The Ask, An Update

Letter to the Mayor from the Board President

On behalf of the Board of Directors of WPAA-TV, thank you for the opportunity to submit materials in support of our request for inclusion in the Town’s FY 2026–27 budget.
We are grateful for the Town’s consideration and welcome this process as a chance to be more transparent about who we are and what we provide for the entire Wallingford community. WPAA-TV has served Wallingford residents for more than 30 years — without membership fees,
without service fees, and with a consistent goal of making our community’s own voices visible and accessible to everyone. Beyond locally produced programming, we have distributed government and education access content for years. Our work complements Town services.
Our request is modest and specific: $1,500 annually to underwrite the bandwidth cost of 24/7 streaming on our website. Streaming allows anyone in Wallingford — not only cable subscribers — to access our full channel. Adopting this request to underwrite the internet simulcast bandwidth of the WPAA-TV channel can ensure stability in community-wide content delivery at a cost of less than $1 per household.
We will restore this service on April 1, 2026, and we are committed to sustaining it.

Enclosed, per the requirements of your public letter of February 20, please find our funding request details & WPAA-TV Operating Budget. Thank you for this opportunity to demonstrate our value to the community we share.

Budget Request

$1,500 annually for streaming bandwidth, creating community-wide accessibility to all content via our website: WPAA-TV.

Who Can Watch: Less Than We Want

Historically, viewership was limited to cable subscribers who underwrote community media. Use of able fees is restricted to traditional community media services, which excludes non-cablecast distribution. So, anyone could make content, but not everyone could see it.

Our content distribution beyond cable TV began in 2005. We had on-demand availability of locally produced content underwritten by a local vendor. In 2015, we began simulcasting our channel with a 24/7 stream on our website. Anyone with internet access could watch all WPAA-TV content: Public, Government, Educational, and global news content in English & Spanish.

The GAP

Our simulcast was suspended as of June 1, 2025. The intent is to resume on April 1, 2026. Vendor capabilities impeded our ability to stream the mission-critical #greatGIVE06492 benefit concert in May 2025. Concurrently, a modification to the State of CT capital funding cycle impacts the ability to secure revenue for any annually recurring costs, such as bandwidth for channel simulcast via an internet stream.
STATUS: New vendor capabilities have been identified to restore streaming functionality. Start-up costs were covered in the 2025 CT PEGPETIA grant. The grant is now biennial, unpredictable, and structured in a manner that makes annual costs difficult to cover. The annual minimum bandwidth cost is $1500. This annual cost is what we would like to be considered in the Town’s budget.

Rationale

  • Limited impact on Town, significant impact on WPAA-TV
  • Supports access by the entire town to services we provide to nonprofits and civic
  • organizations
  • Unlike town meeting coverage, we cannot stream to YouTube: Reasons include eligibility
  • of creators’ free speech content, agreements limiting distribution platforms, and
  • noncommercial requirements

How We Operate, Our Mission

Our work is to support whoever walks in the door, governed by: To provide a brave, safe, and
creative space for a diversity of expression from within our community. We empower the people

  • Local churches have shared services for 30 years and cablecast the same day since 2005
  • Since 1990, we have carried government content not considered eligible for WGTV
  • Since 2008, STEaMc: (Science, Technology, Engineering, ARTS, Mathematics & CIVICS, aka Education Television, not provided on WPS-TV) content contracted from various educational sources begins daily at 5 am
  • In2Languages – Language Literacy in collaboration with SCOW midday since 2013
  • About Books in collaboration with Wallingford Public Library since 2008
  • We are not a member organization. We have never charged for services rendered.

Questions & Answers

Q1: Are there other costs associated with simulcast streaming?
A1: Yes, the technical infrastructure for streaming, website, and service fees. We will continue to
pursue covering these costs with technical infrastructure grants.

Q2: In 2025, WPAA-TV gave YSS $3,000, so how can requesting funds be justified?
A2: A volunteer provided uncompensated services to the teen program, conditional upon his pay being
used to support the expansion of the program to after-school hours.

Q3: Why can’t you use YouTube?
A3: It is complicated by contracts, free speech content, and advertising constraints.

Q4: Why should the taxpayer pay anything for WPAA-TV?
A4: The value of content access is unpredictable. You never know when someone you know will be on TV or when the convenience of the simulcast for curated content can make a difference in your life. One performance, one piece of knowledge, one chance encounter could be priceless. The support request is less than a $1 a year per household.

Q5: If this expense is not added to the budget, what will the impact be?
A5: Streaming without interruption depends on our ability to secure alternate funding. Per regulations, cable fees are for content creation and cablecast distribution. Support will send a clear message about our value to our community.

Q6: Is this relevant to Social Services?
A6: Much of our content is related to education and the well-being of the community, a social services designation is appropriate.

Update:

On March 24th, The Mayor confirmed inclusion of WPAA-TV in the YSS budget with an allocation of 50% of the requested amount ($750). Within the letter of acknowledgement and confirmation of action were two considerations. The 1st was to be aware that the Town Council has the ability to alter the budget. And to stay engages in the process by attending two public meetings:

  • Budget Workshop: Wed. April 8 6:30 PM
  • Public Hearing: Monday April 27 6 PM

The Acknowledgement: April 7

On behalf of the Board of Directors of WPAA-TV, thank you for your letter of March 24th affirming your budget recommendation of $750 within Dept. of Youth & Social Services FY 2026–27. As previously shared, we are grateful for the Town’s consideration. We welcome this process as a chance to be more transparent about who we are and what we make available to the entire Wallingford community. The modest request was for $1,500 annually to amplify our investment in the community with 24/7 streaming of our cablecast on our website. We did restore internet streaming on April 1, 2026, and we are committed to sustaining it.

Our cablecast includes collaborations with local nonprofits such as About Books – Author interviews represented by Wallingford Public Library, In2Languages – Language Literacy initiative with Spanish Community of Wallingford, several local feature stories, and our nationally recognized TeenTigerTV youth training program.

In fact, on May 4th beginning at 7 pm, we will LIVE stream the Annual Be The Seed Benefit Performance in support of 18 Wallingford-centric nonprofits providing direct services, training and entertainment to Wallingford and beyond. We use the monies WPAA-TV raises during #greatGIVE06492 to cover expenses for the Be The Seed community performance and Spanish content for In2Languages. We serve soup we purchase from Soups On and refreshments we buy from local business.

WPAA-TV has served Wallingford residents for more than 30 years — without membership fees, without service fees, and with a consistent goal of making our community’s own voices visible & accessible to everyone. Beyond locally produced programming, we have distributed both government and education access content for decades. Our work complements Town services.

Supporting our request helps ensure stability of community-wide content delivery at a cost of less than 9 cents per household. I am copying the council, which as you indicated, can alter your budget recommendation. Your recommendation invests a nickel from every household in the services that we consider priceless.

Since we have community programs on the Workshop & Public Hearing dates, I am copying the final arbiters of the budget, the Town councilors, with the most current information provided in for original request. WPAATV_2026OperationsBudget032026.pdf, updated & approved April 6, 2026, Original WPAATV Grant Request FY 2026–27 budget.pdf   

Thank you for this opportunity to demonstrate our value to the community we share.

cc: Town Council with ancillary documentation

Community Media Excellence—2026 Festival & Uplifiting Creators

More Than TV: Magic

At WPAA-TV, we often say that community media is a stage, but the true magic lies in the storytellers who step onto it. Since our inception but especially in the past decade, our station has participated in national and regional Alliance for Community Media video festivals to showcase the incredible advocacy and artistry happening right here in Wallingford.

While we look forward to the national recognition event on June 24 in Madison, WI, the true victory lies in our history of independent producers and youth creators who make this station a community landmark.

A Legacy of Independent Voices

Our status as an award-winning station is built on the shoulders of independent producers who have called WPAA-TV home for years, in addition to our Team Hercules part-time staff and volunteers:

  • Georgian Lussier: For nine years, Georgian has produced and hosted Midlife Matters, a series centered on transformational womens’ stories shared in conversation. Her work has been recognized regularly, proving that conversation at any age matters and women have wisdom & wit.
  • Mike Schleif: A creative force from Space Cub Studio, Mike contributed regularly for two years, exploring story and animation. His work ranged from the full-length animated feature The Space Bears – The Movie to instructional programming about Chinese culture created alongside his daughter.
  • Mark Houde: Our latest featured producer, Mark’s three-month visual journal, The Magic of Mackenzie, represents the high technical quality and deep sense of place that defines our current submission cycle.

When Students Meet the Masters: #TeenTigerTV

The 2026 festival submissions also highlight a beautiful synergy between our veteran producers and our youth program. One of our standout selections is an episode of the #TeentigerTV profile talk show, The Meet, where student producers sat down with Mark Houde to discuss his journey capturing the flora and fauna of the Mackenzie Reservoir.

This crossover is exactly what WPAA-TV stands for: a space where a student can interview an expert, and both works can be recognized on a national stage. It’s why we invest 15% to 20% of our #greatGIVE06492 revenue (approximately $700) to underwrite these festival fees—ensuring that “What We Do Together” remains our winning formula.

“With all its innocence, flaws, and growth apparent to us who experienced it with the young people, I am proud to have been part of this #TeenTigerTV Profile Interview: ‘The Meet’: Photographer Mark Houde’.”

The Festival Process

The 2026 submissions emerged under the theme “From The Heart,” a motif discovered organically through the collective works of youth, staff, and independent creators. You can view the history of these emerging themes on the station’s Annual Report Videos page.

Building on a decade of award-winning storytelling, the WPAA-TV and Community Media Center Governing Board recently completed its review of 21 candidate videos produced or cablecast in the prior calendar year. From this pool, a curated selection was chosen to represent Wallingford at the Hometown Media Awards. Categories such as festival categories such as About Access, Community Events, Children’s Programs, Community Meeting Coverage, Democracy In Action, Arts, Talk Shows, represent public, education and government televsion

Featured Submission: The Magic of Mackenzie

A primary highlight of this year’s submission list is “The Magic of Mackenzie,” entered into the newly established Parks & Recreation category. This 50-minute visual journal by ecological photographer Mark Houde captures the serene beauty of the Mackenzie Reservoir (Pine River Reservoir). For complete details and convenient on-demand viewing go here.

“It was selected for its incredible technical quality and its ability to connect residents with the local nature we depend on daily, and I think more people should see it.” Jeff Kohan with affirmation by the Board.

Youth and Community Partnerships

The Board’s final selection list also highlights the diversity of Wallingford’s media landscape:

Join the Journey

While the national results await in June, the community can enjoy these works now. WPAA-TV will cablecast The Magic of Mackenzie trailer followed by the full documentary every Friday and Saturday at 10 PM during March.

Opening Shared Space in USA

“Community isn’t just a place with people; it’s a creative practice. While Wallingford folks may know the Ubuntu Storytellers from the series produced at WPAA-TV, their latest evolution—USA (Ubuntu Storytellers & Allies)—suggests that curating stories from elsewhere empowers effectively too. I caught up with them this week at the Wallingford Public Library where silence was broken and ‘incidental allyship’ took center stage. I encourage you to read, listen, and perhaps find the courage to step into a shared space yourself. Our communal healing depends on it.” Susan Adele Huizenga

WPAA-TV had the privilege of hosting Ubuntu Storytellers in Wallingford in two series that showcased Black, Brown, and biracial performers telling stories of “being,” as well as of “being in the skin they’re in.” Recently, the Wallingford Public Library welcomed the community to an evening of stories with a new twist in the lineup: some tellers would share stories of allyship.

As a long-time host and advocate for these tellers, I was beyond curious. The acronym USA initially confused me, then in an ‘aha’ moment it became immediately apt: Ubuntu Storytellers & Allies. As always, the seven stories in ‘The Long Echo of a Moment’ were true, personal, and universal. On this evening, solo voices in a shared space created a sensorial connection that spoke bravely of the importance of creating room for connection.

The program began with a story set years earlier in California during the initial Obama election. It was personalized with a T-shirt screened “everyone matters” and a love story. The teller established the scene, then the tension of the election outcomes: the failure of a local referendum alongside the national, unifying win of Obama. The scale of referendum votes against same-sex marriage adjacent to a presidential victory clobbered my listening. I felt this story’s evolution. It felt different now versus when the teller’s marriage was ‘legalized’. It no longer feels safe, or even ‘correct’ to wear the T-shirt “everyone matters” no matter its truth.

Thea Iberall’s story, “Are We There Yet?”, echoes like a child in the backseat of a car anticipating arrival at a fantastic destination. Yet it is told in the broken spirit of speeches and books anchored in the currents of history, asking: “Where Do We Go From Here?” This story and the new format expose the answer: No, We Are Not There Yet. Maybe we are Becoming.

As before, Ms. Keyes, the Ubuntu Storytellers founder, lavishly introduces the tellers. It feels as if she wants them to be credible to the audience before we hear a single word. They are worthy of this stage; accept and listen.

Next, a journalist shares a transformational story about finding purpose, an awareness of the current generation’s sense of inheritance, and her unexpected fandom. She discovers Greta Thunberg and “Shoulders Joy,” both physically and metaphorically. Her encounters yearn; they are full of weight. We glimpse the power of representation and the unsaid, wishing to find a way to fill the unfathomable gap. Bekah Wright is clearly still trying, as we all should be.

An awareness of how personal stories echo differently across time sets the stage for other intergenerational insights into “gaps” in our communal knowing. But first, we experience a cage with Wendy Marans’ story, “But I Didn’t.” Observation and self-talk become a haunting silence. With role ambiguity, boundaries can come into awkward conflict with moral values. Too often, silence is our response to our observations. She reminds us that the hollow feeling is anything but silent.

The aspirations revealed in “The Method” by an Ubuntu teller perform as a backdrop to self-revelation once again. Universal self-discovery is at the core of Jezrie Marcano Courtney’s storytelling. Jezrie examines fragility and the serendipity of circumstance, taking us back to her days as an acting student. The differences elevated by the Uta Hagen’s “Place” technique in the sensorial recreation of personal space—to find truth—sets the stage for an incidental allyship and unanticipated trust. One father’s motto is a handle to another’s safe embrace. Told is another student’s “coming out” journey—a story of quiet introspection, family, and universal hugs.

Cindy Rivka Marshall’s “My German Friend” was prerecorded. Her Zoomed-in appearance at the end of the evening affirmed how a story can be both ageless and locked in time—persistent. Anchored in the weight of Holocaust history, distant in years and generations, time did not lighten the burden of division cloaked in silence. What lifted the unsaid and unhealed was entering into challenging spaces side-by-side.

“The Long Echo of A Moment” is the tough, stabilizing sinew of this curated collection. The geometry of the decisions we make can have multiple proofs; we may not know if an answer is truly right until others see it in us or with us. Denise Manning Keyes Page also reaches across generations for affirmation and recognizes the burden of silence that found power in those gaps’ decades before. A tutor rescues ‘in secret’; empowering an unfolding, restless talent.

A new Ubuntu member, Tennette Correia, emerges from the ashes in “Unexpected Ally.” Without question, this was the story to conclude the evening. Loss and absence led the audience to a new understanding. It was a heart-wrenching story whose hope can be discovered when we see ourselves sitting on a park bench, talking with a stranger. Conversations in safe places—a salve.

As with most story events, the room was not filled with questions and discussion in the time set aside for Q&A. However, the audience did line up to speak one on one with the tellers. Digesting this seven-course menu will take more than the wink of time after applause. It gave me much to think about. Thanks for reading.

#DemocracyIsACreativePractice #studioW #Storytelling #NowMoreThanEver #everyonemattersdifferently

Rabbit Hole 0

a series on connection, history & humanity

Rabbit Hole posts: The result of being distracted by an idea, image or reference that speaks to your core and leads to new unexpected understanding.

This series, and 1st blog post, was triggered by the description of substack The Weekender about its purpose: “In these spaces, stories emerge, are shared, and are iterated upon”. I immediately forgot about the task at hand and emerged several minutes later.

The story I read as a consequence was by a self-proclaimed folklorist, anti-AI human: ‘A Folklorist visits a Data Centre‘ E.S. Northey Jan 05, 2026

While I found his story engaging and insightful in an expected way, the trigger for my journey to his article is what lingered. For me, the substack description remains the unrealized experience of community media as a movement. However, it is the discovery that nearly every visitor experiences when they visit our space. An exeprience intrinsically linked to “Finding what you did not know you needed”.

WPAA-TV: A Decade of Impact & A Regional Sweep!

The bar has been set for 2026

While we didn’t think we could top our record-breaking 2024, the 2025 results are in: 9 awards, including two national honors and the prestigious Overall Excellence for New England. Alliance for Community Media festivals judge work from the previous calendar year. WPAA-TV’s legacy of excellence stretches back to 2013.

The highlight of our year is the Rika Welsh Community Impact Award for our #TeenTigerTV program. This recognizes 10 years of compelling content created by local youth in a youth-led program. 100 youth have come through the program—a partnership with the Workforce Alliance and the town’s Youth & Social Services Dept. Our students thrive with the support of local story and video coaches who bring real-world industry experience to the table.

A huge thank you to the Rika Welsh Community Impact Committee for this honor and to the youth who have worked through the discovery process with us over the last decade and the Board which nominated the program for consideration.

The 1st Job series, completed in our first summer, remains a wonderful window into our community (One of the guests is now our Mayor.) and the “1st Job” experience. Everyone was unique. From developing ideas to sending letters of invitation, and from learning the process to producing 30 interviews—it was hard to imagine doing it all over again. However, once those first few young people completed the process, we were encouraged by a funder to transition to a youth-led program (Youth Made Media). We developed work deliverables inclusive of a PSA and Capstone project, but the content itself was left entirely to the youth. Their “It’s Never Too Late” 988 PSA is just one testament to that vision. It is now available on PEGMedia.org.

The program continues Weekly Monday Evenings from 6-8:30 PM. “Do you know a teen who wants to learn media production? Send them our way!” They will discover more along the way.

Your Vision, Our Community: The Power of Contributed Media

The cell phone, camera, or drone in your hand makes you our crew. #TeenTigerTV youth are the video producers and editors. No technical skills required – Just Love of Wallingford!

Ever captured a stunning sunset over Wallingford or a video of the first snowfall or a visitor you welcome to your yard? Your personal moments can become part of our town’s collective history. Wallingford is a town of stories, farmland, open spaces which we share with creatures of all kinds. We believe the best people to tell our stories from our backyards, windows, and walkable spaces are you, the ones living them. Contributed Media is our way of turning your personal snapshots and short clips into a collective visual history for everyone to enjoy. Here is how you can help tell the story of Wallingford.”

Step 1: Snap a photo or clip of something uniquely Wallingford or in the moment on our magnificent plant.

Step 2: Email it to movie@wpaa.tv. This submission process provides us with permission to use your content. You can identify the location and include a description (optional).

Step 3: Watch your contribution on Comcast Channel 1070 or WPAA-TV’s YouTube.

Step 4: Share and encourage others to join you.

The common idea in the #TeenTigerTV Contributed Media Project is we share Wallingford but see it from different vantage points. Many sunsets, rainbows, first snowfall or enormous ones, or critters visiting our yards have many of us reaching for our cameras; then sharing on Social Media. What if we could see the seasons change, our encounters with nature, our favorite places, and other things Wallingford, more collectively?

“From students in our youth programs to retirees capturing local landmarks, this project brings generations together through a shared lens.” Tim Lopez, Youth Mentor

With a camera in nearly everyones pocket anyone can contribute to content creation from where they are. Content can be crowd-sourced around an idea and produced into something representing many views. It is the coming together of people across generations as neighbors and fans of Wallingford, with different skills and vantage points agreeing to a common idea that defines community. Over 70 people have contributed to this project since January 2024. You can be a contributor too!

Focus on the Environment: We prioritize shots of our community spaces, buildings, seasonal weather, and community decorations. Grass Roots Fund, a New England Fund that prioritizes our planet and our relationship to it, helped fund our youth leader position for this initiative.

Privacy First: Please avoid sending images or videos where individual faces are the primary focus. We want to capture the vibe of the town while respecting everyone’s privacy.

Wide Angles: Landscapes and “b-roll” style footage (like the wind in the trees or a quiet street at dusk) are preferred but not required. They are the best suited for TV productions.

Community Media brings people together to produce video content. It is not about where you see the content, or the resources used to produce it; it is about coming together to engage, inspire, educate or entertain. Most Social media is a person sharing something they did, think, or saw on platforms. They can be one of houndreds or thousands with a common interest. Each person participates from their point-of-view. Common interests can be viewed collectively with a hashtag; but a true collective experience is rare. This can be ours.

Image Submitted to TeenTigerTV for Fall Contributed Media Video

Help us bridge the gap between individual moments and a shared community experience. Your experiences can be part of our community memories: Submit your pictures to movie@wpaa.tv.

There is no need to wait, submit your first image or clip today.

To recap: Let’s make a ‘community media’ videos together! Your Vision, Our Community: The Power of Contributed Media

Contributed Media means content—specifically pictures and short video clips—that is crowd-sourced from various individuals in our community and then edited/produced collectively to represent many different views around a common idea about Wallingford.
It is defined by:

  • Crowd-Sourcing: Anyone with a camera can submit content (photos of sunsets, nature, or favorite places) via email to movie@wpaa.tv.
  • Collective View: The goal is to move beyond individual social media sharing to see things, like the changing seasons in Wallingford, more collectively.
  • Community Production: The submitted content is used by the #TeenTigerTV youth media program to produce a video that becomes a community memory, which is then shared on social media, cablecast on WPAA-TV, and uploaded to YouTube.

More about Community Media

Did you know, community Media originated before Social Media? In the 1960s, people got together to learning technology to tell local stories. Public Access TV stations popped up across the nation as cableTV expanded. Cable TV is not expanding anymore but the publicly managed resources to create video content still exist. Today, community content creation does not depend on public resources; however, it still requires people coming together in the public interest around an idea.

WPAA-TV and Community Media Center hosts the #TeenTigerTV youth media progam. Our purpose is to serve our viewers, producers, and contributors in the production of content that matters to them and ultimately the public. By providing our tools and stage as a free resource on a 1st, come, 1st serve basis, WPAA-TV celebrates Wallingford every day. Community media can encourage local dialogue, increases discourse around policy issues, foster an understanding of local cultures, and shares information to improve our lives. In Wallingford, we have a space to be brave and safe for all of this. However, Unity begins with U. Let’s share the joy of enjoying everything Wallingford.

In Conversation: Beach and His Contemporaries

WPAA-TV is part of the America250 | CT Commission. “Moses Yale Beach Revealed” is our primary “Doing History” humanities project. This initiative has created several educational resources, including:

  • An all-ages book titled The Check Minus, which features a timeline of Beach’s life.
  • Videos and podcasts like “In His Time: Antebellum America and Moses Yale Beach In His Own Words,” available on the WPAA-TV YouTube channel.

The creative team is planning a dramatization called ‘In Conversation.’ It draws inspiration from Steve Allen’s Meeting of the Minds. Allen had notable historical figures, such as Socrates, Galileo, Marie Antoinette, and Attila the Hun, discuss timeless contemporary issues from their unique perspectives. The goal was accessible history, brought to life in conversation. These conversations about complex ideas shed light on topics from different points in time. Our dramatization will delve into the complex ideas that shaped Antebellum America and inform our understanding of an America Divided, today.

Moses Yale Beach, a native of Wallingford, was a key figure in 19th-century American media and technology. However, information about Beach is scarce. To date, he remains a footnote in history. An avid reader, he was unlike others in the conversations in development, he did not write a biography. However, his decade as publisher and editor of the penny paper The SUN (1838-48) provides us with a pivitol window into mass communication leading up to the Civil War.

A narrator will set the stage for each conversation and potentially add a woman’s perspective to the topic at hand.

Roger Sherman Baldwin (1839) – Amistad Case Attorney
Historical questions: What did “human rights” mean to different classes of white Northerners? How did newspaper coverage shape public opinion on Amistad? On Slavery? On the role of newspapers?
P.T. Barnum (1842) – The Showman
Historical questions: How did these entrepreneurs understand their role in shaping public taste? What’s the line between innovation and manipulation?
Edgar Allan Poe (1844) – Year of “The Balloon Hoax”
Historical questions: Was hoax journalism considered ethical entrepreneurship? How did literary figures navigate commercial publishing?
Willis A Hodges (1846) – anti-slavery activist, newspaper editor, black member Convention 1867-68
Historical questions: Does the Sun shine for all?
Daniel Webster (1849) – The Statesman
Historical questions: How did media figures participate in expansion politics? What compromises did “principled” men make?

More Than a Typo An Update on Heritage Marker Story

✒️ Heritage Marker Inaccuracy is More Than a Typo

At 10 pm on November 11th, an email landed in our inbox: “The marker in the cemetery has been taken care of. The plaque at the school will be attended to.” The next morning, the head of the Wallingford America250 committee replied to the sender, offering thanks for the initiative. This is one year after WPAA-TV’s effort to engage community members about the accuracy of Mr. Beach’s Heritage Markers. There are two: His gravesite and Moses Yale Beach School. Both had Mr. Beach’s date of birth wrong, but a conversation would have revealed the larger concern about ‘Doing History’.

With my anxious dog, RayRay, in the car, I drove into the S Orchard entrance of the Center Street Cemetery. WPAA-TV is located just 250 feet from the gravesite, but since dogs aren’t allowed, I needed to travel by car to verify exactly what “taken care of” meant.

I found, as I suspected, the inaccurate birth date on the Moses Yale Beach marker was treated as a typo. But when it comes to permanent public history, the solutions are rarely as simple as correcting a typo. Omissions and carefully chosen language shape our collective understanding of our past. That’s particularly true for the other marker placed the same day in November 2024, honoring Wallingford’s highly acclaimed native son, Lyman Hall, with no community connection outside of his birthplace. What we should know of the conditions by which he added his signature to the Declaration of Independence is a story for another day.

The Gravesite Heritage Marker Text

For readers who haven’t seen it, here is the full text of the marker installed near Moses Yale Beach’s gravesite:

📜 Moses Yale Beach

Born on January 15, 1800, in Wallingford, Connecticut, emerged as a transformative force in 19th-century American media and technology. After his apprenticeship, at age 18, he started a cabinet making business in Northampton, MA, but soon moved to Springfield where he developed a gunpowder machine for propelling balloons and a plan for steamboat navigation on the Connecticut River, but neither were a success.

However, his next invention was a rag-cutting machine for the paper mills, the design of which was still being used well into the 20th century. In 1834, after having had success in the paper mill industry, he started working for his brother-in-law Benjamin Day as the business and technical manager of the New York Sun. A year later, he bought out Day’s partner and then bought Day’s share in 1838 for $40,000. Under his business and editorial guidance, the four-page, penny newspaper Sun pioneered sensationalism and innovative business strategies, such as the syndicated story in 1841, becoming one of the most widely circulated newspapers of the era. Beach’s visionary pursuits extended into news gathering to be the first with the news of the day. During the Mexican War he employed boats, post riders, rail and the telegraph to get the news a day ahead of his competitors. In 1846, the Sun teamed up with five other New York City papers to form the New York Associated Press.

After his retirement in 1848 due to health issues, he returned to Wallingford, where he became a benefactor to our schools and students by providing funds for school libraries and awarded prizes to students for educational excellence. At the onset of the Civil War, he donated $100,000, a huge sum on that day to the United States government, in support of the Union forces. Thus, when he passed in 1868, he left behind a legacy of early entrepreneurship, journalistic innovation, and technological foresight that shaped the course of 19th-century American communication.

~~

Moses Yale Beach (1800–1868) is correctly identified as a “transformative force in 19th-century American media and technology”. However, the Heritage Marker text, while providing a chronological narrative of his life, misses the opportunity to fully celebrate his greatest institutional achievement—the founding of the Associated Press (AP), among other innovations.

The final sentence of the marker does effectively summarize Beach’s importance, noting he left behind a “legacy of dynamic entrepreneurship, journalistic innovation, and technological foresight”.

Doing History

Doing History is a theme of America250| CT Commission. It refers to engaging with the public and telling more inclusive and complex stories. While focused on those historically left out, Affiliate Projects can improve community understanding through questioning how and who interprets our history.

A Heritage Marker is a piece of public history that shapes our collective understanding of our past. If intended to honor a “native son” for passersbys, should the priority be clarity, accuracy, and a clear connection to the community? History is complex, contested, and sometimes contradictory. How we reveal it, represents us collectively.

With the approved language, dense emphasis on a chronological narrative structure, and omissions one could conclude the marker furthers the “nothing remarkable” tone of Mr. Beach’s local contemporaries. Let’s look at the language.

The Omissions That Matter

The chronological narrative structure buries his most impactful achievement—Founder of the Associated Press—and his local philanthropy. But what caught my attention were the phrases chosen, especially since the President of the Wallingford Historical Society later described Beach as the “mover and shaker behind the New York Sun” and the man who “created the News Service” in a podcast ‘Amazing Tales’. (Transcription)

The Missing Title: Founder

The marker states the Sun “teamed up with five other New York City papers to form the New York Associated Press“.

The phrasing—”teamed up”—seems oddly passive for someone whose visionary pursuits extended into news gathering and whose innovation of employing boats, post riders, and rail gave the Sun the news a day ahead of its competitors. The original AP was formed precisely because other papers needed to share the prohibitive cost of Beach’s aggressive news-gathering methods.

Given that the Associated Press itself has acknowledged Moses Yale Beach as the founder, omitting this designation misses an opportunity to celebrate his most enduring contribution to American journalism.

A more accurate, yet still celebratory, text could read: “… led the effort to found the New York Associated Press” or simply, “… founded the New York Associated Press”.

The Misplaced Label: Why “Sensationalism”?

The marker credits the Sun under Beach’s guidance with pioneering “sensationalism and innovative business strategies“. It’s worth noting that “sensationalism” carries a negative connotation in the history of journalism. The height of “Yellow Journalism” came more than a decade after Beach’s death (1890s). While Beach’s Sun did publish hoaxes—like the Moon Hoax (before his full control) and the Balloon Hoax (authored by Edgar Allan Poe)—these were groundbreaking examples of using the newspaper for literary experimentation and mass entertainment. The marker could focus on what was truly innovative: his aggressive news gathering, literary content, and pioneering modern business models, rather than a term that risks simplifying and dismissing his genius.

Accountability in Public History

A public marker is a piece of public history that shapes our collective understanding of the past. While the marker was an Eagle Scout project, the ultimate responsibility for the text’s factual accuracy and historical interpretation rests with the benefiting community organization (like the Wallingford Historical Society).

When historical errors or omissions (like the AP founder status or role in Mexican American War) are identified, the organization would typically be the one to authorize a correction or replacement.

People will see the marker, not hear the Podcast, for decades to come

The approved Heritage Marker text misrepresents Mr. Beach’s accomplishment, tracking more toward the “nothing remarkable” tone of Mr. Beach’s local contemporaries, which the podcast ‘Amazing Tales‘ surprisingly overturns. Mysteriously, after our years of research and publications, an historical society representative tells a version of Mr. Beach’s Story. Notably, in 2017, when WPAA-TV reached out to the Wallingford Historical Society and the Wallingford Public Library, the only records identified in their holdings were pictures of his former mansion on North Main Street. The library had a few weathered news clippings about the controversy over naming a school after him, the benefactor of the land, when using the street name would be more ‘convenient’. They did not even confirm that the document, which is the source of the birthdate error, was among their holdings: The History of Wallingford by Charles Henry Stanley Davis.

WPAA-TV and Community Media is committed to conversation and stories in the public interest. As an CT250 Affiliate, the Moses Yale Beach Revealed Project is ongoing. The earlier story is here. We had hoped conversations would lead to greater clarity and accuracy in honoring Wallingford’s most transformative historical figures. We’re hopeful that ongoing dialogue will create opportunities for collaboration.

Thanks to @america250ct Commission @CThumanities for a framework that embraces all voices.

As told by Volunteer Executive Director, Susan Adele Huizenga

TeenTigerTV Nominated

Rika Welsh Community Impact Award

About the award:  It recognizes an individual or group—who has generated a project that speaks directly to a clearer understanding of the cause being championed. The content, whether modest or large, would reflect the passion for the goal. Use of PEG resources enables a greater empowerment of purpose and appreciation of the cause championed, concurrent with community media awareness.

Nomination

Nominted by President, Herb Jackson (representing the Board of Directors)

Since 2015, TeenTigerTV has embodied the principle that “Youth-led means U decide how U can make a commUnity impact. Unity begins with ‘U’.” This award-winning program has supported a dozen economically or socially challenged youth annually with a free, flexible summer media production experience that transforms participants’ lives while creating content that resonates throughout the community. Approx. 100 youth have come through the program. Seeing the program recognized because they engaged, learned, and delivered with excellence and authenticity could encourage others to take part and uplift those who will remember their first job, first video, first collaborative experience, or first win.

Based upon the criteria for the award, please give examples of why your nominee should be selected.
TeenTigerTV exemplifies how PEG access resources can empower marginalized voices. Access to tools & stage, mentors, experienced filmmaker & story coaches. The dedication to youth-welcome, youth- led is evident in every aspect—from flexible scheduling that accommodates family vacations to the genuine “You are welcome here” philosophy that creates a supportive environment for youth who may feel marginalized elsewhere. The content champions youth voices. TeenTigerTV participants have created content that speaks powerfully to their lived experiences and community needs.

TeenTigerTV has achieved what the Rika Welsh Award seeks to honor:

1. Clear understanding of the cause: Youth understand they are not just learning video production—they’re claiming their right to community storytelling and civic participation.

2. Passion reflected in content: From mental health advocacy to historical analysis, participants tackle subjects meaningful to their generation with authenticity and courage.

3. Empowerment of purpose: Economically and socially challenged youth discover their voices matter, their stories deserve platforms, and their perspectives can win national recognition.

4.  Appreciation of PEG resources: Participants explicitly recognize the privilege and power of having access to professional equipment and broadcast platforms, often expressing that these opportunities would be otherwise impossible.

5.  Sustainable community impact: Ten years of consecutive operation proves the model’s viability while the awards demonstrate content quality that educates, inspires, and advocates.

How has the nominee served as an inspiration to others in PEG media?  
TeenTigerTV has often been recognized in the Hometown and Nor’Easter Festivals. Their work ranges from modest PSAs to sophisticated documentaries.  All reflect the passion and lived experience of young people using media to process their world. Some advocate for change. Others tell community stories. Some explore how to be in the world, like the First Job Series in the program’s launch year. The interviews continue to be viewed and provide intergenerational insight into a shared experience.

Here is a sampling of recent festival achievements in categories like Access Promotion, PSA, Experimental, Documentary, and Entertainment:

•    “When I Speak Freely” – Multiple awards including ACM National Hometown Award (About Access & Empowerment), WNET Lincoln Center Official Selection, 2nd Place ACM-NE Nor’Easter, and a $2,500 stipend. This powerful piece about youth voice and agency became a national conversation starter about democracy and empowerment.

•  “988 Its Never Too Late” – Multiple awards for this PSA addressing mental health crisis support, demonstrating youth willingness to tackle difficult topics affecting their peers.

•   “Framing Words About Manifest Destiny” – 2024 ACM Hometown winner that blends rap, documentary, and experimental formats to examine complex historical and social themes.

•  “Who, What, When, Why” because the ‘Where’ Is always Wallingford podcast series – 2024 ACM Hometown winner showcasing youth perspective on their community.

•   “What’s In The Bag” – Award-winning community event coverage that documented activism and civic engagement.

•    “Disconnected” – A film examining contemporary digital life and isolation issues facing youth.

We believe TeenTigerTV represents PEG access at its finest—giving marginalized youth the tools, support, and platform to tell their own stories, champion causes they care about, and discover their power as media makers and community change agents. The program doesn’t just teach video production; it transforms young lives while creating award-winning content that amplifies youth voices in conversations where they’re typically absent. Here are two examples of feedback:

The transformative impact is captured in participants’ own words:

“Your guidance and kindness has helped me grow beyond my expectations and given me the confidence and strive to reach past the stars and go beyond… You’ve changed my life and made me happy, and I am eternally grateful.”

Community members recognize the program’s unique value: “I enjoy watching the Teen Tiger TV segments… these folks could very well be the future of broadcasting in our state, we need to get them all the props and support they need and deserve.”

‘What If…’ Fictional Conversations Which Can Illuminate History For Today’s Community Engagement’

MOSES YALE BEACH IN CONVERSATION

The founder of the Associated Press—a man who literally shaped how Americans received their news—wrestled with the same tensions between profit and principle that we face today? An understanding of Antebellum (Pre-Civil War) America, Moses Yale Beach’s lifetime, is more relevant now than ever.

Mr. Beach is a unique lens for examining how information, capitalism, and moral choices shaped American identity.

We’re developing a filmed conversation series for community television that features Moses Yale Beach—AP founder and New York Sun editor (1831-1848)—in dialogue with four Connecticut contemporaries. Consider helping us get the details right about these historical figures so we can collectively explore big questions about capitalism, media, and moral compromise in antebellum America.

This project asks: How do we tell inclusive, truth-based American history that doesn’t flatten complexity? Beach and his peers made choices that built modern media while embedding compromises we’re still reckoning with. Understanding their entrepreneurial motivations alongside their moral blind spots helps us see how systems and institutions develop—and how they might be reformed.

WHY MOSES YALE BEACH MATTERS

Moses Yale Beach is an under-explored figure who shaped America’s media infrastructure:

  • Founded the Associated Press (1846) – The AP News cooperative is 180 years old, and the syndicated News model he pioneered continues to this day
  • Pioneered syndicated news – A single story, multiple platforms, amplified reach
  • Improved printing technology – Print cost reduction enabled mass media to be financially viable
  • Published both sensation and serious journalism – Including coverage of the Amistad case and “The Balloon Hoax”
  • Embodied contradictions – Anti-bank Democratic editorials while founding banks; entrepreneurship alongside moral compromises

A Historical Dialogue Series

A series of four fictional conversations rooted in biographical research and journalism history, featuring Moses Yale Beach (editor of The New York Sun, 1831-1848) in dialogue with:

  1. Roger Sherman Baldwin (1832) – Attorney in the Amistad Case: Legacy, human rights, and the contradictions of liberty
  2. P.T. Barnum (1842) – The Showman: Commerce, spectacle, and what Americans want to believe
  3. Edgar Allan Poe (1844) – The Literary Artist: Truth, deception, and “The Balloon Hoax”
  4. Daniel Webster (1849) – The Statesman: Expansion, war, and the price of compromise

WHY THIS MATTERS NOW

History isn’t just our past—it’s our foundation. We’re still becoming “all people,” which means inclusive history isn’t soft; it’s essential truth-telling. This project challenges the narrative that America’s founding institutions were driven purely by ideological imperialism, revealing instead the complex interplay of entrepreneurship, innovation, and moral compromise that built our information landscape.

THE APPROACH

These conversations are:

  • Grounded in Research: Built on biographical evidence and journalism history
  • Dramatically Structured: Designed for performance (theater, film, podcast, or digital media)
  • Thematically Rich: Exploring capitalism vs. morality, mass communication evolution, and the roots of systemic inequality
  • Connecticut-Connected: All conversation partners have Connecticut ties, allowing for regional interest

THE CONVERSATIONS’ DRAMATIC POTENTIAL

Sherman Baldwin (1832): The weight of legacy. Baldwin descends from Declaration-signer Roger Sherman. How do you honor inherited ideals while confronting their limitations? Beach’s Sun covered the Amistad case—but how deep did his commitment to human rights actually run?

P.T. Barnum (1842): Two entrepreneurs who understood the American appetite. Mining ventures, museum financing, and the birth of modern media spectacle. Where’s the line between giving people what they want and manipulating what they believe?

Edgar Allan Poe (1844): The year of “The Balloon Hoax.” Publisher meets literary artist. Both understood deception as craft. Was it art? Commerce? Journalism? Can we tell the truth through fiction, and if so, what are the consequences?

Daniel Webster (1849): The reckoning. Aristocratic Whig meets Democratic newspaperman. Both compromised their stated principles. The culminating conversation reveals Beach’s role in expansion and war—the ultimate cost of commercial success.

WE NEED CURIOUS & TALENTED PARTNERS

Historians & Researchers: To deepen the biographical foundation, verify period details, and ensure intellectual rigor about the characters and antebellum America

Writers: To craft dialogue that’s historically grounded yet dramatically alive, balancing accuracy with theatrical impact

Actors: To embody these complex historical figures and test the conversations in development

Theater/Film Professionals: Directors, dramaturgs, and designers to help stage at studioW

THE CONVERSATION WE’RE STARTING

This project asks: How do we reconcile the innovation and entrepreneurship that built American institutions with the moral compromises embedded in their foundations? How do we tell stories that humanize history without excusing it?

These aren’t just questions about the 1830s-1840s. These are questions about truth, media, capitalism, and inclusion that we’re still grappling with today.

NEXT STEPS

We’re seeking collaborators who are excited to:

  • Dive deep into primary sources and historical research
  • Craft compelling, performable dialogue
  • Challenge simplified historical narratives
  • Create work that’s intellectually rigorous and dramatically engaging
  • Explore how 19th-century conversations illuminate 21st-century challenges

Project Email: myb@wpaa.tv

Project Status: Development phase, seeking research and creative collaborators.

Target Completion: On or before July 4th, 2026

Connecticut Connections: All subjects have CT ties, so there is potential for CT America250 Partnerships