Community Video Report (Autumn 1974)

URGENT LETTER TO OUR READERS [atiherd This is the last issue of Community Video Report. Before you get alarmed, dear subscriber, let us say that CVR will be incorporated into a new publication that will make its first appearance in February. Your subscription will be transferred. TeleVisions is the working title we have selected for our new, national monthly of alternative media. Like its predecessor, TeleVisions will emphasize people-oriented communications, only its scope—as the title implies—will be much broader than just community video. TeleVisions will cover progressive developments in broadcast TV, health and social service communications, the arts, new technologies, federal policy and _ regulation, libraries and education, women and minority uses of media, as well as community video, new hardware, print resources and publications. Plus, we will be getting more and more into investigative reporting in the communications field. Why the changes? As you may know, Community Video Report has been largely a labor of love for the WCVC staff. The publication never even covered printing costs, much less our time. This fall we decided that the Center could no longer subsidize the publication, that it Our appeal to you is a very serious one. Without your help, this magazine will never get off the ground. We have give our labor for almost two years, and will continue to do so for more than another, we expect. But we must recover operating costs. Our fundraising and advertising-distribution plans are underway now, but in the meantime, if you want this publication, you must help, too. You can: —subscribe, if you have been receiving CVR in the mail for free. We can no longer give it away. —if you already subscribe, send in another year’s subscription in advance (an article of faith). Tell friends. —go to your nearest public and school media resources NY State Video Video Resources in New York State is a handbook about to be published by the New York State Council on the Arts. Assembled by the Vidiofreex, and funded by the Council, the handbook tells where video equipment is available and where videotapes can be viewed throughout the state. Limited press run is available free from Lydia Silman, Film) TV) ew Yor! (S, 290 W. 57th Stree Nes Ms. article Longtime video & filmmaker Wendy Appel has assembled lots of material about video from groups all around the country for an article in the February, 1975, Ms. magazine. Watch for it soon. Videoscope announced Gordon & Breach Science publishers, who distribute Radical Software and other video‘ oriented materials, are distributing ‘a dummy copy of a Spring 1975 publication: called Videoscope, dubbed “The magazine of videotape source information”. The dummy indicates a quarterly publication at $2.50/single copy, $9.50 subscription/ U.S. Editor is Ira Horowitz. Lead article in dummy: “ABC Covers a Major Golf Tournament”. Our phone calls for further information were not returened at G&B. Columbus, Ind. access Videogram, the newsletter of the Video Access Center in Columbus, Ind. (Box 146, Col, Ind. 47201) resports that during second quarter of 1974 their portapaks were borrowed for a total of 2,200 hours; 554% hours of programming were cablecast, which was 786 individual programs. The newsletter lists their tape library and several innovative projects, including “Hear with Your Hands,” stories for young children with hearing difficulties; a sixpart program on child abuse; 20 hours of interviews with local residents about planning as part of the city’s “Choices” planning project. They also report that their access channel almost went off the air entirely in June during recent negotiations with the cable company— Cox of Atlanta. Satellites Conference University of Wisconsin-Extension is planning a conference on “Satellites, Cable and the University,” to be co-sponsored by Publicable, Inc. June 3-5, 1975. More on this in later issues. Media section, NY State Council | € «Movement for Economic Justice Just Economics, publication of Movement for Economic Justice, has printed an article about community uses of video by Charlie Domina. For sample and subscription, write to: MEJ, 1609 Connecticut Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. 20009. Subs are sliding scale from $4 to $25, according to income. Cornell University’s Program on Science, Technology, and Society has begun a major National Science Foundation-funded Technology Assessment of new mobile communications systems. Principal investigator is Raymond Bowers, who co-authored a previous study of the video telephone. (See The Video Telephone: Impact of a New Era in Telecommunications, by Edward M. Dickson & Bowers. New York: Praeger. 1973). For further information and input, write the program, 614 Clark Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca NY 14850. 607-256-3810. New cable reports Basic Documents in Cable Television and Broadband Communications, by. Ralph Lee Smith (Howard University professor and author of The Wired Nation) has just been published as a resource of major primary sources in CATV, including laws and regulations, technical developments, social implications, etc. At $20.00 and 650 pp., we aren't able to review it, but it seems like the kind of thing that every library should order. From: RR. Bowker Co., Xerox Education Group, 1180 Avenue of the Americas, New York, N.Y. 10036. RAND Corporation has updated last year’s publications on cable with two new additions: Cable Television in the United States— Revolution or Evolution? by Walter Baer (20 pp. $1) and Interconnecting Cable Television Systems by Satellite: An Introduction to the Issues (22 pp, $2) From: RAND, 1700 Main St, Santa Monica, CA 90406. Volume 2, Number 2 Autumn 1974 Quarterly publication of the Washington Community Video Center, Inc., 2414 18th Street, NW, P.O. Box 21068, Washington, D.C. 20009. Phone: (202) 462-6700. Editor: Nick DeMartino. Associate Editor: Ray Popkin. Arts Editor: Gerardine Wurzburg. Contributing Editors: Becky Moore Clary, Victoria Costello. What You Can __ Organize for Ist Amendment psp Ter pa a Ye would have to sink or swim on its own merits. The solution is a Tele-Visions, which we think will be sufficiently broad to serve the needs of enough people to make it selfsufficient. We will be proven right or wrong by you, our readers. Do To Help libraries and urge them to subscribe. This is vital. Do it today! —write for 10 bulk copies to sell at your place of operation. (You keep $.50/copy, send us the rest). : —ask your local bookstore and audio-video dealers to sell TeleVisions and to advertise in it. —last (not least), think of yourself as part of our staff. Write us—if only a letter—and tell us what you’re up to. We'll print it. Send pictures of interesting local media events, and illustrations. Put us on your mailing list for news. Let us know about grants, new programs, ideas, visions. Ask for what you want. IMPROVEMENT SINCE 1960 INCLUDE LENS ZOOMING AND INSTANT VIDEO TAPE RECORDING LIKE THOSE USED IN SPORTS TELECASTS FOR INSTANT REPLAY OF THE ACTION. TODAY, MANY PEOPLE ARE VIDEOTAPING THEIR OWN “HOME SHOWS,” AND VACATION SIGHTS.” i —=— Since March of 1973, following the court battle over New York Times reporter Earl Caldwell’s confidential sources a group of reporters have been building an organization designed to fight for Ist Amendment rights in the media. The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, which has members from major newspapers across the country, is now involved in every major press case in the country, from finding reporters legal help, to filing amicus briefs, to publicizing media court action around the country. The main vehicle for public information is a quarterly digest of all local, state, federal and regulatory decisions affecting print and broadcast media. The digest, called Press Censorship Newsletter, is mailed free to anyone interested in the issue, although contributions are greatly appreciated. The digest has become so large and popular that the committee is considering monthly publication. In addition to the digest and legal help, the staff of four part-time law students and several full time attorneys work with press people who are under attack in situations of censorship, prior restraint, due process, seizure, etc. A new staff person has recently been added to reach out to high school and college student press and the underground press. This whole venture is funded by contributions from within the private newspaper industry, primarily publishers. Press Censorship Newsletter and further information can be obtained from: Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Room 1310, 1750 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.. Washington 20006. (202)298-7460. This publication is typeset and laid-out at the GW Composition Shop, George Washington University, and printed at Carroll County Times, Westminster, Md. Deadline for Winter issue: January 1, 1975. ‘si resources: 1§ Feedback is a column of letters from readers. We reserve the right to limit length. Absorbing reading Dear CVR: Your publication turned up mysteriously in my bathroom and I found it very absorbing. I am enclosing 4 clams for a good supply and this list of brain fodder Id like to see more of in future issues: Get someone to address the issue of “quality” in local programming. Some of the stuff shown around here would bore you to tears. viz: the community won’t support what they won’t watch—add: Ma & Pa Jones love “slick” TV. © How about some real graphic equipment reports—more hardware news. © Let’s advance the state of the art with production and editing tips © If you could dig up a transistor phreak to do illustrated “How To-” articles on equipment you can make yourself and conversion/adaption to present equipment. © How about publishing a comprehensive list of addresses of information centers, video institutions, free access centers, video experts, video artists, etc. and update it occassionally. (Like where the hell is the cable television info center? And who is Ron Hays and where can you get in touch with him?) How about a video bibliography? Great Rag! Thanks. —Kenneth Dahle Suggestions from Spokane Dear Nick: First, | want to tell you how much I appreciate Community Video Report. We've received two issues so far and I’m both pleased and amazed at the work that has gone into them. Your articles on hardware and “theory” have been especially valuable. And, since I have asssumed responsibility for developing our print library and information exchange, your reviews have been very helpful. One suggestion—reviews would be more preciate sources for specs on hardware surveyed. Spokane Community Video started out a few years ago with a couple of friends and a portapak. This spring we received a grant from Battelle Research Institute for coverage of a series of environmental conferences which are being held this summer in conjunction with Expo ’74. Asa result, we have suddenly become a “legitimate” organization, with three Sanyo cameras, a Sony 8400, two 8600’s and a 320 editing machine (which doesn’t work half the time), proc amp and SEG. We are also compiling quite a library of tapes from the conferences we’ve been covering. Following this project we hope we can evolve a mechanism for pooling the equipment through some form of association so that it can become accessable to a wide range of people. Cable is scheduled to come to Spokane in 1976. Generating public awareness of its potential will be a major focus of our activity in the next couple of years. We would be interested in establishing a tape exchange with Washington Community Video Center, and would like information on your policies as well as a list of tapes which are available. As a start, if you could send us a copy of J/tse/f (mentioned in your Winter issue), we would be very willing to make a tape on us and our work in exchange. —Mark Musick Minneapolis video group on PBS A note from University-Community Video Center in Minneapolis: I enjoyed the article about our center, bud did I really say all those things? Stephen Kulczycki will send you a release on our new Access show this fall. We are planning to program a bi-weekly 30 minute feature during prime time on Tuesday or Thursday nights. The Educational Station KTCA Channel 2 is allowing us to run scanconversion video. They are planning to purchase a TBC this fall, but will place it in their space. We will probably stay with Scan because ‘ We can control the Program”. The show is tentatively called “Changing Channels” and will be a magazine format shot entirely on half-inch edited on one-inch and transferred to Quad through — scan-off monitor. — Ron McCoy aluable if prices and add resses could becon= stantly listed for each item, and we wouldap~~ |