Blog · Page 2 of 17

There Would Be No Fortunes

What we are is priceless because we are you, but even you do not know that. Every town has community media resources but you can not look up your ‘town’ on the internet and find your community media resources. They could be for your town or a collection of towns. It could be available as a nonprofit or a Dept. in a cable TV company. PSSST We do not call them Cable TV anymore.

Fortune 500, or 100, connectivity companies are rebranded cable TV companies using the same public utility polls to provide contemporary services without paying for the infrastructure costs of the new stuff (i.e. streaming).
Curt Huizenga, WPAA-TV Board Member

Public Utilities Regulatory Authority has failed all CT citizens with insufficient oversight of cable. This industry was deregulated in CT because it is easier to change the minds of legislators than justify failures in court. A wise attorney & advocate of community media affiliated with a nonprofit planning to close due to lack of funds impressed that fact upon me.

Some regulations remain including the promotion of community access services.

(d) Each company or organization shall conduct outreach programs and promote its community access services. Such outreach and promotion may include, but not be limited to (1) broadcasting cross-channel video announcements, (2) distributing information throughout the franchise area and not solely to its subscribers, (3) including community access information in its regular marketing publications, (4) broadcasting character-generated text messages or video announcements on barker or access channels, (5) making speaking engagements, (6) holding open receptions at its community access facilities, and (7) in multitown franchise areas, encouraging the formation and development of local community access studios operated by volunteers or nonprofit operating groups.
https://www.cga.ct.gov/current/pub/chap_289.htm#sec_16-331a (d)

As you can see, it is the cable companies’ legal responsibility to tell you how they are providing community media in every community. If you know enough to be interested in what community media resources are available, you can find some information here. But wouldn’t a search for your town providing facility location, type, and contact information be helpful? PURA is to provide consumer assistance and oversight. PURA’s role is clarified here (updated April 2024) – except you need to know acronyms (CAP, PEGPETIA) to find information about community media.

Deregulation with an Appearance of Progress

CT was the first state to ensure every community had ‘community media’ resources (a.k.a. PEG, Public Education and Government Access). But, BRAVO begins and ends with Public Act 95‐150 – An ACT CONCERNING COMMUNITY ACCESS OPERATIONS. In a forever, David & Goliath struggle, CT has failed to ensure that community media resources are sustainable, accessible, and relevant. Deregulation was codified in 2007. Concurrently, the industry was to keep legacy community media commitments in return for more tax breaks. Connecticut passed PA 07-253, described as “designed to promote cable competition by allowing telecommunications companies to provide video services without having to obtain a time-limited franchise or being subject to rate regulation. Federally, the move to allow the market to allocate resources resulted in the Cable Franchise and Communications Policy Act of 1984 (Cable Act of 1984). By 2003 it was evident that the 1996 Act to deregulate cable rates failed. Consumer cable prices rose three times the rate of inflation and even faster for ‘basic services’ for low-income families.

Deregulation lets market forces work on behalf of the consumer.
MYTH

Resources in Lieu of Taxes: The Illusive Deal

Fortune 500, even 100, companies are legally committed to providing ‘the people’ with access to media technology. Why, because they use public rights of way to deliver their services. Without the cable infrastructure, there would be no cable TV or Internet. No Fortunes.

However, they do not pay for access to you from their profits. Instead, they add a fee to your cable bill (not a tax, because it is their obligation). Community Media operators and volunteers oppose the fee. We believe in your fundamental right to tell your story, engage with your community, encourage youth to be media literate, and in general ‘people over profits’.

More than Rebranding: Legacy Terms As Weapons

Old language and changing technology add to the complexity of our survival in the public interest. Community Media income declines are escalating at a precipitous rate. Cord-cutting, or no interest in a cord by the current generation, decreases the cable TV subscriber population, the population wrongly saddled with the cost of community media. Restricting legislation to legacy terms was a successful tactic in the 2007 deregulation process. ISP protocol was not cable; therefore, the telecom industries’ foray into providing content viewed on television devices was not cable and not eligible for regulation. This use of legacy language effectively limits funds for Community Media. Less cable TV viewers = less community media income.

Technology advances every few months. With every advance, we become less relevant. Declining funds leave much of WPAA – TV and Community Media Center stuck in 2010-2015. Some nonprofit peers are using even older technology. We should be “early technology adopters for all members of our community” with an interest in conversation, storytelling, performance, and other creative pursuits. Instead, we often have less technology than what is readily available in middle-class homes. Some things did not even exist when terms and regulations were defined.

Community Media and Social Media are Not Equal

Corporate platforms & social media are not the same as community media. They are tools, not community resources. Tools that bombard you with requests to Boost. Pay Them. Similarly, we are not just another nonprofit. We are a resource for nonprofits. They have a right to media resources without cost.

The obligation to underwrite most of what we do from the profits of “connectivity” companies is lost on legislators who see themselves as business people. They see the results of an underfunded, deteriorating resource and expect outcomes that were never intended. What they see is not what we have the potential to be. It costs money, money we do not have, to provide what is possible. It takes updated laws to move us forward together. Most legislators have not seen community media making a difference so it is hard to convince them of our purpose & potential. They do not understand our obligation to serve whoever walks in the door. Many legislators have bought into the cable lobby playbook of myths. Our governor also sees himself as a businessman. He was a cable guy. The Governor and Senator Needleman, presumed to be focusing on relevance, fail to see our existence as our relevance. It is up the every community to find the relevance they need from the resources available.

We can not be your future if we have none.

HB5446: Tax Reform for Our Democracy Movement

The bill mentioned in this story will not come to the floor for a vote because it corrects our collective situation with tax reform. It stops the fees. It stops the municipal tax exclusions for these companies and it devises a level playing field for all profiting off of your public rights of way.

Will the cable companies successfully collapse the community media industry before their legacy infrastructure fails to deliver the SD signals they restrict community channels too, or vice versa
Sarcasm that proved to be vice versa for Frontier whose cable customers have not been able to see PEG channels for over 18 months.

CommUnity in Community Media: Our Future Together

After a year of examination of nonprofit community media policies, finances, and operations in a study initiated by a Special Act of the State of CT Legislature, we anticipated solutions to serve you better. On March 7th, House Bill 5446 was raised for consideration by the leadership of the Energy & Tech Committee. It represented the potential of a transformative outcome. The Commissioner of PURA (Public Utilities Regulatory Authority) and OCC (Office of Consumer Council) testified in support. Representative Mushinsky of Wallingford, on the E&T committee, is prepared to add administrative cost-saving modifications on behalf of taxpayers. These changes would simplify annual administrative procedures in a few State of CT Depts and improve the sustainability of nonprofit Community Media, large & small. Unfortunately, the gateway to fair and equitable digital literacy, government transparency, and sustaining community media is ‘tax reform’. Tax is a four-letter word in the world of politics. On 3.21.24 we will know if we made it past the committee process.

Here is the story of WPAA-TV and Community Media Center as told by its volunteer Executive Director Susan Adele Huizenga. She believed that investing in community media could make a difference in a community and the lives of its people. If the state law is updated to ensure the obligations of “Connectivity” companies are kept, community media can contribute to making Connecticut

a place where all families can find hope & opportunity.
Governor Ned Lamont

One Volunteer’s Story | Community Media is a Democracy Movement

We appreciate the dozens of people who signed the petition started by our peers when we expected opposition, but not a battle inside the E & T committee. A direct, less public, writing campaign is in process. Please keep it going. Thank you. Less public, but truly helpful. We appreciate U and all that shared good words over the years.

From Where You Are

Capturing Wallingford from “Where you are!’ and compiling a video for sharing on Local@5 is an initiative to bring people together and archive our community as the people see it.

Local@5 is how we share current community-contributed content.

We hope to see your view of Wallingford on TV.

#wpaatv must comply with copyright law and have permission to use something you create. We can not just take the content you publish to Facebook. Sending to the email movie@wpaa.tv solves this for us and you.

The people of Wallingford have many things in common like seeing the early sprouts of spring, the experience of winter, or beautiful sunsets in many locations in town. You also may have very unique stories to share. All are welcome.

This is called crowd casting. We hope many become familiar with it so that when we have events like Celebrate Wallingford hosted by Wallingford Center Inc. we will be able to capture it as the people of Wallingford experience it.

Until then help us #CelebrateWallingfordEveryday #wpaatv #yourtownoyourstationyourvoice #MorethanTV @followers
11 people contributed to the 1st crowd cast of 2024. Enjoy the video.

The people who guide WPAA-TV into the future: The Board

What is asked of Board Members?

The WPAA-TV Board Member service commitment is 3 years. Attendance at six governance meetings & serve on one committee. The minimum financial contribution is made during the annual #theGreatGive.

Primary Role: Governance (setting strategic direction with operational oversight) and outreach. Outreach includes sharing or commenting on Freeman or wpaa-tv social media posts within your comfort zone.

Your committee service will align with your talents. The standing committees are Technology, Building, and Outreach. The officers are the Governance committee.

Getting to know us

Here is a link to an impromptu tour of the station done in 2017. Hopefully, you will notice some changes when you stop by. In 2018, we began publishing annual video reports which can be found here.

For full transparency, our primary documents including bylaws and policy are on the website. Our people are listed here.

Getting to know you

1^st meeting introduction ritual: “What brings you here?” Please share: 1. How did you come to know us? 2. Something about yourself that may be of value to those working on behalf of WPAA-TV.

What we look for in prospective board members: Community connections, critical skills, and passion for media literacy. Essential skills include Accounting, Tech (server to video production), and facilities management. We feel it is important to have an artist, neighborhood residents or businesses, and people with families with middle school and higher children as their children are our future. Representation of underserved communities is also important to our mission.

If you are unsure about a Board commitment, an advisory role may be a gentle introduction to service. Nonboard members can serve on a committee.

Open Letter to an Art Advocate in Wallingford

I receive your invitation to gather with local arts advocates in Wallingford with mixed feelings. I am frankly exhausted by the Wallingford doublespeak about arts.

As you are aware, there is the Economic Development Council’s WACA initiative’.

Design by Middlesex Community Colege Intern: Michael Humowitz

From our lean college intern resources, we supported WACA outreach in 2020. One intern designed a logo. The gif version of the logo shows a changing color palate to reflect inclusion & diversity within this traditional art image. There were videos produced as well: a long public meeting and a pull-out from the meeting. Recording the meeting was not planned and preceded the work of interns who provided some post-production.

When the logo was sent to the EDC WACA team, the only reply was from the library representative. She said, ‘I love it’. It was later sent to the Social Media Manager for Wallingford Magazine. Again, a positive affirmation. However, Wallingford Mag ran the WACA story without it.

None of the WACA leadership even acknowledged receipt of the logo which left me feeling like I failed the intern who is a Wallingford resident. The intent was for the interns to have portfolio items. All three interns felt I let them down with the assignment to provide WACA support. This left a bad taste, in me, for working with the community people involved. They did complain about the long video which was produced gavel-to-gavel style because it was a public meeting by a quasi-government agency. The pull-out was never used. Our interns were never acknowledged or thanked. We all learned that memorandums of understanding are a critical 1st step to extending services.

WPAA-TV has been the unrecognized arts location in Wallingford since 2015. With public art (mural) by ARCY, a #socialactionart gallery, as a host for theater and award-winning films & animated children’s stories. Our award-winning series MakingIt Artisan$tories also hits a wall locally.

We have been a safe creative place for those who find us since our doors opened in 2010 as intended – to all – after decades of being less than even a traditional public access station. Ironically, I needed to remind the Community Foundation of Greater New Haven, and even you, that we are #MoreThanTV. That performance art is the richest kind. That #socialacionart amplifies advocacy.

Examples from this year’s summer youth program. When I Speak Freely and Place Yourself In History

You may recall that I even reminded you, during your mayoral campaign, that we were an arts space. And then, from behind the camera at the WACA gathering of artists, I expressed the same absence of awareness from everyone’s sight. Of note, not one artist in that room, who was previously unfamiliar with WPAA-TV, most of them, made their way to the station.

Frankly, I have not seen much in the way of acting ‘collectively’ among artists even preceding my involvement with WPAA-TV.

And I am struggling with how to say this nicely. Even your invitation to chat fails to acknowledge 10 years of investment in the creation of an art space in Wallingford at WPAA-TV. Yes, I would love to be part of a thriving creative community. Yes, I would like to envision something bigger. Yes, I will make time, and even space, for conversation. But I will say up front I will not commit to anything that does not fully recognize the past 10 years. Reinventing the wheel is never a good choice. I have a full plate with our arts-full strategic plan. It looks beyond Wallingford for impact because that may be the only way to make an impact.

In 2023, we engaged @Gallery53 artist in Meriden to create a mission mosaic for our outreach. It is in our foyer. The video story is here. On Martin Luther King Day, (Jan 2024) WPAA-TV leadership authorized the naming of the gallery in honor of the fine artist Nelson ‘Carty’ Ford. Nelson Ford would have been 90 on Jan 18th, 2024. Nelson and his wife Ruthie served with Founder (2006) Wilbert ‘Robbie’ Robinson in the minority rights organization Wallingford Coalition for Unity an organization that openly supported the work of WPAA-TV as it sought to find an in-town location.

In honor of his artistry and work with WPAA – TV and Community Media Center.

Original correspondence: As Thanksgiving approached 2021. Updated Jan 2024.

Civic Literacy, Elections, Community Media

Information and civic literacy are the community education focuses of community media. Community education is provided in collaborative support of special video programs, engaging in community forums with questions for clarification, transparency, or fact-finding, and social engagement tagged #civicliteracy #informationliteracy.

And we host a Municipal Get-Out-The-Vote Session during Community Media Week.

This tag was on all candidate videos produced in 2023.

Collaboration with Users: Citizen Mike News & Commentary Since 2010

Municipal elections, held every odd year in Connecticut, have the potential for the greatest impact on everyone’s life. Yet as you will hear in this Citizen Mike interview with the Secretary of the State, Stephanie Thomas, turnout is much lower than in Presidential Election years. Our community of Wallingford is specifically identified.

Let’s Crowdsource a ‘Celebrate Wallingford’ Movie

You, the participants, and Celebrate Wallingford attendees hold one of the keys to a crowdsourced movie in your hands: Your cell phone. And you are probably going to post pictures on social media, right? But what if you could be part of something more celebratory as a community media maker? Would you do it?

Submit Here:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Mk72gx7svjD1P6G8N7Tg1zOJ14GjSFDf?usp=sharing
Freeman P Quinn, 1st #AnyOneCanBeFreeman

What is Crowdsourcing, and how does it apply to making a Celebrate Wallingford movie?

Crowdsourcing is the process of obtaining data from a large number of sources in order to generate a representative outcome. It is often a public project managed by a trusted organization.

More specifically, Crowdsourcing a ‘Celebrate Wallingford’ Movie is the submission of images and videos taken by the participants and attendees of Celebrate Wallingford to a folder in the cloud to be edited by the youth team at WPAA-TV. Most submitted content will be from a cell phone, but users of drones and photographers are most welcome to join in. WPAA-TV’s youth team TeenTigerTV will be the movie editors but you must be the camera crew. Together the community can create a shared memory of Celebrate Wallingford 2023.

We encourage everyone to participate. Submission of an image is concurrently giving permission for its use. The movie will be as good as we collectively make it. You can start by documenting how you get ready, setting up your booths, and preparing your giveaways. We anticipate many pictures of hugs, shaking hands, smiling with friends (maybe even Freeman), and eating comfort food for good causes. All of this is to be celebrated. One person at a time. But a crowdsourced film is celebrating Wallingford collectively as a community.

Community media is different than social media. Social media is you expressing your view from your portal to everyone. Community Media is being part of something bigger than you. It is the coming together of neighbors. Community media has the ability to bring everybody’s ideas and activities together. You may eventually see the movie when it is edited on social media and it will definitely be cablecast on WPAA-TV. It will be made available to the public for immediate enjoyment and archived as a community memory.

Please consider submitting the images and videos you capture during Celebrate Wallingford. We prefer horizontal but any way you take them is fine.

You hold one of the keys to community media in your hands.

What WPAA-TV is doing during Celebrate Wallingford

Beginning at noon on both days, studioW is open for GreenScreen Fun Holiday Message Making
You may see #TeenTigerTV handing out invitations to our Mission In Mosaic Community Media Open House on Oct 21^st which also begins at noon and tells you about the How Well Do You Know Us Contest. The top prize is worth $250.
The #TeenTigerTV young people may be escorting Freeman Penny Quinn, 1^st Free Speech Ambassador for photo opportunities for the young, and young at heart
And maybe best of all: Making the 1^st ever, maybe to be annual, Crowdsourcing the Celebrate Wallingford Movie.

While we encourage you to visit and use the resources of WPAA-TV and Community Media Center at its location at 28 S. Orchard St., there are other ways for you to be the “commUnity” in media. This project and Local@5 are among the ways.

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 encourages local dialogue increases discourse around policy issues, fosters 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 but Unity begins with U. Let’s share the joy of enjoying everything Wallingford has to offer in the Celebrate Wallingford Movie. Let’s begin a tradition.

Wallingford Stories, Yours and Ours #TeentigerTV

Will you accept our inaugural offer for the production of your Wallingford small business story by our #TeenTigerTV crew under the guidance of a professional filmmaker?

Community Funded Youth Program

For a minimum tax-deductible donation of $750 designated to our youth media program the #TeenTigerTV, the #TeenTigerTV team will produce a ‘non-commercial’ story about your connection to Wallingford. Our direct costs for your story will likely be $450. The balance will support staffing Media Mingles Mondays (funding dependent) and community stories produced by the same team. The youth team has access to all the tech resources of WPAA-TV and Community Media Center available to community producers at no charge. Multiple versions of your story or the inclusion of drone footage can be discussed if desired for a larger contribution.

Last year’s award-winning summer youth program was recognized in three national festivals and the public service PSA ‘Call 988 It is Never Too Late‘ is approaching 30,000 views. Have you seen it? Pls, watch and share. You can save a life.

WPAA-TV must raise $15,000 per quarter to cover operational costs for all aspects of the #TeenTigerTV program. This includes extending part-time positions to two qualifying youth from the summer Workforce Alliance program. That program has economic and/or social criteria for participation.

For a minimum tax-deductible donation of $750 designated to #TeenTigerTV your story can be our youth media-makers story.
When making a difference is a win.

Support & Training Only (WPAA-TV is not a media production house or news agency)

WPAA-TV does not produce TV except through this program. Community Media is made by and for the people of Wallingford with our shared resources and technical assistance. Local short stories are cablecast during Local@5 weekdays beginning at 5 p.m. These business stories by #TeenTigerTV will be featured in Local@5.

You can also submit video footage you capture on your phone as a local story. The criteria for submission can be found here.

Commitment: A Higher Level of Support

Our Reply About Commitment

Does the CAP have an agreement to provide a level of support higher than that set by the standards in Conn. Agencies Reg. § 16-331a-11?
Public Utilities Control Authority Question 41 Study per SA 22-23, Special Act 22-23 authorizes a community media study. The study proposal first appeared as a ‘strike all amendment’ of Senate Bill 278 on the last day of a robust 2022 Connecticut Legislative Session. The amendment substitutes immediate action, modifying regulations, with a study.

An agreement implies two parties. We have a commitment to provide a level of support to our community that is higher than the standards set by the regulations. And, we took the directive to provide what other Wallingford channels do not provide in the 2002 franchise renewal seriously.

Our ability to do more began in 2013 with having full-time staffing for the 1^st time. Capabilities expanded in 2014 when the nonprofit ‘Mission Continues’ paid for a veteran to be on staff with us for 6 months. The veteran continues to be P-T staff. We pay it forward by selecting up to 5 community organizations to receive additional video production support or use of our resources for non-television creation purposes.

In 2015,

Our building displayed the 1^st public art mural in town. Another mural was produced with a community program at our location and is installed on the other side of town.
We have hosted a workforce training program for youth that are economically or socially disadvantaged during the summer (except for 2019-20, pandemic related).

In 2017,

the Governance Team adopted a MORE.THAN.TV strategic plan.
We have a gallery that raises money for housing and food-insecure programs and we are a drop-off location for donations
We run movie challenges, underwrite festival fees for our awesome producers, and do not ask local businesses for donations, instead, we shop local.
We have hosted three different theater companies, one nine-episode 180-day film project, and several other local film crews on an as-needed requests basis (mostly for our green screen)
Our hybrid-enabled community room is available upon request. We receive referrals from the library that has a once-a-year use policy. It has been used by condo associations, advocacy group training, and writer’s groups.
We have an area prepped by local teens in 2018 for their use as a social gathering space. They create music videos and podcasts or just hang out

In 2022,

We collaborated with a puppeteer and filmmaker to produce a Puppet Film to address the need for Active Shooter Training for Pre-K to 5^th grade.

In addition, we recognize that some content is not time limited. Evergreen content is remastered for the podcast: As Told Here WPAA-TV. This has been useful to the AA community which produces a 30-minute segment once a year. Podcasts have extended our reach by at least 15%.

A project committed to Wallingford and its People. Is there a Wallingford Person Place or Thing that you believe needs their story told? You can do that and maybe win prizes too.

WPAA-TV Turns 30

They say it’s my B’day. Celebrate with me. Subscribe to @wpaatv on YouTube. Retrospective content will be cablecast on Saturdays from 8 to 11 p.m. this year. A few videos have some of these questions embedded with clues.

To be eligible to win: You must be an @wpaaTV YouTube subscriber, WPAA-TV FB Follower, and Freeman P. Quinn‘s friend. Submit answers to Email

Three winners will be recognized at

the ‘Community Media Day’ Event on Oct 21st.

Winners will receive wpaatv swag of their choice,

and … you must play to find out.

What year was WPAA incorporated as a nonprofit?
What former WPAA employee became an EMMY Award-winning Editor?
What former WPAA Producer was among the 1st to earn $100,000 on YouTube?
What video produced at WPAA-TV has the most views?
What video produced at WPAA-TV has the most awards?
What award-winning children’s show is featured on WPAA-TV?
What local producer hosted the most shows in WPAA’s History?
What local personality hosted the most shows on WPAA
What award-winning program features women’s stories?
Who is located at our former Center St. address?
What is the most important room at 28 S Orchard St?
What is the name of the Gallery at WPAA-TV and Community Media Center
What production at WPAA-TV involved over 75 people?
What is the name of the Tiger in the ARCY Mural?
Can you name all the colleges that had interns at WPAA-TV?
Whose show is this (musicians Thursday at 9 @2005)
Who is the watercolor artist?
Who is the mural artist who created Hercules?
What local event was covered annually for over a decade?
Who played the Ompa Loompa?
What year was the move to 28 S Orchard?
How many miles of Cat 5 is in the wall?
How many shows does WPAA Produce?
What type of shows are on WPAATV?
What is the Cable Channel you can be watched on?
Are there audience welcome events?
Who was the most famous musician to perform at studioW?
1st address
Who is the mascot?
What is your Favorite Program