Montague Community TV Changes Direction to Address the Changes in Public Access and the World
Due to the changing technological times we live in, in regards to public access TV and how it is both perceived and utilized by the residents and viewers across the globe and in the town of Montague, MA, and in response to the recent criticism of how MCTV has reacted to and handled that change, the staff and board of MCTV have made decisions and taken steps to both increase the amount of local programming on Channel 17, as well as increase the amount of outreach to bring in new producers.
Seeing that there has been a steady decrease in the number of local residents willing to come into the station and borrow cameras to video local events, MCTV has begun to contract with a small group of vetted camera operators to go out to video local events.
With the passing of our Technical Coordinator, Tim Lindop, MCTV has decided to eliminate that high-level position in favor of multiple support positions, focused on (a) receiving the video footage generated by the station's contracted camera people and editing / titling the footage, (b) porting it over to the broadcast server and scheduling its cablecast, (c) uploading that content to our online channel at Vimeo and manage the library contained there. They will also take over the creation of PSA slides.
These new positions will also double as in-office staff persons, covering the station presence while the Station Manager may be out setting up a complex shoot, such as Town Meeting or the weekly Selectboard meetings. We may re-introduce evening hours at the station based on interest. The assistants also provide individualized trainings in camera operation, and simple editing techniques.
Additionally, MCTV has decided to change the job title and description of Outreach Coordinator to Communications Coordinator and hired local writer and entrepreneur Pam Kinsmith, whose main focus will be creating and maintaining a weekly series of articles about the happenings at the station, including any new productions and producers, as well as articles that discuss the video industry in general. These articles will be posted to the MCTV website, other local websites and social media, emailed to all subscribers of the station, and published in the Montague Reporter as a weekly column.
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The task of outreach, we feel, will be better accomplished through a weekly column that will keep the station in everyone's minds and explain how things work and how to use it. We also feel that outreach will also be accomplished through direct, subsidized productions by the station, with the contracted camera operators appearing at places of business and local events, and talking about how people can get involved, as well as having more, quality programming on channel 17 and online.
Lastly, MCTV plans to upgrade much of its equipment in the next few years, adding more digital capabilities and larger storage for the increased content expected from the steps detailed above.
Detailed plans of a long term budget, exact hours and duration and the timing of how it will all integrate are pending a contract being signed by the Town.
MCTV is still interested in purchasing the old Cumberland Farms building, which has been on hold while we wait for a contract. Having a 30-day probation period may delay the ability to purchase the building as banks will not lend money unless we have a solid long-term contract with no liens or restrictions.
Posted: to General News on Tue, May 5, 2015
Updated: Tue, May 5, 2015