Community Video Report (Autumn 1974)

A publication of The Washington Community Video Center Volume two, number two Top Value Television hits Dee Cee with video By Gerardine Wurzburg In 1973, the Guru Maharaj Ji brought his followers to the Houston Astrodome. The conventional media ignored the event. A group called TVTV, based in San Francisco, was there. Using portable '4” black-and-white video and a |” colour system, 24 people covyered the event. The subsequent non-fiction piece ‘Lord of the Universe’, set a precedent as the first national broadcast to originate on half-inch. Beginning with their porta-pak coverage of the 1972 political conventions (‘Four More Years’), TVIV attempted “to demonstrate... what good alternate television might look like.” At that time they had hope in the future of cable and were concerned that broadcast television would use their “style as just another commodity.” Since then cable has failed to emerge as a strong alternative program market, and TVTV has developed a satisfying relation with several individuals in broadcast television. “We consider ourselves journalists with a viewpoint of the world” said Megan Williams of TVTV. The flexible shooting style inherent in portable video technology has been an important part of TVTV’s work. As _ the availability of that equipment has spread, TVTV, with their usual edge on the future, has become known for their style of ‘non-fiction’ television, rather than a format. The Genesis of ‘Gerald Ford’s America’ For a long time they have wanted to set up an alternative news bureau in Washington, D.C. After completing ‘Lord of the Universe’ in 1973, David Loxton, Director of the TV Lab at WNET/ 13 in New York, and co-producer of Lord, asked them what they wanted to do next. At that point Watergate was culminating, and TVTV prepared to come to Washington to cover possible impeachment proceedings. Theory and Practice of Community TY, Ill Step right up for a new fantasy, folks! By Nick DeMartino A community-owned television station! It was ata community meeting last year that the seed was planted in my mind—a meeting not unlike thousands which have happened before. I was showing a videotape about housing conditions in.our neighborhood to a local community action group—the kind of activism-cum-media that had been generated by the video movement since its sudden blossoming in the late 60s. One woman who had been visibly impressed by the tape looked over at me and said, quizzically, “Well, I just think this is grand. When can you get it on the TV?” I guessed | figured at the time that every video person had been confronted with that same question and found themselves laboriously explaining the technical problems of broadcasting half-inch tape—not to mention the difficulties in gaining access to the airwaves. My lengthy explanation stemmed from the conventional wisdom: you gotta own the TV station to get on it. And, of course, we all know that you have to be a millionaire to own a TV station. As it turns out, not veryone had this myopic view of the situation, for in the past year some proposals have been made that offer real-live models. for low-cost, over-the-air broadcast stations. They include: —An application to the FCC to operate Channel 40 in St. Louis, Mo., asa community oriented “public access” TV station by Double Helix Corporation, organized by people who had run listener supported radio KDNA. —An application to the FCC for Channel 48 in Los Gatos, California, near San Jose, by the Fessenden Fund, for a similar accessoriented TV station that would be built around a warehouse studio, by Fessenden Fund—formed by alternative radio owners Lorenzo Milam and Jeremy Lanzman. —An application which awaits final draft for Channel 25 in Watsonville, California, near Santa Cruz, by community video people organized by Allan Frederickson—AKA Johnny Videotape. In addition, there are several other projects in various stages of operation which propose other non-traditional approaches to TV broadcasting. “It’s hard for people—even video people— to grasp the concept of building a TV station as something they can do themselves,” says Betsy Ross TVTV crew hangs out at La Casa Blanca. Nixon resigned, Ford stepped in, and TVTV arrived to do, ‘Gerald Ford’s America’. With their equipment and offices in a townhouse several blocks from the White Frederickson. “TV in this country has become a business of making lots of money by relaying network color video programming into a town and adding news. It has, as we all know, little to do with public service or the potential of EVE [See COMMUNITY TV, page 2] Cable policy changing De-regulation Push A major effort within the cable television industry and the Federal Communications Commission is underway that could bring considerable change to the regulations that have governed cable since March, 1972. Appearing under the designations “Reregulation” or “de-regulation” (depending on who’s describing the process), the drive has the ultimate goal of eliminating as many of the regulatory restrictions on the profitability of cable television development as possible. Most priority issues are hardly new within the industry: rules dealing with restrictions on pay-TV, non-duplication, mandatory origination and exclusivity have been targets of the cable operators and their allies from almost the moment they were passed into law, and are subjects of current or recently completed FCC rulemaking procedures. New is the heightened optimism and sense of power in the industry that nurtures the hope that the FCC will further respond to the cablemen’s other economic needs. Such optimism has lead industry spokesmen to target on new goals, including: —the FCC’s requirements for technical upgrading of all systems by 1977, which would mean significant re-building of capital plant; —the provision for dedicated access channels for public, educational, and municipal users; [See RE-REG, page 4] FCC Dumps Origination The FCC has eliminated its long-dormant mandatory local origination rule and adopted new rules requiring any cable system with 3,500 or more subscribers to have equipment available for local cablecasted programs, including non-operator production—commonly called public access. Thirty days hath November—and almost as many cable TV developments. In addition to Re-regulation and Origination issues, the industry faced imminent action on copyright in the Congress and a Pay-TV ruling (of sorts) at the FCC. We will feature major stories on these subjects in our Jan. issue. In addition, the Commission will soon rule on crossownership. The new rules, which also apply to conglomerate systems commonly owned, technically integrated with 3,500 or more subscribers, do not apply to cable operators who are subject to existing public access channel requirements. That includes cable systems in the top 100 markets. Those which were “grandfathered” from the 1972 rules must comply by Jan. 1, 1976. The rule doesn’t require cable systems to dedicate a channel exclusively for access, but rather permits use of blacked out or origination channel space which is available. (See ORIGINATION, page 4) House, and their living spaces in the same northwest quadrant of the city, they dug themselves in for production work, this fall. The staff for this production, included the regular TVTV crew, Michael Couzens, Hudson Marquez, Allen Rucker, Michael Shamber, and Megan Williams; the occasional or frequent assistance of N.Y. independents Wendy Appel, Frank Cavestani, Paul Goldsmith, Jody Sibert, and Elon Soltes; Lanesville Videofreex’s Skip Blum, Nancy Cain, and: Bart Friedman; and Anda Korsts, of Videopolis, Chicago. The technicians were Wilson Chou, and Steve Conant; Mary DeOreo, a former Watergate investigator, worked as a researcher; and Betsy Ross was the still photographer. In addition to this Washington production crew, there were a couple of video people in Oregon who were following a high school current events class as they responded to events that TVTV would be covering in Washington. Production Style “Gerald Ford’s America” was first envisioned as a single program, but as the production and events unfolded they formulated it as a four-part series: the Presidency, the Social Scene, the Press, and Congress. Each tape had its own group of people shooting and editing it. Usually there would be 2-3 people shooting, and one editor. Each evening the editors would get together and talk about what was coming in. The tapes were also checked for time base error, and logged. This flexible distribution of labour stands far apart from network groups where only a correspondent talks, and the cameraman (rarely woman) is seen and never heard. As media people covering the President, TVTYV joined the ranks of the White House Press Corps, but their production style and focus caused a slight upheaval in the traditionbound press corps. When TVTV’s camera pointed at the press rather than the President, one member of the press corps called it ‘unethical’. The network had a lighting pool which everyone contributes money to for lights. During a shoot, a network man wanted to know if TVTV had kicked in their share. They had not, and were threatened with a loss if they did not. “We don’t need the lights anyway, we have low light level cameras.’ The lights stayed on and TVTV had more than a satisfactory picture. There were also more light hearted encounters, and their equipment was a common ground that fascinated the network technicians. ~ ' [See TVTV, page 6]