In the last two decades, we’ve seen the ability to produce media move from newspaper buildings and big-city television studios to the personal computer. It’s nothing short of a media revolution: anyone, any community, anywhere, can now produce media.
Certainly, this revolution has ushered in a great deal of trivial, mundane content. But it has also given communities the ability to mix, mash and manufacture media that meets local needs — not the needs of distant editors, producers or executives, none of whom have any stake in a community’s well-being.
The simplest low-tech examples of local content production are the ubiquitous chalkboards and notice walls found in telecentres around the world. Telecentre staff and volunteers use these simple tools to share small bits of knowledge relevant to the surrounding community: cultural announcements, meeting notices, weather, crop prices and health care advice. This information is translated into a local language and simplified, creating an on-the-fly community media source.
Of course, media produced at the local telecentre is often more elaborate than just a chalkboard. Increasingly, community radio is used to share information far beyond the walls of telecentres, reaching to isolated areas and across the literacy divide. Communities produce video to capture local stories and forge civic bonds. Even mobile phones are being employed to localize and distribute knowledge gathered at telecentres.
The result of all this is more than simply a richer, more responsive local media landscape. This revolution in local media is also nurturing powerful new voices, particularly among the young. These new voices are gaining the confidence and the skills needed to help communities paint a picture of the future they want, and seize the tools needed to make that future possible.
“When you look at people in power, they often get out of touch with average people,” says Sambathbo, a first-generation Cambodian Smerican in the industrial town of Lowell, Massachusetts. “It’s important to get our voices heard too, because it’s a contrast to what you hear from politicians and the media.”
usa: media for the people, by the people
Five years ago, Sambath became interested in video production as a high school student. She began working at Lowell Telecommunications Corporation (LTC), a community media organization that empowers residents to produce their own television and internet content. Now studying at the local polytechnic, Sambath is directing live television coverage of the Lowell water festival, one of America’s largest Southeast Asian festivals.
“With Cambodian people, it’s often hard for us to work together given our recent history,” she continues, noting the civil war that caused her parents to flee the country. “But here in Lowell we all get to produce our own TV shows, work together and put away our differences.”
“We definitely need to communicate more. And having our own television programs, you get to see people open up more than ever before.”
Founded along the Merrimack River in the 19th century as a planned community for the textile mill industry, Lowell was once one of America’s most prosperous towns. With the collapse of the mill industry in the early 20th century, Lowell’s status as the epicentre of America’s Industrial Revolution collapsed with it. The city became synonymous with unemployment and stagnation, representing hundreds of American communities experiencing economic turmoil.
In recent years, Lowell has started to revitalize. Capitalizing on its picturesque location and historic mills, it became the first US city designated as a national historic park. Meanwhile, Lowell’s population changed as well. It’s now one of the most diverse medium-sized cities in America, with populations from Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia, including the nation’s second-largest Cambodian community.
Serving this diverse population is one of America’s most successful community media organizations, LTC. Founded in 1992, LTC provides residents with an extraordinary range of media services, from broadcast facilities and production training to public Internet access and Web hosting. Though the US has one of the largest populations of media consumers, only a fraction of Americans produce their own local content. LTC is part of a growing movement reversing that trend.
Walking into the 19th-century silk mill that LTC calls home, it’s easy to get a feel for the place. In one lab, a muscular man with long dreadlocks edits a website. In another lab, a retiree teaches a group of residents the basics of digital storytelling, as a pair of Colombian teenagers reviews some new Spanish language video footage. LTC is most certainly a telecentre, but the focus here goes beyond providing Internet access and basic skills. It’s all about fostering creativity and crafting content that has a positive impact on the city.
“Part of our work is to demystify these tools,” says LTC program director Felicia Sullivan. “I’ve seen individuals who thought they couldn’t learn anything technical become community spokespersons. I’ve seen entire communities, such as the Cambodians, find their voice and create a public presence through the use of our resources.”
LTC is a member-driven organization; more than 500 residents pay USD $35 annually for the opportunity to use the telecentre, take courses and produce their own content. Over a dozen courses are taught quarterly, and are available to members for $10 each. Much of LTC’s expenses are covered by a franchise agreement between the city and the local cable company that requires the company to contribute a small portion of its profits to community media.
“It’s the best bargain in town,” says Randy Mann, an unemployed swimming pool contractor who honed his media skills and is now a vlogger, posting short videos to a blog. “Last winter, I really immersed myself in this place, because there was a lot I wanted to learn—a lot I needed to learn. So I pay my 35 bucks, took some classes… And I was really good at it. I found out how media work; it just came natural to me.”
For activists like Felicia, LTC serves as a counterbalance to traditional media, much of which fails to serve the needs of a diverse community. “So much of what we know about the world is mediated through television and computers,” she says. “When these systems are completely controlled by people other than yourself, you lose the fundamental human capacity to express and communicate. Places like LTC put the knowledge and control back into the hands of communities. Using these tools in this manner is vital to a functioning, vibrant democracy.”
“The production of content is far more than personal empowerment,” Sullivan continues. “It’s about engagement. People come together around these activities.”
“Sometimes in life when you help people out, you end up learning a lot,” adds LTC member Marybeth Norton. “You learn a lot about the community by giving back to it.”
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Nepal: Media Production for Community Development
The Palpa district of Western Nepal is home to one of the most ambitious telecentre initiatives in south asia. Established in 2003, the Tansen Community Multimedia Centre trains disenfranchised populations to produce content for the internet, television and community radio.
Even though the national government has banned private news production, tansen still manages to create local information resources vital to a community plagued by illiteracy and underdevelopment. The centre’s primary goal is to use media as a dynamic development tool, bringing more voices and ideas into the community’s public space, while providing poor, marginalized youth with new skills. Tansen has trained over 350 villagers as production technicians, content producers and media professionals.
As Tansen’s students learn production techniques, they’re expected to keep diaries and field notes, reinforcing their literacy skills. Tansen also emphasizes training people with disabilities. “Giving them training and capacity for earning their livelihoods is a big change for these people,” says project researcher Karma Tshering.
One of tansen’s most innovative programs is a live television show featuring internet experts demonstrating on line skills. Residents use telephones to interact with the experts, asking questions and seeking advice.
The combination of traditional and new media opens up great possibilities for small, rural villages like Tansen. If one isolated community in Nepal can create such robust content, imagine the possibilities if others were given the same chance.
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