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How to Bring Public
Access Television to Your Town
by William A. Huston Mar 24, 2004
Step 1: Learn about Public Access * Public Access TV is cable television channel capacity, and facilities and equipment to use the channel capacity, set aside for the use by the general public on a first-come, first-served, non-discriminitory basis. * Community Antenna Television (CATV) -> Cable TV * Cable Television Report and Order, 36 FCC 2d 143 (1972) ("First Report and Order"): " Recently, governmental programs have been directed toward increasing citizen involvement in community affairs. Cable television has the potential to be a vehicle for much needed community expression ... We believe there is increasing need for channels for community expression, and the steps we are taking are designed to serve that need. The public access channel will offer a practical opportunity to participate in community dialogue through a mass medium." * 1976 FCC rule mandating public access studios and channel capacity in all systems serving 3,500 subscribers (overturned by Midwest Video v. FCC (1979)). * More info: Read "The History of Public Access Television", by Bill Olson: http://www.geocities.com/iconostar/history-public-access-TV.html
* Call your cable provider and ask them if they have a public access studio to use, and if they have training classes available. Chances are you will have to make 10-15 phone calls to the cable provider before you find someone who knows what you are talking about. * You can also check these web sites which list many facilities in the U.S. : http://www.openchannel.se/cat/ (also lists worldwide centers) and http://www.world.std.com/~rghm/alpha.htm * If you have a studio and training classes, GREAT! Sign up for classes right away. Learn the basics of studio production. Start by crewing on the shows of experienced producers (this is the best way to get started, to "learn the ropes"). Then, once you get a hang of things, develop a show idea, request some studio time, get a crew together, and have fun! (Many times, the people who attend the training classes with you will crew on your show). Step 3: Dang it! I don't have a studio to use or training classes. Now what? * See step 4 to learn if you at least have a public access channel to use, then see step 5 to produce your show on your own equipment. * You can also begin the l-o-n-g legal battle to try to get a studio facility. See step 6. I have been trying this in my town (Binghamton NY) for many years (since about 1999-2000). It is now 2004 and we still don't have a studio, but learning about the laws and the legal remedies has been very rewarding. Don't worry if you are not a lawyer. You can do this! You CAN get a studio in your town if you put your mind to it. But it will be a long struggle. Be prepared.
* Find a tape that you want to get played on public access, or make the show yourself (see below). Many public access producers around the country will give you tapes of their shows to play on your system for just the cost of the tape and shipping. Make sure you obtain "public performance rights" from the producer, although many times you can get away with showing just about anything under "fair use". Just don't show a popular film which has just been released on DVD, you you could get a letter like this: http://binghamton.publicaccesstv.net/story/2004/10/24/20526/376 * Take the tape to your cable provider and ask them to put it on the Public Access Channel. The cable provider does not make this easy, and it is likely that you will have to keep pestering them until you find someone who can help you. After 10-15 phone calls, you will probably either a) find the right person, who will play your tape on the air (Yaaay!) , or b) learn that "WE DON'T HAVE A PUBLIC ACCESS CHANNEL!" See below for what to do now.
* OK, you've determined that you have a public access channel available, but you either don't have a studio to use, or decide to produce on your own equipment anyway. * Get a fast Mac or PC. Video editing requires tons of CPU and memory and disk space. A good PC might be a 3Ghz Pentium with MMX, 500 Mb of RAM min., and 30 gb of disk space, min. You will also need a "firewire" port. (USB-2 can also work with some cameras, but firewire is prefered). A decent PC will probably cost about $1200, and a Mac a little more. You can use a laptop, but generally you get more "bang for the buck" with a desktop or tower system. * Get the software. Adobe Premiere or Final Cut Pro are the best. * Get a digital video camera. There are several digital video cameras now in the $600 price range. You can also find them used. You will probably want one with "Mini-DV" tapes, but "Digital-8" is fine too. You probably want to stay away from "DVCAM", because the tapes are difficult to get. * Go to the library and get some books on video production. Study Audio, Lighting, and Storyboarding. Get creative!
* Get the franchise agreement
* Get a copy of the current franchise agreement from the city/town clerk. This is the contract between your cable provider and your town. You may have to file a FOIL (Freedom of Information Law) request, and they may charge you for reproduction costs. Step 6b: Study the law * Federal regulations are very weak. o 47 USC § 531 (1984 Cable Act). Does not mandate public access. Only requires that your local town *can* require it. About the only useful aspect of this law is 531(e) which prohibits editorial control of the cable provider. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/47/531.html * Study the laws and regulations in your state. Every state is different. The example below is for New York State. To find the relevant laws and regulations in your state, go to the public law library which should be located in any state courthouse. Every county seat should have a state courthouse with a public access law library. (NOTE: if you locate this information for your state, send me the details and I'll post it here: Contact: Bill Huston bhuston@vegdot.org or 607-724-1755) o NY has some of best laws and regulations of any state. + A dedicated Public Access channel is required by NY State Regulations. Another channel must be set aside for Education and Government use. If your cable system has no public access channel at all, or a combined P+EG channel, it is not compliant. + In NY, cable companies are regulated by the Public Service Commission. + Many (most?) cable franchises in NY State are not compliant with public access regulations, and the PSC looks the other way. (Why!?) If your town is not compliant, you may want to file a petition with the PSC. You will need to send an original + 5 copies of the petition, proof of service and five copies of your Notice of Petition and Request for Initiation of Proceeding to the PSC. Use the documents here as a guide: http://mu.clarityconnect.net/~bhuston/access_tv/psc_petition1/ . You may also want to petition your local city council, talk to your mayor or town supervisor, etc. + Public Service Law § 215 (2)(b) (requirement for public access), Public Service Law § 229 (prohibition or limitation of any type or class of public access program illegal) See the NY State Consolidated Laws, Public Service Law: http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?cl=95&a=15 + 9 NYCRR 595.4: Read it online here: http://binghamton.publicaccesstv.net/special/public_access_ny * Unless specified in the franchise agreement, most cable providers only provide a playback deck. This means that you have to supply shows on a videotape, which the provider will then cablecast. There is not a generally recognized right in NY State for studio access, and there is no way to make a live TV show. (This is the subject of a lawsuit currently in federal court, Huston v. Time Warner Entertainment, et. al. See: http://binghamton.publicaccesstv.net/story/2003/10/19/212814/94 ) * NY regulations are likely to be weakened Voice your opinion at http://www.ASKPSC.com, before it's too late! (click on "cable" then on "PSC Seeks Comment on Proposed Cable Television Service Rule Change") Please read this for detailed analysis of the changes: http://binghamton.publicaccesstv.net/story/2003/4/11/19275/0624 Step 6c: Study the Court Decisions * Missouri Knights of the Ku Klux Klan v. Kansas City, Mo., 723 F.Supp. 1347 (W.D. Mo. 1989) * Denver Area Educ. Telecomms. Consortium, Inc. v. FCC, 518 U.S. 727 (1996) * McClellan v. Cablevision of Connecticut, et al., 949 F.Supp. 97 (D.Conn. 1997) Step 6d: Seek all possible administrative Remedies * Discuss your complaint to your cable provider. Cite the law/code
you think they are in violation of. Step 6e: File a lawsuit * After you exhaust all administrative remedies, you may want to file a lawsuit, but you must study the law first! You can't sue unless you have discovered a legal right, and have suffered an injury. Study 42 USC 1983 and 1985 lawsuits as a possible remedy, also rights under First and 14th amendments: http://mu.clarityconnect.net/~bhuston/access_tv/42_usc_1983.txt . Also check for rights under your state constitution.
* Join Public Access Listservs. o Send a blank email to access-forum@lists.alliancecm.org (individual emails) or access-forum-digest@lists.alliancecm.org (digest version) o The following lists at www.yahoogroups.com are all good: municable, PEG-Access, Public-Access Additonal Resources * http://www.publicaccesstv.net and http://binghamton.publicaccesstv.net * The Alliance for Community Media http://www.alliancecm.org Good luck, and have fun! Bill Huston
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