There Are Some Real Alternatives To Commercial Television

There are some real alternatives to commercial television

, but the story of the Deep Dish Television Network illustrates just what a struggle it is to create and maintain alternative programming. Originally, public, educational, and government access channels (PEG) were created to open up new outlets for local expression, promote added diversity in television programming, advance educational and instructional television, and increase information about the services and activities Thomas Sabo Charms of local governments. Between 1979 and 1984, the federal government adopted a hands-off policy toward access, and many stations were threatened with elimination. The Cable Communications Act of 1984 saved public access cable television by asserting the basic right of all communities to have access to and representation on cable systems. In addition, in Capital Cities, Inc. v. Crisp (1984), the Supreme Court ruled that the state could not place content restrictions on signals sent to local cable systems. This guaranteed freedom from censorship to access channels.

Beginning in 1986, the Deep Dish Television Network became the first public access satellite network. "The First National Public Access Satellite Project" was a ten-part series that aired in hour-long shows over a ten-week period starting in April. Compiled from over 20,000 hours of locally produced programming, the series incorporated almost half of the 360 tapes received from local access stations, and it aired on at least 186 cable stations in the United States, reaching viewers in all but eight states. The first program was devoted to information about public access. Those that followed each had a different subject, ranging from domestic labor and housing crises to international relations and issues of concern to women, minority groups, and children.

The 1988 season included programs about labor, Latino experiences and images, farming and agriculture, war and militarism, communication across national borders, perspectives on AIDS, the use of humor and theater to promote social change, understanding Central America, and videos produced by and about young people (mostly teenagers) and older people. Two hundred and fifty access stations in forty-three states ran the second season, and Deep Dish Television calculated that it had reached more than 12 million U.S. households.

Two series were aired in 1990. The first ad-dressed the rise of "hate programming" on public access channels and included programs that detailed specific incidents of as well as community responses to programming by "hate groups." The second series addressed the relationship between environmental issues and racism, labor, and particular groups of socially, politically, or economically disadvantaged people. Other programming during that year aroused controversy, particularly programming concerned with U.S. propaganda illegally broadcast to Cuba, excerpts from Cuban Thomas Sabo Bracelets television, and a live address by former Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega after he lost his bid for reelection in February 1990.b Deep Dish programs are far from neutral; they are meant to raise awareness and generate questions in the minds of viewers. Accordingly, many are offensive to some audience members. In spite of the controversy aroused in 1990, Deep Dish received an NEA grant for its 1991 spring season for a series "Behind Censorship: The Assault on Civil Liberties."

by: Kevin Garnnet

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