Advocacy and Strategies
CACTUS Comment on Local1 Application by Corus
CACTUS oral comments made in response to Public Policy Notice 2010-551, the application by Corus for a network of weather and local information channels. Since the proposed channels would be located in the same communities where there is currently a community channel facility operated by Corus' parent company, Shaw Communications, and since Shaw's community channels already offer a Local1-like combo of weather and community news, CACTUS was concerned that the license being sought would repurpose existing community channel content, without addressing the access problems on those community channels.
(Although oral comments are typically limited to 10 minutes and may not be as detailed as written interventions, they are generally more up to date and can take into account and respond to positions presented by other parties. Both oral and written comments can also be found on the CRTC web site by searching by the notice number.)
CACTUS Oral Comment on Shaw-License Renewal 2010-497
CACTUS oral comments made in response to Public Policy Notice 2010-497, cable license renewals for Shaw Communications' 22 Western systems. Since Shaw appears to operate only 11 access studio facilities throughout these 22 license areas (and operated in excess of 50 in the 1990s), CACTUS requested that at least one access studio be maintained in each license area. (Although oral comments are typically limited to 10 minutes and may not be as detailed as written interventions, they are generally more up to date and can take into account and respond to positions presented by other parties. Both oral and written comments can also be found on the CRTC web site by searching by the notice number.)
CACTUS Intervention to Shaw Purchase of Canwest
CACTUS Intervention Made to Public Policy Notice 2010-498, the purchase of Canwest assets by Shaw Communications.
CACTUS endorses Shaw's offer to share transmission facilities (including the possibility of multiplexing) with local and community broadcasters in Global markets.
The document represents the oral comments made by CACTUS, rather than the initial written intervention. (Although oral comments are typically limited to 10 minutes and may not be as detailed as written interventions, they are generally more up to date and can take into account and respond to positions presented by other parties. Both oral and written comments can also be found on the CRTC web site by searching by the notice number.)
Open Letter sent to Prime Minister Calling for DTV Education Campaign
On September 10, 2010, CACTUS, along with 18 other broadcasting, cultural, and civil society organizations sent an open letter to the Prime Minister calling for a comprehensive national education campaign on the digital transition.
Click here to read the English version.
Click here to read the French version.
21st Century Community Broadcasting at NO NEW COST
The roll-out plan for 250 community owned and operated multi-media access production and distribution centres.
CACTUS Shares Implementation Plan for Revitalized Community Sector with CRTC Staff
CACTUS member Cathy Edwards, Robin Jackson (the ex-executive director of the Canadian Independent Film and Video Fund) and Patrick Watt met with CRTC officials on September 3rd to outline CACTUS' proposal to revitalize the community tier by creating a new community-access license class and an accompanying Community-Access Media Fund to support the new license holders. CRTC staff listened attentively and asked lots of questions. We hope that this information-sharing session will help shape the framework of the upcoming hearings by educating CRTC staffers about what the sector can accomplish if given the right tools.
Evaluation Framework for Community Television
Community media performs various social roles including the production of collective identities, the construction of meaning, negotiating proximities to power, enriching networks of social bonds, and enhancing individual capacities. Evaluating these roles has emerged as an under-theorized and yet critical area of investigation for better understanding community media’s role(s) in social formation and for articulating its social benefits to policy-makers and funding agencies. This thesis proposes a framework for evaluating community media’s influence on social formation by mapping
the influence community media outcomes have on collective capacities for determining social, political and economic outcomes (i.e. community capital).
