Public access TV in Baltimore is far more important than the internet

Public access TV in Baltimore is far more important than the internet "Letter to the Editor". By John DeSantis volunteer with Baltimore Grassroots Media (BGM).


In the November 18th Maryland section article written by Doug Donovan, entitled "O'Malley says Comcast agreement was best deal city could negotiate", Mayor O'Malley said that "Public access has been totally eclipsed by the Internet. We have to keep that in mind."

I find it hard to believe that the Mayor could say or even believe such a thing. The internet may be important in its own way, but based on the following thoughts of mine, I'd have to say that public access TV is far more important for Baltimore city:

Well-funded public access TV channels, with adequate facilities, staff, training, and equipment (not as our current unfunded public access channel that is without a staff, studio, and equipment), will offer great benefit to our youth by giving them an ongoing and non-stop creative and constructive outlet and will help reduce crime, among many other positive things for our city, like, just for example: allowing them to showcase their many different talents in sports and entertainment; allowing them to express their views on talk shows that they or others create around every important social, political, educational, and economic subject. Adults, businesses, and foundations can sponsor and provide rewards of all types to winners in all kinds of contests within the many arenas of sports, education, entertainment, religion, philosophy, science, debate, new ideas, etc.

Everyone in our Baltimore community, somehow organized and/or promoted by the media, should brainstorm together and come up with a long sample list of the very many and various kinds of shows that can be produced once we have a real and well-funded public access staff, equipment, and facilities -- especially for the youth of our city, inclusive of, and adequate to, all of their different age groups.

We can together wisely and creatively come up with more and more types of shows in order to lure our treasured youth off the streets and away from gangs, crime, and drugs -- a great variety of shows -- to help educate them and to give them hope, opportunity, and creative activity in a great many ways.

The Mayor, the City Council, the Board of Estimates, and Comcast, should, quote, "BELIEVE" in all this and see to it that it gets funded and put into action -- no matter where the money comes from!

Comcast should supply sufficient funding for public access TV. Because it funds many other communities better the mayor and the city council should vote down the proposed Comcast franchise agreement in favor of a better contract that includes more specifically allocated, yearly renewable funding for public access operating expenses.

From a moral and ethical point of view, a city the size and stature of Baltimore should not be treated in a poorly-funded denigrating, non-caring, and selfish way -- as it has been by Comcast; especially because of the enormous amount of money that Comcast makes off of its citizens each year who buy either its internet service, its cable TV service, or both -- like I do.

If public access TV is well-funded, Comcast will gain a lot more Baltimore cable TV subscribers who will want to see the shows that are produced, as well as all of the goodwill and respect that will be gained, leading to even more customers.

Why should Comcast, a rich corporation, bother with being socially conscious when it comes to public access TV? Because it can help Baltimore heal many social problems. Public access TV is naturally a very fair, uniting and healing social factor in the following important ways:

It absolutely leaves no one out and includes every citizen, rich and poor, every nationality, every race and ethnic group, and every institution and organization: schools, small and large non-profit groups and charities, religious organizations, businesses, social justice movements, youth and senior citizen organizations, entertainers, artists, scientists, poets, actors, writers, musicians, political candidates, and so on. Everyone, no matter what their ideas, reasons, or production formats, would be able to produce video tapes of shows to air on the many channels of public access TV if they ever wanted to -- once in a while or regularly. And everyone will want their friends, families, organizational members (and potential members), to see the shows that are produced -- and small and large businesses will want everyone to see the particular shows that they sponsor.

No matter how useful it is, in the final analysis, how can people sitting alone in a room and being on the internet compare with all of the important real-life activity and interaction for the city of Baltimore and its citizens that a well funded public access TV operation can provide?

If the Mayor, the City Council, the Board of Estimates, and Comcast can't, or won't, somehow work out a deal to put together sufficient funding for public access TV each and every year, no matter what all of their various individual or combined reasons might be, maybe in the final analysis, and in a wonderful save-the-day way, one or more of the many rich individuals, families, and charitable foundations in the city and region will step up to the plate and donate one, two, or three million dollars a year, to be added to the meager funding otherwise provided by Comcast, and make, once and for all, public access TV a super-duper operation and activity for the citizens of Baltimore to use and express themselves in.