For Release 12:00 PM EST
September 10, 2015
According to Maryann Arrien of the Alliance of Community Media of New York there are vast areas of New York State that have either no Local Community Access TV channels, or an inadequate number of channels and staffing to support their operations, putting New York State residents at a disadvantage compared to other states in the North East Region when it comes to seeing their local government and school meetings, as well as local cultural programming on Community TV channels.
On Saturday, April 18, 2015 there was a Roundtable Discussion at Schenectady’s Open Stage Media at Proctors entitled “The Future of Community Media in New York State” that concerned the future of local Public, Educational and Government channels in New York State. A short 21 minute highlights video version entitled “The Issues”, a 1.5 minute trailer as well as the full-length 90 minute discussion are all available for viewing on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVFTs8Mx99TsgCi2zhtd2LQ and for download at links listed on https://acmny.org/video-on-demand/.
The Future of Community Media in NY State Roundtable Discussion covered many issues including the dearth of local Public, Educational and Government Access stations in New York State, new ideas in funding Community Media with the changing video distribution technology, the impact of new jobs in Community Media for New York, the positive effect of local access on our communities, issues of parity of access and quality with commercial television, transparency in government and the future role of Public Access in our State.
For more information, or to request a DVD for your community or your local TV Channels, contact Maryann Arrien at Arrien@optonline.net or call 845-528-7420. Membership in the Alliance for Community Media of New York (www.acmny.org) is free, and NY residents can request to be put on a confidential mailing list if they wish to be notified of future ACM events or grassroots scholarship opportunities to attend Alliance for Community Media conferences and equipment expos that can help them start new Local TV channels and improve existing ones in New York State.
Gallery Photos by Zebulon Schmidt (Station Manager: Open Stage Media & Vice Chair, ACM New York)
(higher res files available – send e-mail to arrien@optonline.net)