Support Independent Community Media

Say YES to REAL COMMUNITY TV!

The CRTC is about to review an application by the non-profit Community Media Education Society (CMES) to provide a community channel for Telus TV subscribers in British Columbia and Alberta. This is the perfect opportunity for Canadians everywhere to express support for independent community media.
Please help CMES set a powerful precedent. We have until October 5 to let the CRTC know that Canadians want community media.

Sample Letter for Campaign

Subject: Public Hearing CRTC 2007-12: Community Channel

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

I'm writing to support the application by the Community Media Education Society to provide a community channel for Telus TV subscribers in British Columbia and Alberta.

Community TV volunteers should have more freedom in the work they choose to do and more say in the way their programs are distributed. Independent operation of the community channel encourages public access and participation.

With an incorporated society anyone can join and be elected to the governing board. Before community TV was deregulated in 1997 it could be a platform for all points of view during elections at the municipal, provincial and federal levels. TV is exceptionally influential during elections. Without community TV, discussion during elections is mainly limited to short news clips and ads. Community TV has time available to offer much more freedom when someone wants to make a speech.

Now that CRTC 2002-61 has created proper funding for independent not-for-profit community TV, it's time to put theory into practice. CMES, with its evolution from the Vancouver East Neighbourhood TV office and its continuing ties to ICTV and NUTV, is well-qualified to co-ordinate participatory volunteer-run community TV.

I hope you will approve Application No. 2005-1028-1 by the Community Media Education Society. I have sent a copy of this letter to cmes@vcn.bc.ca.

I do not wish to appear before the CRTC, but I want to ensure that my voice is both heard and counted at those hearings.

My email address is:

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
October 01, 2007


Background Information

With private media in Canada held in so few hands, independent, community-based media is as important as ever to increase media diversity and give underserved communities a voice.

Media ownership is more highly concentrated in Canada than almost anywhere else in the industrialized world. As of 2005, almost all private Canadian television stations are owned by national media conglomerates ... and the most-read newspapers are owned by the same corporations that own television and radio stations.

That means a handful of Big Media conglomerates control what Canadians can most readily see, hear and read. It means less local and regional content, more direct control over content by owners and less analysis of the events that shape our lives. It also means less media choice for Canadians and fewer jobs for Canadian media workers.

Over the last year, 280 journalists and other media workers were laid off at CHUM with the cancellation of local TV newscasts in Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. There were also significant job losses at Quebecor's Sun Media with the creation of central desks to produce content for the chain's local papers.

It all adds up to less local and regional content, more direct owner control over content, and less analysis of the events that shape our lives. It also means less representation of minority communities. In the end, it's less media choice for all Canadians and fewer jobs in an important sector of the country's economy.