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February, 5, 2008
South Suburbs' Public Access Channel 19 Shown In Kankakee County. Why Not a Kankakee County Public Access Channel?
If you live in Kankakee County, the odds are high you are a customer of Comcast Cable. When you are surfing the channels you may have noticed south suburb local programming on Channel 19. Programming includes theater group comedy skits, school board candidate debates, talk shows featuring local places to dine, government meetings, local parades and festivals. etc. Up north they have had public access for several decades and so has most communities across the country.
Have you ever wondered why there is no Kankakee County Public Access Channel? Did you know Kankakee County Government has collected over $800,000 in franchise fees from you and me as Comcast Subscribers over the past few years? Franchise fees collected in other communities by local government are used to establish a public access channel but not in Kankakee County. Isn't it time for area citizens to get the services they are already paying for? Isn't it time for the Kankakee County government to join the 21st century?
This issue was brought up at the July 31, 2007 Kankakee County Development & Operations committee meeting. This is the committee that handles the cable franchise agreement with Comcast. Comcast officials were on hand to discuss the options Kankakee County government have to get an access channel started. There are three kinds of channels that could be established. They are public access, educational access, or government access. Public access is the type of channel the south suburb channel 19 is and most communities have. This allows all the different kind of programming mentioned above. A government channel would be fully under the control of County government and would only show County government meetings. An education channel is usually done by the educational community, not county government.
So I will give you three guesses as to what some elected County officials are in favor of. Yes that's right. You guessed it a county government controlled channel. Thereby shutting out the talent and diversity in the County. County board members Karl Kruse, Kelly McLaren and Sam Nicholos along with States Attorney Jamie Boyd, words and actions all seem to indicate opposition to a Kankakee County public access channel. Mr. Boyd's objection, he says is the one time $6.00 fee which would be collected from Comcast subscribers over a 12 month period which is 50 cents per month. Yes, that's right, he claims this is a tax increase. Watch him in action by clicking on the January 22, 2008 Operations & Development meeting below. He is up for reelection this fall and so is Sam Nicholos. Keep that in mind.
Several proponents of a public access channel attend the January 22, 2008 Kankakee County Operations & Development meeting and spoke under public comment. They included representatives from KCC, BBCHS, local organizations and local creative people with experience in public access programming. An article written by one of the proponents can be found below. It is going on 7 months since the July 31, 2007 meeting and nothing has been done.
Watch the 7-31-07 Operations & Development meeting. Watch the 1-22-08 Operations & Development meeting.
People in the Kankakee area must be urged to use their imagination and to consider the many positive contributions that Public Access programming could make to the area. by Marc Wakat, Kankakee
FIRST AMENDMENT
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
Public Access in this country is defined as that segment of PEG (Public-Educational-Governmental) Access whereby U.S. Citizens have access to cable television channel(s) for individual expression of ideas as protected by the First Amendment of the United States. If a community requests a cable channel or facilities for such use, the cable company serving the community is required by Federal law to provide such channel or channels and equipment as agreed to in the municipality's Franchise Agreement with the cable company.
(See the Cable Communications Act of 1984)
Each and every agency, charitable group, advocacy group, interest group, and governmental body has something that they wish that more people were aware of. There are great stories that should be told. There are a lot of folks out there who deserve an introduction. There is visual art to be executed and shared and whole array of talented musicians and performers to be heard from and more appreciated. There is gratitude to be expressed. There is myth and history to embrace and ignorance to eliminate and clever ideas and experience that ought to be passed along and an identity to shape. There are things we can’t predict and surprises and accidental discoveries and things in plain sight that we failed to see that somebody out there could show us.
We should give this a try and see what happens. We need to talk about our possibilities and figure out the best way to reach an informed consensus and a mandate for implementation. Countless other communities have afforded themselves the opportunity to enrich their media experiences with a local component in televised programming.
Some might be apprehensive about the open nature of public access and if anything they perhaps prefer a government access channel. I would like to see public access for the very reasons that I’ve mentioned. The spirit of volunteerism that would make access television a successful and rewarding enterprise would only grow out of an open community based channel that reflects the community itself. The free and open expressive manner that is already reflected in our culture is the very source of our pride as a people.
The potential for cultural, political, and practical enrichment are only limited by our imaginations. How many meetings and lectures have we all been to where we wished more people could be there to share in the experience? We can bring them there. Local Community Access programming could be linked to the web. DVDs of informative programming could be available for presentation at a whole host of venues in the area and perhaps beyond.
There are intelligent creative community minded people in our midst. Some area schools already teach kids how to use the equipment necessary to create programs. Responsible public access programming can provide a way for more people to participate in our growth as a community.
Comcast Access Channel .com What is public access?
COMCAST SUBURBAN ACCESS CENTERS & STUDIOS
1. Addison, IL 60101
2. Elmhurst, IL 60126
3. Highland Park, IL 60035
4. Homewood, IL 60430
5. Mt. Prospect, IL 60056
6. Romeoville, IL 60446
7. Skokie, IL 60076
8. Waukegan, IL 60085
9. Zion, IL 60099
Chicago Access Network Television (CAN TV)
City of Atlanta’s public access television station
Free Press and Public Access TV
Community Access Television sites in Illinois