This has been an exciting year for community media in the Triangle and we are thrilled to have so many supporters in our community. I hope this year you will consider helping community media to sustain its future by making a tax-deductible contribution. I understand that in these wintry economic times, people's financial realities are tough; however, given these economic realities, we need you to lend your support more than ever. I hope you will join your community in preserving this valuable and truly unique resource.
So why is this time more exciting than others for community media? Why should you consider making a contribution now? Let's start by looking back over the last couple of years, the struggles we have faced, the mountains we have climbed, and the products of our long standing commitment to bringing media access and education to the communities we serve.
In 2007, North Carolina saw the passage of legislation that could have wiped out Public Access for our communities. Thankfully, because of supporters like you, a dedicated staff and our local officials, we were able to protect much of The Peoples Channel's funding. However, this was not the case for our neighbors in Durham who had no ability to collect funding for public access. For 30+ years, Time Warner Cable managed public access but under the new legislation, they were no longer required to do so. At the 11th hour, the City of Durham agreed to contract with The Peoples Channel for basic public access TV services. TPC was allotted $110,000 to build and operate a public access station and community media center for one year. On May 4th, we went on the air. Though all supporters of community media in Durham were thankful that public access was preserved, it was clear that the future of community media in Durham was shaky.
After securing the contract, finding a location, hiring a staff member, and getting the technology aspect set up, The Peoples Channel set out to work with the Durham community to find out just what they wanted out of their new, community driven, public access and community media center. Through a series of community forums, TPC worked out the vision and governance for the new center. In the end, the Durham community named the center Durham Community Media 18 and created an advisory board to help guide the vision for the new center. These are indeed exciting times for community media in Chapel Hill and Durham! But our work in Durham isn’t done yet; DCM 18 currently has no cameras, no light kits, and no studio. We have been able to build a nice computer lab and have created a beautiful meeting space, but it's hard to make media without the tools. Your financial support is vital to helping us reach our goal of a fully functional public access media center in the Durham community.
Please help us bring these much needed tools to the community and aid us in giving everyone a chance to speak freely within the media. Access to media is not just about speaking to your community; it is about empowering people and organizations to learn that their voice is just as authentic as Ted Koppel or Oprah Winfrey and that their opinions, cultures and perspectives on their community are much more important than what the local nightly news tells us about ourselves. It is about giving the youth, the aged, and those who are disenfranchised in our communities a chance to speak for themselves, and speak freely with honesty and pride. Please help us sustain this vision for all community members in Chapel Hill and Durham as we forge into the future with new energy and new challenges.
We look forward to your commitment to community media and seeing you...in the media.
Sincerely,
Chad Johnston – Executive Director
The Peoples Channel & Durham Community Media
P.S. - Give $100 or more this year and get a reusable tote bag! And remember, you can always contribute online with automatic monthly or annual bank drafts: www.thepeopleschannel.org
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Chad Johnston at 919.960.0088 or email johnston@thepeopleschannel.org
