Transmission Project

TINCAN provides education and support for social, economic and community development for the Inland Northwest region through the use of information technology and interactive media. We create online content of value to the local community;
develop collaborative training and education utilizing online resources; and
collaborate with local partners to provide access to digital technologies for those who might otherwise not be able to benefit from online information

At People’s Production House we are fulfilling the promise of citizen and community journalism by closing the gap in skills and access.

We believe a diverse, ethical, and independent media is an essential element of social change and we believe that historically excluded communities must be protagonists in media democracy. Our work combines media creation, media policy education and media organizing to preserve and expand the free press so central to America’s identity and democracy.

PPH is run and staffed by journalists and community organizers from historically excluded communities. Our projects are unique as we bring together two of the best American traditions: community organizing and independent media creation, to build a community of media organizers: media literate youth and workers who can create and demand a media that functions in their interests.

CAN TV provides coverage of events relevant to the local community and gives every Chicagoan a voice on cable television by providing video training, facilities, equipment, and channel time for Chicago residents and nonprofit groups. CAN TV’s five local, noncommercial cable channels CAN TV19, 21, 27, 36 and 42 reach more than one million viewers in the city of Chicago.

The City of Chicago established CAN TV in 1983 to maximize involvement of Chicago residents and groups in cable television. Since then, CAN TV has provided training, equipment and channel capacity to assist thousands of people. Local residents and groups create over 140 hours each week of original programming for cablecast on five, noncommercial CAN TV channels. Low cost, easy to use services pioneered by CAN TV help Chicago nonprofits use CAN TV for public education, referrals, and recruitment. Those services include an interactive bulletin board that viewers can call for information, a 24/7 channel with “news you can use, and a live call-in studio where local experts answer viewer questions, make referrals, and do public education. Local nonprofits attest to the effectiveness of addressing poverty-related conditions through use of cable television. Low-income residents can access information about immigration, housing, health, jobs, domestic violence, and legal assistance.

In its tenth year, the Urbana Champaign Independent Media Center (UCIMC) is a grassroots organization committed to using media production and distribution as tools for promoting social and economic justice. The UCIMC fosters the creation and distribution of media, art, and narratives emphasizing underrepresented voices and perspectives, and promotes empowerment and expression through media and arts education. To this end, we own and operate a Community Media and Arts Center located in the historic post office building in downtown Urbana, Illinois. The Center includes a radio station, media production studios, a performance venue, art gallery, artist in residence studios, a library, public access computer labs, bike repair center, and meeting spaces. The UCIMC runs a 24/7 low power radio station, publishes a monthly newspaper, operates a daily website, and hosts numerous community listservs, all freely available to the community.

The UCIMC is strongly supported by and embedded in communities with little access mainstream media. The roots of poverty lay in a lack of access to participation in the decisions that affect one’s life, including the decisions about the allocation of resources and power. The UCIMC works to eradicate poverty through empowering residents to “become the media” - amplifying unheard voices, inspiring and uniting those who work for change, and helping to shift and reframe public discourse. For example, residents pressing for the clean up of a toxic waste site in their neighborhood used UCIMC-facilitated investigative journalism and organizing to get the city and EPA involved in cleaning the site.Over 44,000 free books have been shipped to Illinois prisoners through UCIMC’s Books to Prisoners program. The UCIMC is an official Community Technology Center in Illinois and is a key partner in our community’s NTIA application that was just awarded $22.5 million for broadband infrastructure.

National Radio Project heightens public consciousness, broadens debate on critical social issues, and encourages civic participation, by giving voice to diverse perspectives and opinions underrepresented in the mass media. We also help grassroots groups access the change-making power of media and provide a national platform to amplify their work.

Our weekly syndicated radio program “Making Contact” provides information and positive solutions to problems of poverty, racism, unemployment, and other socio-economic issues in the diverse rural, suburban, and urban communities where “Making Contact” is broadcast or heard online.

Local voices through community media – engage, connect, educate.

Our Vision (as outlined in the Strategic Plan) is to establish Access Humboldt (AH) as an innovative, self-sustaining and trusted media resource for residents of Humboldt County, to reach diverse community members who will utilize local media access resources to engage in meaningful conversations that increase participation in civic life, to support and enhance digital media production as a growing industry that supports a continually improving quality of life, and to enable North Coast residents to be among the most media literate people in the world – sharing new ideas and advanced methods to empower local voices for significant positive impact on society.

AH is committed to providing access to communication tools for all residents of Humboldt County regardless of geography, income or skill level. This principle overrides all of the programs of AH. These programs include the operation of four television channels on the local cable line-up, production equipment & facility use for creation of digital media, public computers for development and distribution of digital media, and classes & workshops in the creation, development, distribution and archiving of digital media.

AH is a founding partner in Digital Pathways, a digital media training project committed to developing sustainable training, skill-sharing and workforce development services in collaboration with the Bay Area Video Coalition, the County Workforce Investment Board, the Northern California Indian Development Council and local education institutions. Digital Pathways provides media production vocational skills and practical work experience opportunities for at-risk youth.

The Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC) was founded in 1976 by a coalition of media makers and activists who wanted to find alternative, socially relevant applications for a new technology - PortaPak video. Since then the technology has radically changed, but BAVC’s mission to inspire social change by enabling the sharing of diverse stories through art, education and technology, and our belief that telling compelling stories is powerful for both maker and audience, remains unchanged. Over the last 34 years, we have developed an entrepreneurial web of programs and services that bring together a multi-generational mix of artists, experienced media professionals, educators, low-income youth and adults, and industry partners in this pursuit. In 2009, BAVC acquired operations of San Francisco’s public access television station. We envision public access as a suite of community services which include broadcast channels, as well as a robust online service with numerous channels and tools.

BAVC has a long history of serving Bay Area low-income youth and adults. Currently, we engage 300+ low-income and at-risk youth per year through fully-subsidized digital arts training programs and paid externships, providing them with college credits and postsecondary employment opportunities. We also offer state-subsidized technical training to thousands of qualifying adults. Through public access television, we provide a public service that draws participation from all walks of life. In our first few months of operations, we supported multiple producers with disabilities, senior citizens, after-school groups, faith-based groups, homeless producers, veterans, activists, artists, and countless unemployed and low-income members of our community, and increased producer membership by over 35%. We seek to diversify and expand the producing community and audiences, and to encourage media literacy and journalistic standards among San Francisco’s diverse community of citizen journalists.