Eye on the sparrow: Community access television in Austin, Texas.

摘要

The introduction of cable television and the attendant technological capability to offer virtually unlimited channelspace provides a unique opportunity for municipalities to give citizens increased access to the electronic media. Studies of the community press and radio suggest that use of local media by audiences is related to increased involvement in community activities. Supporters of community access television have long contended that access television is valuable due to its local nature and its alternative program offerings. However, there are few comprehensive studies of access television usage. The access system in Austin, Texas is an established and relatively well-financed system that offers public access, educational access and municipal access programming. As a "flagship" system, it is an appropriate site for examining usage of community television. In the spring of 1987, 425 cable subscribers in Austin were contacted by phone and interviewed about their viewership of commercial and community access cable channels. In October of that year, 111 public access producers responded to a mail survey that assessed their production activities. And throughout the summer and fall of 1987, community leaders were interviewed in-person and by phone to assess their perceptions of access usage by the constituencies that they represent. Frequencies, correlations and regressions were run and discriminant analysis was performed to measure the use of access capabilities by both viewers and producers. To contextualize these findings, literature on other community media was reviewed, the rise of access television in Austin was put into historical perspective and the access programming on Austin's community channels was analyzed. A significant percentage of the subscriber-base (43%) viewed some access programming although viewing was generally light. Compared to subscribers who did not view access, access viewers exhibited higher levels of community involvement and sampled more programming on PBS and the Arts & Entertainment channel. Access producers invested considerable time and money into the production of 900+ hours of original programming in the sample year and produced with a variety of target audiences in mind. These producers indicated that they produced access programming out of a general interest in video, out of a desire for personal expression or out of a desire for social change. Community leaders described some of the uniques uses of access services that were emerging in Austin.