ComMedia 2015 Invites CRTC to Community Media Conference
CACTUS alerted the CRTC to the fact that it was planning to organize the first national digital community media conference in the fall of 2014, with the hopes that both CRTC staff and commissioners would be able to attend, contribute to panels, and get to know the frequently overlooked sector of the broadcasting system that they regulate.
It was on the CRTC's three-year work plan that it would review community TV policy, and CACTUS' intent in liaising with the CRTC as soon as it had 'hatched' the idea for the conference was to make sure that all parties could maximally benefit from the research, best practices, and policy alternatives that might arise from this first coast-to-coast meeting of community media practitioners on all platforms.
In February of 2015, the CRTC announced following its recently completed "Let's Talk TV" process that it would shortly review community TV policy in the broader context of its policies for local conventional television.
Concerned, CACTUS requested a meeting with CRTC staff to:
- renew our invitation to participate in the community media conference
- discuss the timing of the proposed review
- express our concern that the needs of the community TV sector might be sidelined in favour of the needs of larger interests and owners of conventional broadcasting networks.
When the CRTC met with CACTUS in late May, CACTUS learned that the community TV policy review notice might be posted before the end of summer, possibly precluding CRTC staff and Commissioners from participating, and precluding any of the research, practitioner knowledge and experience from shaping the CRTC's understanding of the sector and the policy review framework.
CACTUS therefore submitted the following formal request to delay a community TV policy review until after the conference, allowing the CRTC to participate fully, in a collegial fashion with media researchers and practitioners.
CACTUS request to delay hearing until after community media conference.
Since this letter was sent, several other conference organizers, research collaborators, sponsors, and concerned citizens have echoed CACTUS' request that the CRTC give its full support to the conference, and not squander the unprecedented opportunity to renew our country's commitment to and understanding of community media in the digital environment. You can read some of their letters below.
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC).
Clifford Lincoln
La Fédération des télévisions communautaires autonomes du Québec
The Canadian Media Guild
David Skinner, York University
Deepak Sahasrabuhde, Manager, Newwest.tv
Dr. Michael Lithgow, University of McGill.
Kirsten Kozolanka, Carleton University
CWA-Canada
Community Media Education Society
Professor Robert Hackett, Simon Fraser University
If you would like to encourage the CRTC to participate in and support the conference, you can either fax your comments to (819) 994-0218, or use the comments form on the CRTC web site. If you use the comment form, you can either type directly into the box on the form, or upload a separate document (for example, a letter on organizational letterhead).
Your voice is important to ensure that there are as many stakeholders at the table for this historic pan-media meeting, policy-makers especially!
CACTUS Presents "Community Media in Canada" Workshop at IAMCR, Montreal
CACTUS presented an hour-and-a-half long workshop entiteld "The State of the Nation: Community Media in Canada" at this week's International Association of Media and Communications Research conference, held for the first time in Montreal, at UQAM (the University of Quebec at Montreal). This is a yearly conference that attracts researchers from around the world. The conference has a "Community Communications" section. The IAMCR is a project of UNESCO.
The intent of the presentation was to provide international attendees with an overview of community media in their host country. The session was attended by researchers from Canada, England, Ireland, France, and Columbia. A lot of discussion ensued about digital standards and the impact that gaming is having on traditional media.
CACTUS will also present a 12-minute 'highlights' talk at a second session on Wednesday, July 15th.
The presentation was developed with input from David Murphy, Darryl Richardson and Barry Rooke regarding community gaming applications, community online media, and community radio, respectively.
CACTUS and Carleton University Partner to Host First National Community Media Conference
The Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations and Carleton University will host the first national digital community media conference November 22-24 in Ottawa.
CACTUS' plans to host a professional and policy development conference to bring together community TV, radio, online and gaming pracitioners with the general public, researchers and policy-makers was first announced at the People's Social Forum in Ottawa in 2014. Since then, plans have progressed apace. Researcher Kirsten Kozolanka of the School of Journalism and Communications at Carleton University agreed to partner with CACTUS in order that the conference could be held centrally in Ottawa, easily accessible to government agencies whose policies affect community media, including the CRTC, Canadian Heritage, and Industry Canada.
The goals of the conference include exploring:
- best practices in the digital environment, ways in which the divisions between traditional community media such as community TV and radio are breaking down, and the need for new strategies to serve communities online. Also to be explored is the way in which youth and new demographics are increasingly developing media literacy skills through gaming.
- new policy directions needed to support community media in the multiplatform environment.
Thanks to a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) the conference will be maximally accessible for researchers and practitioners to attend from all parts of the country.
Catherine Edwards, CACTUS' spokesperson commented, "Thanks to the support of sponsors including our member channels, the Ontario Public Service Employees' Union, the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, Communications Workers of America - Canada, the Canadian Media Producers Association, ACTRA, Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, SmartChange, rabble.ca, IMAA, the Federation des television communautaire autonomes du Quebec and SSHRC, we will be able to offer travel and accommodation support for presenters. We're really delighted. This is a pivotal time for community media, and we need all heads at the table to come up with new directions in practice and policy."
The intent of the conference is to allow a broad forum for exploration prior to the CRTC's plans to review its 2010 community television policy.
CACTUS Submission to Spectrum Auction Framework 2015
CACTUS' comments to Industry Canada regarding its proposal to align its television spectrum usage plans with those of the US.
CACTUS Reaches Out to Public Libraries at Ontario Library Association Superconference
CACTUS offered at workshop at the Ontario Library Assocation superconference in Toronto in January, as part of the work it is doing under a Trillium Foundation grant to reach out to communities around Ontario about opportunities to improve community communication infrastructure using digital technologies.
Representatives from approximately 30 public libraries attended the three-hour workshop, which gave the libraries a crash course in community TV history, the void in media literacy training in Canada that has opened up since the collapse of the old cable community channel system, and opportunities for libraries.
For their part, public libraries across Canada have been re-examining their roles in the digital environment. Many, realizing that it's not just about books anymore, have been exploring 'maker spaces' to bring families and clients back to libraries. Since the 1990s, libraries have hosted CAP sites or "Community-Access Portals" to enable broadband Internet access, but many are taking their roles one step farther. In addition to supplying passive resources such as Internet workstations, maker spaces within libraries are seeking to catalyze a range of creative activites from puppet-making, to hack labs in which youth learn computer coding and game-making, to audio-visual production and 3D printing.
CACTUS sees an obvious overlap between the traditional media literacy mandate of community TV channels and public libraries. Says spokesperson, Cathy Edwards, "Libraries are already in communities, and they're there for the long term. They're seen as honest brokers, welcoming to all, and in the business of preserving the community's audio-visual record. They're natural hosts for community media centres. It's a role that can revitalize their mandate within the municipality."
More than half the libraries that attended the workshop are already facilitating audio-visual production within their communities, and streaming content. Examples include Schreiber Public Library and Sioulx Lookout. "We look forward to helping these libraries build on these foundations, and help bring back the capacity at the community level to generate meaningful and locally reflective televisual content."
Acorn Canada Acquires Distribution for Videos by Joining CACTUS
Submitted by Cathy Edwards on Mon, 2015-07-13 19:19.
ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) Canada is an independent national organization of low- and moderate-income families. ACORN has over 70,000 members organized into twenty neighbourhood chapters in nine cities across Canada. ACORN believes that social and economic justice can best be achieved with a national active membership who are invested in their organization and focused on building power for change!
ACORN joined CACTUS in order to distribute social justice and community-building audio-visual content to CACTUS member community TV channels. It's first two videos to share can be found here:
Digital Divide : https://www.dropbox.com/s/muvicthi4krdgro/%20Starving%20For%20The%20Internet.mpeg?dl=0
Organizing 101: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ivgsqk4giuaug5z/Changing%20The%20World%20One%20Knock%20At%20A%20Time.mpeg?dl=0
St. Andrews Community TV in New Brunswick has already aired the "Organizing 101" video created by Operation Maple.
Welcome to ACORN!
CACTUS Welcomes First Public-Library Member: Sioux Lookout
Submitted by Cathy Edwards on Mon, 2015-07-13 19:10.
CACTUS has been exploring partnerships to host community-media centres, in the wake of the gradual collapse of the cable community television system.
Simultaneously, public libraries across Canada have been re-examining their roles in the digital age. Many, realizing that it's not 'just about books', have been exploring 'maker spaces' to bring families and clients back to libraries. Since the 1990s, libraries have hosted CAP sites or "Community-Access Portals" to enable broadband Internet access but many are taking their roles one step farther now with 'maker spaces'. Instead of offering passive resources, the maker space can be host to puppet-making workshops, hack labs, audio-visual production, or 3D printing.
CACTUS sees an obvious overlap between the traditional media literacy training mandate of community TV channels and public libraries, and so are many libraries, due to outreach CACTUS has been doing thanks to a Trillium Foundation grant. CACTUS was able to meet with many public libraries and explore this convergence at the Ontario Library Association's Superconference in January of 2015, and is excited to welcome Sioulx Lookout as its first public library member. Sioux Lookout has begun streaming community-generated audio-visual content from its web site.
CACTUS and Wawatay Communications Sign Memorandum of Agreement to Develop Wawatay's Network of Communications Towers
Submitted by Cathy Edwards on Mon, 2015-07-13 18:55.
Wawatay Communications was established in 1974 to serve First Nations people and communities of Nishnawbe Aski Nation. It does this through the distribution of a bi-weekly newspaper, daily radio programming (distributed over a network of 17 community-owned towers), television production services (airing on APTN) and a multimedia website that seeks to preserve and enhance indigenous languages and cultures of Aboriginal people in northern Ontario.
Wawatay also provides translation and interpretation services.
Wawatay and CACTUS have signed a memorandum of agreement to help Wawatay add new communications services to its service offering, including broadcast television from its existing network of 17 community-owned towers, and additional towers formerly used by TVO and the CBC. The parties will also investigate the potential to use the tower infrastructure to enhance the availability of broadband Internet in the communities served.
Outreach and ongoing development support to Wawatay are possible thanks to a grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation.
