Advantages of Public Access

[Jobs] | [Urban Blight] | [Social Services] | Public Health] | Minority Representation] | [Education] | Local Arts & Culture]

Creates Jobs

• Construction and telecom jobs will be created in building the ten access centers
• High-tech, administrative, and other jobs will be created to maintain the access centers
• Kids will prepare for high-tech careers by producing digital video on computers and publishing video both on-the air and via the Internet.
• Adults will re-tool their skill sets to acquire high-tech media and computer skills.
• Residents will start their own companies in video production, web site design, or on-line business.
• Job training and placement organizations will use Public Access to advertise their services and provide helpful training programs on-air.

Curbs Urban Blight

• Public Access will keep kids engaged, productive, and off the streets. Kids will get valuable experience in video and web site production.
• Public Access will strengthen Philadelphia’s famous neighborhoods by allowing them to produce their own programming, reflecting their own cultures and concerns.
• Public Access will strengthen immigrant communities by allowing them to create programming in their own language, which makes Philadelphia a more appealing place for them to live.
• Public Access will make Philadelphia a more appealing place to live for many people with special interests, in the same way that museums, art galleries, theaters, and other cultural institutions do.

Enhances Government & Social Services

As advocated in the Mayor's own Transition Committee Reports,
• Portions of City Government like the Public Health Department or Parks and Recreation could use Public Access to get out important messages in an efficient and inexpensive way. The City could also use Public Access to publicize accurate, timely information about Welfare-to-Work programs and requirements.
• SEPTA could post information (in different languages) about scheduling and service changes.
• Organizations like women’s shelters, after school programs, and seniors centers could use Public Access to outreach their message, allowing them to focus resources on delivery of their services.
• Public Access could air programs on job training, workplace safety, worker participation and GED preparation.

Promotes Public Health

As advocated in the Mayor's own Transition Committee Reports,
• Ethnic communities are the most at-risk for health problems and have the lowest access to information. Public access would help rectify that fact.
• Public access can carry public health messages that are culture and language specific, and bypass cultural stigmas surrounding discussion on health issues.
• Public access can provide alternative programming that would counteract the irresponsible messages about sexual behavior found on commercial television.
• TV messages from within a community are very effective at changing health behavior of that community.

Improves Minority Representation

• Commercial media continually ignores or misrepresents minority communities. There is very little programming for or about African-American, Asian and Latino communities, women, or the elderly. Public Access would allow minorities to generate positive images of themselves, tell their own stories and represent themselves in honest and real manner.
• Women are constantly bombarded with images of beauty that are often unhealthy and unattainable. There are very few media messages that communicate a positive, self-accepting view of women; and acceptable roles for women in society are still narrowly defined by traditional media.
• Statistics indicate that racial and cultural minorities, as well as seniors are not as likely to have access to technology tools and training. Public Access would help to put minority communities on equal footing.
• Public Access would provide valuable training opportunities that would help stimulate neighborhood business. Local residents could take their skills and start their own businesses in video production, web site design, on-line businesses, or other related fields.

Augments Public Education

• Modern youth are extremely media savvy. Young people are eager to use technology and can readily adapt to expressing themselves through electronic media. Public Access offers a head start for young people in the rapidly growing field of communications in general, not just television.
• Many youth not motivated by standard teaching methods can be engaged in the learning process through "cool" media-related projects such as producing their own videos, web sites and computer animation.
• Some of the skills used to create Public Access media involve organizing, planning, fleshing out ideas and working as a team. These are directly translatable to school and professional work.
• Youth expressing their views in a powerful media encourages participation in constructive activities and a healthy exchange of ideas as opposed to other antisocial alternatives.

Supports Local Arts & Culture

As advocated in the Mayor's own Transition Committee Reports,
• With numerous arts colleges in the area, Philadelphia is full of artists – actors, dancers, performers, film and video makers, designers, animators, etc. This potential source of rich local programming could be a source of pride for the city.
• Through Public Access, local artists and arts institutions can gain more exposure by reaching a wider audience. Familiarizing new people with the work of particular artists or cultural institutions helps to develop a public audience that would be more likely to patronize live and more varied cultural venues to support local arts.
• As a vehicle for creative expression, Public Access fosters the development of independent artists that would infuse the local arts industry with new creativity. Public Access would help the established arts infrastructure to grow and better complement other economic development strategies such as tourism, the Regional Performing Arts Center and the Avenue of the Arts.
• Entertainment is now one of the most valuable exports of the USA. Any city that fails to fully encourage its local entertainment industry will be at a competitive disadvantage in the future. The City has begun to market itself as a film town. Public Access would provide more training and production resources for local filmmakers and tech crew, which could really put Philadelphia on the map of the film industry.