Philadelphia Community Access Coalition
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MS. SHEEHAN: My name is Anne Sheehan. I'm the Executive Director of the Berks Community Television in Reading, Pennsylvania. I understand that you've all seen a little bit of public access in Reading, and I'd like to talk to you about what else that goes on in Berks Community Television.

Some of you, as I said, may already be familiar with us and may have heard about BC TV through other organizations. Some of you have never heard of us, and some of you are acquainted with us through a tape that I understand has been making the rounds of City Council lately, about Reading Public Access.

Berks Community Television is the umbrella organization that includes Reading Public Access. We're a 501c.(3) nonprofit organization which offers live interactive programming on Time Warner and Service Electric Cable Systems in Berks County.

Our programming is carried as a basic service on the two cable systems at no additional cost to their subscribers. We're located in downtown Reading, in the world headquarters of Exide Corporation.

The franchise agreement between Time Warner and the City of Reading made provisions for public educational and government access channels and also made provisions for the city to designate an access challenge manager. Because of our history, our success, and our capabilities, Berks Community Television was named the access channel manager for the city to be responsible for all aspects of managing and programming the public and government channels. The educational channel is programmed by area school districts and the Reading Area Community College.

The mission of Berks Community Television is to enhance the unity and strength of the community by providing a medium for community dialogue and educational opportunities, a source of information of local, national, and international origin, and a forum for the exchange of ideas on issues and topics of community interest.

In our role as access channel manager for the government channel, we manage the Municipal Access Channel, or MAC. Programming on MAC includes live, gavel-to-gavel coverage of biweekly Council meetings and workshops, meetings of the Planning Commission, Zoning Hearing Board and Historical Architectural Review Board, Community Development Block Grant hearings, City Recreation League games, and informational programs about urban issues and city governments -- and, yes, City Councilmembers in Reading do have their own programs.

When we talk about BC TV, which is the community access channel, I want you to know that we cablecast 30 hours of live interactive volunteer-produced programming every week separate from the ten or so hours we cablecast on MAC. Programs on BC TV range from the arts to world affairs and everything in between, including weekly meetings of the County Board of Commissioners, programs about ethnic and cultural diversity, Town Meetings with our state legislators, programs that address concerns of senior citizens, national issues, poetry, candidates' forums, election returns, and homework help.

BC TV provides a direct link between agencies such as the Berks County Office of Aging, the Berks AIDS Network, and the Local Community action Program. And those that they serve and for many agencies, BC TV is a major medium for dispersing information, just as MAC is a major medium for the city to get information to its citizens.

The other television component of Berks Community Television is Reading Public Access. We manage public access for the city as we do MAC and BC TV. We've received some notoriety through Reading Public Access, which is cablecast on the same channel as BC TV and managed in the same location.

Public access is not a bad thing. Public access takes the old Town Square soap box and makes the soap box electronic. And I'd like to know what is wrong with freedom of speech and why everyone seems to be afraid of it. If there's something that you don't like on television, you can turn it off or you can change the channel. Or on public access, you could do your own program. All public access does is say to ordinary people, Here's some communication tools, we'll teach you how to use them and hope that you do so responsibly.

It's interesting that in Berks County, very few every people use Reading Public Access, but every nonprofit that has a message to communicate or that needs to engage the community in dialogue uses BC TV. When there's a community crisis or an issue to discuss, residents of Berks County know that they can turn on BC TV and not only hear from experts on the subject, but they can also ask questions and offer ideas and suggestions.

And every individual, young or old, who wants to lower than how to operate a TV camera and work in studio comes to BC TV to volunteer. There are over a thousand hours of live programming on BC TV every year. That's an amazing amount of live television. It's all done by real people who are involved in their community, and they volunteer to do it.

There are so many choices in media today. One of the greatest services that public access offer is at its local. I urge you to get Philadelphia moving on public access for your own benefit as public officials and for your constituents. Don't be afraid of what people will say or do if given the opportunity to use the television medium. It may be amateurish to some and it may be boring sometimes, and you may not always agree with what you see and hear, but it's very real and it provides an invaluable service in terms of connecting people to their local community.

I would like to take this opportunity to invite you to come to Reading and visit us at Berks Community Television, meet some of the people who use this wonderful communication system, talk to your Reading counterparts, and then come back to Philadelphia and build on what we have in Reading and in other cities all over the country. We would be very happy to help you.

Thank you.

COUNCILMAN COHEN: Thank you.

(Applause.)

COUNCILMAN COHEN: The Chair wants to acknowledge the presence of Councilman Nutter.

COUNCILMAN NUTTER: Thank you. Are they taking questions now?

COUNCILMAN COHEN: After we get through the panel.

COUNCILMAN NUTTER: Okay, no problem.

COUNCILMAN COHEN: Please identify yourself for the record.

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