In the digital media age, when anyone with a camera phone can
post user-generated videos to myriad social networking and amateur
broadcasting Web sites, are the airwaves being overlooked by
individual community members?
In the digital media age, when anyone with a camera phone can post user-generated videos to myriad social networking and amateur broadcasting Web sites, are the airwaves being overlooked by individual community members?
“Absolutely not,” answered Suzanne St. John-Crane, the executive director of Community Media Access Partnership, a non-profit public, education and government access media center serving Gilroy, Hollister and San Juan Bautista. “We are the original YouTube. Actually, it’s the proliferation of digital media that has made our center even more utilized by media-savvy groups in the community.”
CMAP is celebrating its fifth anniversary on the airwaves and is growing by leaps and bounds. Since its debut in 2003, CMAP’s four Charter cable channels have been up and airing around the clock. CMAP has covered 570 government meetings and produces about 50 programs annually for other local non-profits.
In tandem with its fifth anniversary, CMAP plans to launch a new Web site to support the addition of streaming video for all four channels.
CMAP trains residents to use its equipment to produce community based programming that runs the gamut from documentaries to government meetings to student video festivals. These comprehensive “fast track” workshops allow the public to learn the basics of video production in just a few hours.
“You don’t have to know how to run a VCR,” St. John-Crane laughed, alluding to the lack of experience some of her clients claim.
CityView 17 broadcasts city meetings and relevant local government programming. Gav-TV 18 is reserved for educational programs produced by Gavilan College students and faculty while ED-TV 19 is a similar channel covering local K-12 education. Public Access 20 provides an opportunity for community members to air their own TV shows.
Mayor Al Pinheiro, a self-identified channel surfer, has put down his remote on a number of occasions to tune in to CMAP’s programming.
“I’ve seen a lot of the different programs,” Pinheiro said. “It’s a great thing to watch. When they aired an interview with our new Superintendent Deborah Flores, I had the opportunity to get to know her a little better on a different level.”
“It provides a forum for regular people in the community to speak on issues that they feel passionate about,” said Jacqui Carrasco who serves on CMAP’s board of directors. “It’s fun because it’s local people talking about local issues.”
As executive director, St. John-Crane often works behind the scenes but got her start on stage when she was a teenager.
“I loved it,” she said. “But then I got a video camera and that was it.”
She recalled some of the projects she’s worked on with the community over the years, a favorite being for Leadership San Benito, a non-profit designed to bolster community involvement and prepare a new generation for community leadership. The year-long class decided to produce an anti-gang video targeting middle schoolers as its annual project.
“The community was so receptive,” said St. John-Crane. “I live for that kind of thing – changing lives.”
View more photos of CMAP in action at our
