasurer |
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Checking Grand Total |
$60.59 $1,120.54 |
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(editor's note: our Treasurer has offered to try and increase our budget when he goes to Las Vegas for the N.A.B. Convention. All in favor, say AYE ...) |
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Cincinnati access centers sponsor awards |
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10 area Cincinnati community access centers will come together for the 1998 Blue Chip Cable Access Awards. The ceremony will be held April 30, 7:00 p.m. at Cincinnati's Union Terminal. Awards will be hosted Lynne Russell from CNN News. 163 entries were received in 18 different categories. If you're in the neighborhood on the 30th stop on by! Call Joyce Miller for more info. |
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Public Policy |
Side Notes |
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by Joyce Miller, Susanne Pazer from Columbus 21 attended the Ohio Cable Television Association meeting November 12. The OCTA noted they had filed issues this past year with the PUCO which they successfully won. The complaints were about Ameritech, New Media's preferential treatment by American Electric Power and Ameritech New Media "Americhecks" The checks were actually coupons that Ameritech New Media provided to cable subscribers for use in paying their Ameritech phone bills. This practice was eventually discontinued.
Cable operators fear that the Ohio legislature may view them as a cash cow when evaluating ways to tax business to expand the state school funding base. The trend is moving towards taxing a cable company like a telephone company. The OCTA is attempting to change this so that if taxed like a phone company, only their phone revenue would be included. Cable operators want relief on property taxes and they want to see the issues of parity with phone companies tied to competition.
Bills that have been introduced in Ohio that would affect the cable industry and which the OCTA opposes are listed below. Utility Tax Reform - This bill notes that if cable is taxed, companies like DBS must be taxed the same. Excise Tax - This bill would even out the taxes for phone companies and cable companies with each paying 6%. If a cable company already pays a 5% franchise fee, then the company would only pay an additional 1%. Late Fee legislation - This bill would cap at $5.00 any late fees owed to the company by a subscriber. The OCTA is seeking state legislation to halt or regulate municipal overbuilds. Wadsworth is listed as the only such system operating successfully in Ohio. They have lower rates than the cable operator (Time Warner Cable) and are considering expansion into Cuyahoga Falls. If municipal overbuilds are permitted to continue, the OCTA wants to see a few rules implemented. They do not want to see public money spent to fund entry into competitive service. They feel the municipality must pay the same cost to service as cable companies pay, including franchise fees and pole taxes. And lastly, the municipality cannot regulate the cable company if |
by John Higgenbotham, After returning from the fall conference in October, I went to work making contacts in state government. I think a little background on how the legislature operates in Kentucky is in order. The State Constitution mandates that the legislature (General Assembly) meet only in even numbered years for 60 legislative days. In 1998, this time period stretches from January until the first week of April. A governor may call a special session at any time outside of this 60-day requirement if he/she desires. If the governor calls a special session, only one issue can be discussed or decided and only the governor can decide what that issue can or will be. This has happened with much greater frequency in the last 10 years because there isn't enough time during the regular session to get everything completed. As you can see, the majority of lawmaking happens every other year. Archaic? Yes. Kentucky lawmaking is steeped in tradition. How many states require elected officials to swear as they take their oath of office, that "they have not participated in a duel nor served as a second in a duel"? Not surprising, I found that the General Assembly does not have as much as a standing committee on telecommunication issues. According to a staffer at the Legislative Research Commission (this is the agency that coordinates the legislative process), if any bill concerning telecommunications would be filed, it would fall under the Energy Committee. As of January 8, no bills had either been pre-filed or introduced. I will do my best to keep you posted. |
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Conference Scholarships Central States is offering ten scholarships for the Spring Regional Conference in Columbus, Ohio. Scholarships will cover full conference registration. Eligible applicants must be an access producer, volunteer or intern living at least 75 miles outside the host city. Applications must be accompanied by a conference registration form. Send completed applications or questions to: Melissa S. Mills |
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Philo phacts Are you still up to your ears in Hometown USA entries? Well, don't put those tapes away just yet, because Philo awards are just around the corner. Look for entry forms in your mailbox sometime in March. Entries will need to be postmarked by June 27, 1998. For more information, contact John Higgenbotham. |
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they are successfully competing with them. The Ohio Municipal League and the Ohio Electrical Utilities Association oppose the OCTA's rules. It was noted that cable rates rose by an average of 7% in January. The OCTA is advising its members to meet and talk to Congressional representatives over the holiday break to help them understand the necessity of the rate hike. Suzanne Pazer can be reached at 614-224-2288. |
Summer in Portland Mark your calendars for the 1998 Alliance for Community Media International Conference and Trade Show--July 8 - 11 in Portland, Oregon. Early bird registrants will enjoy a $25 discount if their payment is received by April 20, 1998. For more information, contact Kelly Matthews, Director of Membership Services, at (202) 393-2650, Eitan Kushner, National Conference Chair, at (847) 869-2510 or the Alliance web page -- www.alliancecm.org |
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Zooming in on Access |
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In 1952, the Electric and Water Plant Board for the City of Frankfort contracted with Community Service, Inc., to manage the day-to-day operations of a cable system. Cable 10 began operation as a local origination channel in 1972 or 1973. Community Service was dissolved in 1988 and became an operating division within the Plant Board. Although the Plant Board is considered a form of municipal government, they operate under a separate statute from the City of Frankfort. The only connection between City Hall and the Plant Board is the mayor's ability to appoint the Board of Directors. The Plant Board's annual budget for electric, water and cable services are roughly $40 million. That is more than the budgets for the City and County governments combined. Cable 10's current staff includes: Director of Community Television - John Higginbotham, Operations Technician - Adam Hellard, Communication Assistant - Libby Andersen and Production Assistant - Dave Pike. They also utilize 7 to 10 freelance videographers in the evenings and weekends. This staff is also responsible for the management and operation of a leased access channel, first launched in July, 1994. Cable 10 played back 2847 programs in 1997. They average about 60 hours of video programming a week, with about 25 hours being aired for the first time each week. Approximately 85% of programming is videotaped by staff or freelancers. Cable 10 covers a variety of governmental meetings , service organizations and sporting events from Kentucky State University, five high schools and six middle schools. In-studio programs include the award-winning Frankfort's Global Connection, NAACP Presents: Know Your Community, Financial Focus, Inside United Way and Teen Talk. If you're in town, please stop by for a visit. Cable 10 will be hosting the 1999 Spring Regional Conference! |
DATV, located in Dayton, OH, was created in 1977 with a
grant March 1, 1978, DATV (then Access Dayton) went "on-the-air," operating out of one room in the basement of Roberts Hall at the United Theological Seminary. Two forces credited for the growth of the public access organizations are Roxie Cole, founder and manager of the organization for the next 13 years, and a nine member Board of Trustees with a vision and foresight that cultivated public access and encouraged outreach. Since 1977, services have been expanded to include a wider variety of workshops, a Community Calendar for non-profits and an increased coverage of community events and political issues. Staff members total 7 full-time and 6 part-time, over half of which are responsible for production, programming and training duties. Their base of operations have also greatly expanded. In 1992, DATV purchased and renovated a 10,000 square foot showplace facility, creating a 40 x 50 foot studio, four edit suites, internet kiosk, volunteer lounge and much more. This $700,000 investment has gone a long way to meet the public access needs in the Dayton community. In 1997, their facility produced 1581 programs, totaling 1275 hours; "On-The-Air" hours totaled 7,166. They have 89 independent producers and 320 members. They received the 1987 National Federation of Local Cable Programmer's Community Communications Award for public access and a 1997 Hometown Video Festival Award for Overall Excellence in Public Access Programming. This year, DATV will celebrate their 20th anniversary. Congratulations! |
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