MTN & Portals
From:
Mike Wassenaar
Date:
2007 Nov 14 02:46 UTC
Short link
This is a great discussion. Working in community media and community
technology, it's great to see people engaged on these issues.
A couple of ideas:
-If cable television is so 20th Century, why do we have 500 channels pumping
stuff at 85,000 homes in Minneapolis? Radio is definitely very 1920s. Why
would any non-flapper listen to it? Let's talk to ESPN about giving up all
those cable channels. Maybe we can convince them it's obsolete. Any
volunteers?
Commercial media uses broadcast, cable, satellite, mobile phone AND internet to
reach audiences and make meaning. Why can't community groups devoted to
bettering civic life? I don't understand why we have to choose one mode or
another. Most media users use several, not one. The limitations, here, are
access to capital and access to imagination.
-Aside from broad assertions listed here, has anyone at any recent time done an
unbiased study to determine the use and worth of cable access channels in
Minneapolis? What are the facts? Commercial channels pay money for this
intelligence to sell ads...that's why we have ratings. Non-commercial channels
don't (or in some cases are prohibited from getting the information!). My
organization commissions studies in Saint Paul to determine these things. 60%
of cable households watch our five channels. There is a public audience for
these channels, at least in Saint Paul. Maybe we're just old-fashioned ;)
-Can community groups come together to increase the civic knowledge of people
in Minneapolis through community networks AND community media? THAT in my mind
should be the mission of community media, including public access
organizations, and it's the work on many civic internet projects.
That the portal project and MTN have been pitted against each other seems
short-sighted - regardless of the intent. They are BOTH needed to help the
citizens of Minneapolis.
Mike Wassenaar
St Paul Neighborhood Network
.