ments and this time around including community television. San Francisco is one example of a city just beginning Public Access.
At a time when fewer and fewer corporate entities own more and more of the cable industry it is imperative that Community Access Centers band together to share our common knowledge and experiences. It is fascinating to discover our similarities as well as our unique differences due to the diversity of the communities we represent. It is also important to share our stories. One of my roommates at this year's conference was from Access Tucson, a center that has been a role model around the country but is currently embattled in contract negotiations with their cable company TCI. The future of Access Tucson is looking brighter but in their darkest days last spring, they were laying off staff and cutting access hours. At that time an SOS was sent out to centers across the county via the Internet. We might not be able to help with funding but our common knowledge base is powerful and the lessons we learn from each other are critical for all our futures.
In the last few years the Internet has really enhanced communication among access centers. Many of us subscribe to a list serve sponsored by the Alliance, we post messages to one address which sends our messages to all subscribers on the list. We also have the Alliance for Community Media Home Page, www.alliancecm.org/, where we can find out about court cases involving community media or the latest FCC rulings, as well as information about our sister Access Centers around the country.
At this years conference I met producers from Brazil and The Netherlands who work in community television. Here , you will find "Worldwide links to Public or Community Access Television sites and other links related to the movement for the Freedom of Speech." Here is an extensive list of community media centers in the United States, fourteen WEB sites in Canada as well as sites in; Sweden, Norway, Netherlands, Germany, Finland, Denmark, Australia and Africa. Most of these countries call their channel "Open
Channels" the following text from sites in Sweden and South Africa give an example of how it works, "Open Channel is the local public access TV channel accessible to 330.000 cable households in Stockholm - the Capital of Sweden - 24 hours a day with a government granted must carry status. Open Channel is a non-profit organization established 1992 funded by membership and transmission fees as well as project grants and sponsorship. Commercials are not allowed in programs. Open Channel is FREE TELEVISION as programs are not confined to the rules governing the national public service television or the private commercial channels. Open Channel is dedicated to the fight for the freedom of speech offering citizens to produce programs and run a local TV station on their own terms." And this from the Durban, South Africa WEB site, "The genesis of the GDTV project was the establishment of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) in 1993, which cleared the way for the formation of electronic community access media in South Africa. The concept of this national enterprise for South Africa was first proposed at the Jabulani! Freedom of the Airwaves Conference, which took place in the Netherlands in 1990. The ensuring framework for community television was ensconced in the Act which established the IBA and which enabled this body to issue broadcasting licenses. "
In the last six months I have given MTN tours and met with government officials from Alexandria, South Africa and London, England. Both grups were interested in how we do community television in Minnesota. Although many of the struggles over the survival of community television may be yet to come, it is good to know we are a part of a global movement for free speech and citizen's access to electronic resources.
Footnote: If you are interested in visiting the sites listed in this article, but do not have Internet skills or access, ask MTN staff for our latest Internet training schedule and/or look into use of our public access terminals.
Open Studio Project -The Arts Online Program -- In March of 1997, MTN and Intermedia Arts were chosen by the Benton Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts to serve as one of the regional mentor/training sites for the Benton Foundation's Open Studio Project. We were honored to receive a $35,000 grant with the directive to give one week of extensive WEB design training to 20 artists and/or arts organizations. Those 20 folks in turn will share their knowledge and skills with one other person. Kim Konikow has been hired to serve as the project coordinator and Ezra Hale as the WEB design instructor. Ezra's WEB experience includes production and development of "Pioneer Planet", the on-line version of the Pioneer Press Newspaper. Intermedia Arts played an important role in outreach to Arts Organizations and will host a final WEB exhibition in their space next spring. It has been a pleasure to collaborate with Intermedia Arts on this project. MTN has been able to use a portion of the grant money to upgrade our computer lab, check it out! We had forty five people apply for the twenty available slots for the Open Studio program and will be announcing those chosen to participate in late August.
Southside Family School -- This September the K-6th grade students at Southside Family School will have a new cyber view of the world thanks to a private donor and MTN. We are currently installing eight new Power Macs (four with Internet connections) in the school's antiquated computer lab. Southside teachers have attended Internet classes with MTN instructor John See over the summer and will incorporate Internet use into their teaching curriculum this school year. Southside Family School, located at 2123 Clinton Avenue South in Minneapolis, is a small alternative school with a long history of working with a diverse population of students.
Universal Access -- Upon returning from the National Alliance for Community Media's annual conference in Milwaukee I am pleased to write that Public Access is alive and thriving. It is heartening to note that many cities that did not include Public Access funding in their original cable franchises are now renewing those agree
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