Community Media Review, Vol. 19, No. 3, 1996

28 Pages·1996·16.6 MB·

w i n to uch with your community
with the
l
,l
l Interactive Video Bulletin Board
THE CHANNEL THAT TAKES REQUESTS:
Lets viewers choose what they sea.
-H a~ ~n~ dles up to 999 topics of any length.
Prints reports of what viewers choose.
Gives documentedproof of viewership.
Uses PC word processor files as input.
Fast, easy setup and maintenance.
Now in use in over 27 U.S. cities.
owner-operators say about
the Interactive Video Bulletin Board:
'Ic an watch it taking calls from my office, and know
that we're serving the community. The feedback helps
us understand our viewing audience's likes and
dislikes.'
-David Vogel, General Manager,
Community Television of Knoxville
'Since placing the system in service, we have seen a
community response that now exceeds 18,000 inquiries
per month. The Interactive Video Bulletin Board has
become an integral part of our community service
program' -
Ian N. Wheeler, Executive Director,
Fairfax Cable Access Corporation
"Since installing the Interactive Video Bulletin Board,
we've gotten more interest and participation from non-
profits than we had in the last 10 years. It's less work,
more effective, and it's fun for viewers to use!'
-
Lynn Carillo-Cruz, Former Executive Director,
Quote. .. Unquote, Albuquerque
7t's the lowest-cost, highest-impact service we offer to
local non-profits. During September.. .participating
organizations reported that an average of 65% of their
calls resulted from viewership of the Interactive Video
Bulletin Board.'
-
Barbara Popovic, Executive Director,
Chicago Access Corporation
1 1
For a brochure a n d m
( INTERACTIVE PUB L ICA TIONS
? 1651 N. DAYTON STREET, SUITE 308, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 00614
312-642-0884 FAX: [phone]
In t h i s Issue
Volume 19, No. 3 Preparing for the 21st Century by Alan Bushong ......................
From the Chair: Working toward a Telecommunications Access Act
CMR EDITORIAL BOARD
Dirk Koning, Chair Organizing Our Network by Alan Bushong ...............................
Sally Alvarez, Mary Bennin Cardona, Public Policy: How to help the Alliance guarantee access for all
Hans Klein, Brian Wilson
A Personal Reflection by Carl Kucharski ...................................
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF THIS ISSUE Alliance Board Member's thoughts on the Alliance's Supreme Court case
Hans Klein Help Celebrate 20 Years of Alliance .................................................
COORDINATING EDITOR Remember SSPUSM!
Jim Peters Signal to Noise from news release ................................................
New ITVS-funded series with focus on public access coming to PBS
NATIONAL OFFICE
Barry Forbes, Executive Director An Invitation to Participate by Joan Sekler ......................................
Teffre,v HODSD. irector. Los Angeles Alternative Media Network seeks producers
<G overnme&nt. R elations
Kelly Matthews, Director of Member services
Wanda Sheridan. Conference Director Promoting a Progressive Mass Media
Richelle ~umterP; roject Coordinator
ALLIANCE FOR COMMUNITY MEDIA Promoting a Progressive Mass Media by Hans Klein ....................................6
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Introduction by Editor-in-Chief Hans Klein
Alan Bushong, Chair
Why Hasn't Public Access TV Revolutionized the Mass Media?
Ann Flynn, Vice Chair
Velvalee (Vel) Wiley, Treasurer by Hans Klein ............................................................................................6.. ..
Greg Vawter, Secretary Public Access as an alternative to commercial mass media
Brian A. Wilson, Chair of Regional Chairs
Ruben Abreu, Randy Ammon, The More You Watch, The Less You Know by Danny Schechter ................. 8
Barbara Bryant, Judy Crandall, Sue Diciple, How big business is closing in on the media ... and what we shoulddo about it
Ron Fitzherbert, Vince Hamilton, Citizenship or Consumership by Bob Devine ................................................9.
Mike Henry, James Horwood,
Carl Kucharski, Paul Levalley, Ralph Engelman's new book explores history of U.S. public communications
Debbie Mason, Julianne Murray, If We Don't Put Ourselves on the Air, No One Else Will
Anthony Riddle, Gladys Rogers,
by Elizabeth Meister ................................................................................. 10
David Vogel, Directors
DYKE TV overcomes obstacles to production, distribution
America's Defense Monitor by Mark Sugg ..................................................1. 1
Center for Defense Information's strategies for overcoming media monopoly
fD;: Tigers Sprout Wings and Fly! by Martha Wallner .....................................1..2
How Deep Dish TVSatellite Network sprangfrorn Paper Tiger
COMMUNITY
What is Paper Tiger Anyway? by Adriene Jenik .............. ........1 2
Disrupting the beliefs of its viewers for 10 years
TV for the 21st Century by Dani Newsum ................................................... 13
Media Review [ISSN 1074-90041 is
y the Alliance for Community Me- Free Speech 77' takes over where The 90s Channel left off
dia, Inc. Subscriptions $35 a year for five is- What is the Flying Focus Video Collective? by Moss Drake .......................1 4
sues. Send subscriptions, memberships, address
Portland-basedproducers' group strives to break free from constraints of TV "rules"
changes, editorial and advertising inquiries to the
Alliance for Community Media, 666 11th St.
NW, Suite 806, Washington, DC 20001-4542,
Phone [phone]; Fax: [phone]. E-
mail [email protected].
Bulk orders for additional copies considered in-
dividuallv. Contact the national office ror in-
formation on rates and delivery.
Copyright 01996 by the Alliance for Commu- On the cover:
nity Media, Inc. Prior written ermission ol
DYKE TVproducers Sally Sasso (with camera) and Leslie Singer at the 1995 Dyke
the Alliance for ~ ~ ~~ ~~ d ~i ~~ ~ i ~ t~ y~ i ~ ~ d f ~ ~
all reprints or usage. March in New York City. Photo by Natalie Ostapiak.
From the Chair
Preparing for the 2 1 s t Century
by Alan Bushong meaningful access, and the actions of tive work for approval.
B
y the time Alliance members corporate giants threaten even the stron- What has worked and what needs
receive this issue of CMR, many gest community media centers and improvement. Our work is just beginning.
members will already be involved programmers. The prospect of a shift to We need to look at what has worked well
in the Alliance's work to prepare the state level legislation and regulation in the Alliance in the past and what hasn't
organization for the 21st century. And spreads Alliance resources even thinner. worked well, with an eye on how to build
over the course of the next 14 months, We need federal legislation that on the former and improve the latter. All
we'll he inviting the entire protects community aspects, including the roles of the board,
membership and constituent interests. As a result. the regions, chapters, SIGs and members,
groups to join us in our Alliance Board and staff will need to be reviewed for the best "fit"
work. We plan to build the developed a key strategic into a stronger Alliance. We need to
Alliance into an organization objective to pass federal streamline the flow of information and
capable of drafting and legislation by the year 2001 ability to mobilize. We need to be realistic
gaining passage of federal to ensure affordable and in what can we best expect from volun-
legislation which guarantees meaningful access to teers who generally have demanding "day
every American access to the electronic media: jobs" in community media.
dominant electronic media. "To pass, by 2001, the In participating in this work, I remind
I'd like to provide a perspec- Telecommunications myself frequently of the following
tive on why the Board is Alan Bushong Access Act, which would conditions: democracy in general is in
initiating this action. guarantee every person jeopardy; the benefits of democracy are
~he~llianBcoea rd recognizes the free or low-cost access to p-roducing already practically un known to many
need to change. Media mergers are and receiving multimedia information Americans; media is increasingly being
increasing at an alarming rate; even the over any public network which uses used to shape thought; commercial media
Baby Bells now appear headed toward a public rights of way, by providing increasingly sends the message that the
level of combination that may dwarf the community-based organizations with viewerllistener is inadeauate and unfairly
former monolith AT&T prior to the the needed funding living a boring life-all
"
breakup. This unchecked trend is increas- mechanisms, capacity, while keeping the
ing the difficulty in creating public space interonerabilitv. viewertlistener passive;
in telecommunications. Telephone technical information "...the and business, certainly
companies are already claiming that the and accessibility." Telecommunications an important aspect of
1996 Telecommunications Act requires The Board recog- nized life, is increasingly being
...
only channel space, and not the facilities, that the Alliance as now Access Act W O U ~ ~rep resented as life itself.
services and equipment that make commu- composed is unlikely to guarantee every Lord Acton said "The
nity media meaningful and relevant. reach this destination. We presence of power tends
While we are proud of our achieve- need more communities to person free Or OW- to corrupt, and absolute
ments and of our notable successes of late, be involved, more cost access to power corrupts abso-
we cannot be confident that the Alliance in partnerships with -g roups lutely." Those who are
its current form can successfully represent that use community me& dia, -producing and curr ently centralizing
the interests of members and their con- and greater organization at receiving multi- power and wealth in
stituents as reverence for "the market- the local level to accom- America continue to
place" assumes the aura of a new religion. plish the political power media demonstrate an insatiable
Alliance members are on the necessary for federal information. .." and unwavering appetite
-
frontier. Board members have what I legislation. for more.
consider an organization-wide pride in the The Board initiated a Those of us who value
successes-against all odds~otfh e review of the organization respect for this-planet
Alliance, its members and member which will allow us to reach our 2001 and the rights of its inhabitants~espe-
constituents. Grassroots groups have destination. We'll take the next 14 months cially our fellow human beings-have
fought diligently for 20 years to carve out to work with members to build the little chance for success unless we band
public space in telecommunications. Those strongest possible Alliance. By July of together. I hope you will join us in
outside the Alliance have perhaps greater 1997, the Board projects the collective preparing for the 21st century. In the
respect than do many members for our voices of Alliance members building an Alliance, we work shoulder-to-shoulder
gains and for the sizable resources organization capable of delivering our key for a noble cause.
represented in our community-based objective. At that time, at the National Alan Bushong is Chair of the Alliance
organizations. Conference in Milwaukee, we expect to for Community Media.
Yet many communities still lack formally present the result of our collec-
4 CMR
Public Policy
Organizing Our Network
by Alan Bushong Finally, the Bells disavow any responsibil- gan, Illinois, Texas and California.
T
he Public Policy Committee is ity for services, facilities and equipment. The work breaks down into two
working diligently with staff to Now how is that meaningful, relevant categories:
increase the effectiveness of the access? Is this an example of corporate Monitoring state legislation and
network of Alliance members in public good citizenship? regulation, sending work in progress to
policy work. Here is a look at work in State level coordination. The entry the national office;
progress. of telephone companies increases the Personally encouraging member
FCC work: we've got staff"! importance of work at the state responses in Alliance campaigns.
The Alliance's The Committee will be working to
effectiveness in look forward to find one or two people, preferably with
representing the organizational support, in each state who
interests of Alliance will can help with this important work. If you
members and have staff around can help, or can assist a state coordinator,
constituents has the country to assist please contact me.
increased dramatically with us with state and local level Joining the Public Policy Council
the addition of Jeff Hops to staff. On work, but we are not there yet. and Network. The assembly of the Public
behalf of Alliance members and constitu- In response, and working with staff, Policy Network by Alliance Executive
ents, Jeff recently took the lead and wrote the Public Policy Committee has started a Director Barry Forbes was a critical step
the FCC filing for Open Video Systems pilot project of volunteer state coordina- in bringing Jeff Hops on staff. Last year,
(OVS) submitted by a coalition of public tors. The committee identified the follow- Jeff worked on contract with the Alliance.
interest groups. Open Video Systems is an ing seven states with key members of the Members increased public policy funding
alternate regulatory scheme created to Senate and House and with strong from about $10,000 to $65,000, allowing a
encourage telephone companies to Alliance members as the test sites: full year of Jeff's work, and creating the
compete with cable companies. The Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Michi- See Organizing, page 21...
coalition, known simply as Impact,
includes longtime Alliance partners
Alliance for Communications Democ-
racy, People for the American Way and
the Media Access Project, plus the
Consumer Federation of America, the
Center for Media Education and the
Consumer Project on Technology (a
Public Citizen-related organization). The
Georgetown University's Law Center's
Institute for Public Representation
provided additional legal assistance.
FCC rulemakings will define public
space requirements. The FCC work is
critical. Although the Alliance takes pride
in the "level playing field" language in the
1996 TelecommunicationsA ct, telephone
companies wasted no time in "reinterpret-
ing" the language to claim that their
obligations were less than Congress
intended. A coalition of Regional Bell
companies filed comments insisting that
federal law requires only carriage of some
hours of public, educational and govern-
mental (PEG) programs-not necessarily
full PEG channels. The Bells further
maintain that the PEG center is financially
responsible for delivering the program-
ming to the OVS headend, where the OVS
operator can choose what to transmit.
CMR 5
From the Editor
Promoting a Progressive Mass Media
by Hans Klein As a longtime listener of community radio This edition of CMR examines access
I
will always remember the day I and a reader of print media like The television as an institution for a progres-
discovered alterna- Nation, how could it be that I was sive mass media. The articles that follow
tive mass media. I unaware of public access televi- address how access TV today provides an
was sixteen years old, sion? I became a regular viewer of alternative to the mainstream mass media
and one day I scanned access TV. and how it might do so even more in the
my radio dial across the Since then I have participated in future. It examines such issues as: Why do
spectrum. At the low end public access TV in a variety of we need an alternative to the mainstream
of the dial I came across ways, including as mass media? What progressive
a station that was-well, trainee, producer, ogramming is available?
different. The station and member of How is programming
played great music, like I the Board of a distributed? And, how
had never heard before, local station. How ublic access TV to the task
and the announcers had a perspective on access TV has of promoting a progressive mass media?
very direct manner. That remained primarily that of the The issue begins with two articles
station broadcast from viewer. I have looked to public examining the mainstream media and the
the University of Lowell Photo by Jim Peters access TV to serve as a source of history of public access television. Danny
. .
in Massachusetts and Hans Klein new ideas and alternative nersoec- Schechter. oroducer of the television
,A
was one of many tives. For me, public access TV is series Rights and Wrongs, talks about the
nonprofit community radio stations an alternative mass medium that can problems of the for-profit mass media and
throughout the US. present progressive programming which is proposes five steps toward media reform.
Years later, after having become a absent on for-profit mass media. See Promoting, page 15..
regular listener to community radio (and,
for a time, a disk jockey at WPRB in New
Jersey), I had another remarkable experi-
ence. While tuning my car radio I came
across an evening news show on
Cambridge's WMBR radio station. In a
story about US. policy in Haiti, the
newscaster interviewed a Haitian intellec-
tual who discussed the US. political
interests motivating a possible invasion.
His statements contradicted everything I
had ever heard or seen in all other media
coverage of Haiti. This was a very
different kind of news program. I had
discovered the Pacifica News Network, a
nationally-syndicated news program
whose editorial perspective goes beyond
official government declarations.
A final surprise occurred when I
discovered public access television. While
doing university research on technological
innovation and institutional change, I
began thinking about the desirability of an
institution to provide alternative television
in a manner comparable to community
radio and the Pacifica News Network.
Such an institution could revolutionize
peoples' understanding of themselves and
their world by providing alternative,
progressive news and programming. When
I discovered that an institution similar to
this vision existed-indeed, had existed
for nearly twenty years-I was astounded.
6 CMR
Eight concurrent workshop tracks have been established for the .A ccess in the 21st Century .G overnment Access
1996ABiancec onference.Whether you are a stafFmemba; pm- .p ublic policy and &@ation ~ d ~ ~ t i ~ n a l ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
ducer, volunteer or b o dm ember in public, educational, or
Media and Public Relations Management and
government access, you will find a variety of workshops offering
Internet and NewTedmologies Development
the latest information on topics that matter to you Althoughnot
yet finalized,w orkshops will be offered in the following tracks: ' 'Baining Issue
Name
(Please type or print)
OrganizationICompany Title -
Mailing Address Q Home Q Office
City State Zip.
Dayphone( ) Eve.Phone( 1 Fax( 1 E-Mail Address
To receive conference brochure, please fax to: [phone] or E-Mail:A [email protected]
Reforming Media
The More You Watch, The Less You Know
by Danny Schechter their voices, too, unless they put the issues that this Congress has been speed-
I
n early January, I attended a $19 democratization of the media on their ing from madly in the other direction."
billion meeting called by the ABC agenda. 4. 'n-ansfonn Public Television. It is
Capitol Cities Corporation to ratify A program for change needs to have time to put the public back into public
its mega deal with the Walt Disney at least five components: television, with more locally elected
Company. I was there as a shareholder, a 1. More Monitoring. Everyone can community boards and a return to PBS's
rcdu3I benefit from 111) )cari original mandate to provide for alternative
3-i a producer ~t ARC News. voices and more program choices.
I ~ e nht~ narch corporate 5. Defend and Expand Public
den~o~raxt )w ork. Access. We need also to protect and
The fir-it thing I noticed strengthen public access to cable outlets
\\JS that nu hul1cn-i were and television and radio. As cable opera-
distributed until there \+as. in tors claim First Amendment rights for
obj~'.'tion iron1 the floor. themselves, they will seek to restrict
Obviously. the deal already freedom of expression to others. Herbert
done and thi-i public meeting Schiller fears that this will lead them to
was simply a mandated drop "their obligation to provide public
exercise, in effect, a coronation access channels in the communities they
of commerce. The vote was serve. Their argument is that they are
held before discussion on it was Photo courtesy Globalvision being deprived of their free speech if the
- Producer and author Danny Schechter.
nermitted. remindins me of the government insists that they make some of
line from Alice in Wonderland: "first the monitor media performance. Groups like their channels available for public pur-
verdict, then the trial." The meeting was Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting poses."
held before federal regulators even had a (FAIR) have developed manuals and lists It is important to safeguard and
chance to rule on the deal's legitimacy. So of criteria. If teachers and their students, defend the concept of "public access." The
much for internal democracy and anti-trust labor unions and their members began original notion was forced down the
scrutiny. tracking what's on TV and radio, and how throats of cable companies when they
I did get to ask a question of Cap the news is being reported and distorted, sought the right to make money by wiring
Cities Chairman Thomas Murphy about they will be able to better detect and our communities. It was argued that their
the implications of media merger mania challenge bias. Media literacy has to promise of diversity on the airwaves
for the future of democracy. Murphy become part of school curriculums and would never be realized unless the public
didn't miss a beat before dismissing my everyday life. was guaranteed the right to participate
inquiry. "Am I concerned?" he asked 2. Demand Media Accountability. with channel space and airtime. The
before making himself 'perfectly clear:' Once armed with more information, companies were supposed to help with
"No, I'm not concerned." For Murphy and especially information that is collected by equipment, training, and advice.
. .
the institutional investors who rose to oeonle themselves. citizen Most promised more
applaud him, this was one of the biggest groups will be in a better hail they deliwrcd. The
paydays of their lives with Disney position to tL'niand prenns: of public access
expected to shell out some $10 billion for responwi-ncss and was honored more in
the stock alone. "It doesn't get any better accountability by media corporations. theory than in practice with widely uneven
than this," Murphy enthused. 437,000 3. New legislation and Enhanced results. Producers were given few re-
shares voted against; 121 million for! Regulation. Deregulation has given media sources to work with. As a result, produc-
In this era of Mickey Mouse and companies a free hand to pollute the tion values were often laughable, program-
Westinghouse, when six or seven giant airwaves. Tougher anti-monopoly laws ming concepts amateurish, and promotion
monopolies are poised to dominate the and enhanced regulation in the public nou-existent. And yet it did bring new
mediascape, what are those of us con- interest by a revamped FCC is in order. voices into our living rooms, sometimes as
cerned with this ten-ton Goliath to do? "And so we must begin a serious national novelty, sometimes with real passions and
How do progressives fight back? debate," says media analyst Mark Crispin information. Public access never cloned
We need a movement for media Miller, "on anti-trust, raising crucial the slickly packaged eye candy on the
reform that reaches out and reaches deep questions about foreign ownership, the commercial spectrum. Much of it remains
into existing constituencies for change. We dangers of horizontal integration, the idiosyncratic, plays to small audiences,
need to persuade groups seeking to change necessity of public access, the possibility and unfortunately is usually ignored.
America that their issues will never get the of taxes both on advertising and on the use Public access often makes news when
attention they deserve unless they raise of the public spectrum and all of the other See The More You Watch, page ZO...
8 CMR
Public Media
Citizenship or Consumership
-
by Bob Devine "federal era" to a "corporate era" and site of social integration." Issues of (a) the
Q
uestions regarding the extent to identifies the tension in progressive media relation of public media to the state
which progressive media have as that between "public access" to the (whether adversarial or interdependent?),
been able to bring about signifi- media, and "public control" of media (b) the relation of progressive media to the
cant changes in the landscape of mass content and directions. The effects he marketplace (whether independent or
media have received thoughtful attention outlines in his discussions of the manner compromising), (c) the organization and
in recent years. Ralph Engelman, whose in which government forces structure the structure of the media activity itself
1990 monograph on The development of public media (whether participatory and democratic, or
hierarchical?), (d) the mission (whether
would call the "mobiliza- "for" the community or "by" the commu-
b .
tion of bias"l . the subtle nity?), (e) the outcomes (whether activism
,
the best sources of access history, has a pressure and influence of underwriting, or enlightened civic participation?), and
new book, Public Radio and Television and the not-so-subtle attacks from the (f) the capacity of the media organization
in America: A Political History (Sage, right, have to do with the blunting and to change and adapt to both external and
1996), dealing with the growth, tensions limiting of independent voices, the chilling internal contingencies-all have particular
and patterns in progressive public commu- of debate on controversial public affairs. relevance for all of us working in commu-
nications in the United States. In what and the truncation of what might be a nity media and help to define an agenda
follows, I will examine the insights that viable public sphere. for reflection and planning. Engelman's
Engelman derives from his detailed His analyses of the development of treatment of public radio forms could have
analysis. Pacifica Radio and NPR are particularly benefitted from a discussion of micro-
The patterns that Engelman traces in helpful in identifying some of the issues radio, which in recent years has chal-
his historical accounts of public radio, that face progressive media. He questions lenged federal regulation, commercial
public television and community televi- whether such media activity can be "a site interests and mainstream media delivery
sion are all too familiar: an emerging arena of independence and opposition versus a See Citizenship, page 22...
of communication that holds promise for
public interaction; a tension between
Help Celebrate 20 Years of Alliance
commercial and non-commercial orienta-
tions; a shift towards a market model
R
which frames and defines the communica- elieve it or not, it's been 10 years however many pieces you brought it in.)
tion capacity in economic terms; govem- since this issue of Community Also, for those of you who care to put
meut intervention and regulation that ^J Television Review (since retitled 1 pen to paperÑo fingers to
supports the emerging marketplace at the Community Media Review keyboards-we're asking
expense of "public" capacity; organized was published you to contribute your
citizen efforts to maintain a public by the National stories, essays, personal
dimension, pluralism, diversity of view- Federation of histories, anecdotes,
points and public involvement; and, the Local Cable futuristic prognostications,
erosion of the public model due to (a) Programmers i anything and everything
political and economic constraints (now the Alliance befittin-g our 20th
imposed from above, (b) decreasing for Community Anniversary publication.
government support, and (c) increasing Media). Yes indeed, Don't be shy! You can
dependence on marketplace strategies for 1996 marks the write in advance and
support and survival. At issue, says Alliance's 20th bring it to the confer-
Engelman, is "the public's right and ability Anniversary! To mark ence, write it at the
to engage in informed political debate the occasion, a special conference, or if
independent of private commercial 20th Anniversary you're really
forces." This work might, in fact, be read edition is being as- industrious, e-mail
in parallel to Ed Herman's recent book sembled, and you are or snail-mail them
The Triumph of the Market, since many invited to participate! to the national
of Engelman's investigations point toward Bring your memen- office (see masthead on p.a g.e
the inevitable tension between citizenship tos-photos, buttons, news 3 for addresses).
and consumership, and the inability of clippings, signs, banners, pins, pens and So tie that string around your finger
public media to constitute and sustain anything else Alliance-related-to the and remember the acronym "SSPUSM"
themselves as a public force. 1996 Conference so we can document it when you're packing for the 1996 Alliance
Engelman frames the pattern as a for the upcoming issue! (Of course we'll Conference: shoes, socks, pants, under-
movement from a "foundation era" to a make sure you get everything hack in wear, shirts, and memorabilia!
CMR 9
DYKE TV
If We Don't Put Ourselves
on the Air, No One Else Will
by Elizabeth Meister majority of lesbians that comprise our
D
YKE TV (DTV) is a bi-monthly communities were completely dismissed.
TV magazine mixing news, Working class and poor lesbians, lesbians
political commentary, health of color, lesbians who are very old and
coverage, arts, sports, and much more. very young, lesbians with disabilities, and
There is no other national lesbian televi- lesbian immigrants were as invisible as
sion organization in the United States. In ever (for example, in forums like Vogue
contrast to many and Newsweek we
other identity groups, saw not only white
lesbians have rarely lesbian couples with
articulated their good jobs in their
common culture, mid-twenties, but
language, or history. white lesbian couples
Our challenge is to with good jobs in
consciously build that their mid-thirties,
shared body of too).
culture and history Enter DYKE
now. As progressive TV-bringing the
media-makers, we true diversity of
know what a power- lesbian culture into
ful tool television can your living room one
be us cOmmu- microphone) and Jocelyn Taylor half-hour at a time.
nicate in the open, to f i n interview at the 1995 Dyke Here we produce and
build foundations for March in New York City. promote images of
our communities, and lesbians which are
to delineate our own political and cultural created by lesbians. These images go
discourses. beyond the literal "visibility" of putting
DYKE TV emerged from a climate of lesbians on TV by educating, motivating,
grassroots direct-action organizing. A new and inspiring other lesbians across the
chapter in lesbian organizing began as country.
groups like WAC (Women's Action We are activist television
Coalition) and WHAM (Women's designed to organize and educate.
Health Action Mobilization) By its very existence, DYKE TV
began to wane, while Lesbian mbats isolation, which is one of the
Avenger chapters sprung up n most powerful tools of the
P
from coast to coast. Many of "divide and conquer"
the tactics were the same, but strategies used by the right
now, lesbians who had felt wing. As media-makers, we know
invisible or neg-l ected when they that visual media shapes, reflects,
worked on everybody else's is- and reinforces our communities' cultures.
sues-in gay men's and straight women's In a nation so drastically stratified by race
groups-were demanding their own time. and class, access to media has historically
With this surge in lesbian visibility been dominated by white upper-middle-
came a mainstream fascination with class apparently straight men, then white
lesbians. In fact, the passing nod we got upper-middle class apparently straight
from mainstream media portrayed nothing women. As a lesbian media institution,
but "lesbian chic," in which glamour and DYKE-TV actively resists these estah-
manners reigned supreme. While our 15 lished biases of power and access. We are
minutes of fame gave us a huge opportu- a place for all lesbians, and we include
nity for advancing lesbian visibility, the See If We Don't, page 24...
10 CMR