This presentation will look back at the origins of the Public Educational Government (PEG) Access movement in America as well as its development through the past thirty years and finally in what direction it is headed for the future.
Beginning with the social change movements of the late '60s, media activists, in the US and Canada, helped shape the public policy and regulatory environment that then provided the foundation for the development of organizations for the delivery of PEG Access services to their local communities. These centers have had to respond to many legislative, regulatory and court challenges and opportunities and through outreach, education and building collaborations have been able to survive and grow.
The most recent challenges have been understanding the impact and opportunities of Convergence, the Internet and the Migration to Digital Technology and what new services Community Media Centers (CMCs) can provide and what new roles they have in their communities.
1. What motivates the need for community communications resources in our cultures?
2. How did the Canadian Film Board's Challenge for Change Project develop a model?
3. How did cable technology and pubic policy demands converge in New York franchise of 1970?
4. What role did the Alternate Media Center (AMC) at New York University have locally and nationally?
5. What role did the FCC have in establishing PEG Access Centers nationwide?
6. From AMC to NFLCP (National Federation of Local Cable Programmers).
7. The Supreme Court steps in and establishes the right of municipalities to require PEG resources.
8. PEG Access and Cable Wars of '80s.
9. The Cable Act of '84 and now we have to deliver on what we promised!
10. Convergence and the evolution of the NFLCP into the ACM (Alliance for Community Media).
11. The Internet and the evolution from PEG Access into CMCs (Community Media Centers)
12. The role of CMCs and CTCs (Community Technology Centers) in Community Educational and Economic Development.
CHUCK SHERWOOD
Mr. Sherwood has worked in public sector telecommunication policy, planning
and management field and provided consulting services for over twenty-six years.
As a specialist in designing services for local franchising authorities and
nonprofit cable access management organizations, Mr. Sherwood's experience includes
developing and implementing strategic plans and public policy in a converging
telecommunications landscape. His expertise includes review of existing public,
educational and governmental access programming services, conducting community
needs assessments in conjunction with cable franchise renewals, development
of management structures, operational and capital budgets and community media
production equipment and maintenance packages to create community programming
content and opportunities for public participation. Other areas of planning
and implementation experience include board development, human resources and
operational policy development, marketing and public relations programs and
strategies as well as development and fundraising.
In the mid-seventies, Mr. Sherwood, one of the pioneers in the development of Public, Educational and Government Access, co-founded and served as Executive Producer and then Executive Director of the Channel L Working Group, Inc. (CLWG) in New York City. For eleven years CLWG served as the nonprofit manager of the Government Access Channel for the Borough of Manhattan. In 1986, Mr. Sherwood became Executive Director of Cincinnati Cable Access Corporation and in 1990, the Executive Director of Cape Cod Community TV (C3TV).
Mr. Sherwood's leadership positions include serving as Chair of the Northeast Region of the Alliance for Community Media; a member of the National Association of Telecommunications Officers and Advisors; a member of the Cape Cod Technology Council's Steering Committee of Cape Cod Connect, a regional telecommunications planning process and of the Infrastructure Committee and Broadband Taskforce; and a board member of the Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, the designated local arts agency for Barnstable County, Massachusetts.