SEAN O'SHIOCHRU ON THE ACTION PLAN FOR A DUBLIN COMMUNITY T.V CHANNEL

By Mojisola Oduola Falola

Q: "Why do we need a consultation and research project for a Dublin Community Television Channel and what exactly would a Community T.V channel mean to the people of Dublin?"

A: "Television stations, in Dublin as elsewhere, while proliferating in numbers are getting more and more alike in content - it is getting harder to tell them apart. Although in Europe we have so far managed to maintain at least something of a public service ethos, in general the public service stations like RTE and BBC have found themselves forced to compete on the numbers games - all going for the maximum audience and sinking to the lowest common denominator." "Certainly one impact is that there are far fewer opinions and ideas appearing on news and current affairs, often reduced to strings of predicable clichés. If you watch a news report on one station, then switch to another reporting the same issue, time and again it is same anodyne and hackneyed phrases used, sometimes even originating from the same global news services such as Reuters. And dissenting views, in particular, are flattened out into harmless statements or sometimes with subtle suggestions that these are crackpot notions. The right to hold and exchange dissenting views from the mainstream is one of the strongest motors of social change and empowerment of those excluded. It is also much more entertaining and stimulating than the same bland, centrist, views."

"At the same time, the appearance of satellite channels makes the media feel a lot more distant from people. Sky News and others similar almost have the appearance of being non-humans altogether - plastic clones going through puppet motions for unknown masters whose eyes are fixed firmly on the advertising cash tills. Whatever sense that we have that we can influence RTE - if nothing else by ringing up when we feel strongly - satellites broadcasts from an unknown distant place, staffed by unknown people, are in fact are ultimately accountable to no-one. SKY News, for instance, is completely beyond the reach of any regulation of other form of influence that the people of Ireland might want to put on what they broadcast. The only language they understand, or need to know, is money."

"So a community station can bring television a lot closer to people by focusing on local issues. It can help people to understand television as a medium and to engage with it and criticise it, especially by offering opportunities to get involved in running the station. It can help groups and individuals to achieve their social and cultural aims by enabling them to make their own programmes and transmit them. Also it can introduce real diversity to the media, broadcasting a much greater diversity of views from many sources all around the world. It brings television back to people and makes it a tool for them to achieve their own ends, not a tool for advertisers to exploit them."

Q:"What exactly would a Community T.V channel mean to the local businesses in Dublin?"

A: "Very little. Community television focuses on the non-profit activities that make up the real social and cultural life of communities. We would hope local businesses would recognise their social obligations, and contribute to community television. But it is not set up for their benefit. Of course there are indirect benefits to local people who might be interested in setting up enterprises and in getting jobs in media. But this is a secondary benefit.

Q: "Which community groups are represented in the Working Group?"

A: "the Community Media Forum set up The Working Group on Community Television, which itself came into being as a recommendation from a broad consultation with maybe about 50 community and voluntary groups, held in June last year in Dublin. The report of that is on the Website, and those involved are listed. (www.activelink.ie/cmf ) ."

"The Community Media Forum is open to anyone and any community group interested in getting involved and it also has an open e-mail list for people just to be kept informed. "The Community Television Working Group is a much tighter group reporting to the Forum with a mandate to act. A sub-group of this is overseeing the current Dublin Community TV Action Plan development. On it is a representative from Ballymun Community Media, from NEAR FM/ Coolock Multi Media Centre, from CMN, and from the Dublin City Development Board which is funding the process of putting together the Action Plan."

Q: "What will the different communities living in Dublin gain from the Community T.V Channel?"

A: "I tried to answer this above. But it depends on the how much a community chooses, or is enabled, to get involved. Community Television puts resources and tools at the disposal of the communities, and facilitates things to happen. But what they gain will be based on their needs and how much they put in. The first report of the process, which looks at the experience in the US and elsewhere, gives a good idea of what can be done. This is also on the Website above."

Q: "What will be the major difference between the commercial/ main stream T.V stations and the Dublin Community T.V Channel?"

A: "The main differences are:

• Its sole goal is to serve the community, and it is not driven by private profit.
• It is about participating as well as about viewing, so it also is a learning experience.
• It has a much stronger local focus and so it more relevant to real lives and promotes more interactivity.
• It can broadcast a much wider spread of views, often less 'packaged' and rawer, but reflecting reality much better.
• It can contribute to local community organisations and development, in a collective manner.
• It is owned and controlled by the people who watch and they use it.
• Is little understood and known, even by communities.
• Has not yet gained the general legitimacy, and built up a rationale, to justify the required level of support.
• Grossly under funded.

Q: "What effect does the Broadcasting Act of 2001 have on the community T.V?"

A: "For the first time it recognises and has a special license for community channels (which is different to the new category of commercial 'local channels'), and it means that if a community is granted a licence, the cable operator will be obliged to carry the channel for free."

Q: "Will the research project define the relationship between the Community Channel and Community development / media organisations?

A: "NEXUS Research has been awarded the work on the contract, and I am leading that work. We regard it only partly as a research exercise. It is mainly a chance to bring together the key potential actors and to explore with them how this can be achieved in practice. This is not intended to be a paper exercise, but to line up the future of community television here. Thus we hope that the community development and media organisations will define their own relationship to the channel, by committing themselves to becoming involved."

Q: "What will be the role of Dublin City Development Board?"

A: "The Dublin community channel will be owned and controlled primarily by the community. This is anyhow a condition of getting a license. The DCDB has already offered a forum in which the different groups interested in a community channel for Dublin can come together. It can also put the idea in principle into the Dublin City Strategic Plan it is preparing. "This will give considerable leverage in bringing in other partners, to fund the channel with cash and kind, to provide educational and local government content, and to participate as partners in various ways. The Board is not seeking a role for itself - it sees itself as an enabling actor". "But it also offers an opening into the digital broadband platform the DCDB proposes to initiate, called Dublin.ie. www.dublin.ie It is likely that community television will, in time, grow in the context of this larger platform which will carry a range of government and community services."

Q: "What community needs have been identified so far?"

A: "The Workshop in June identified a general need for community television, and also the critical need for communities to be directly owning and running it. Part of the current research will be identifying some initial key needs, but new possibilities will emerge all the time once the facility is in place. This is always the way."

Q: "What will be the fate of the minority groups under such a large umbrella?"

A: "We will be directly consulting and working with minority groups, ethnic and otherwise, during this process. Community television elsewhere always has a special role to play in supporting communities of interest, especially minority ethnic groups. Its scale and informality is perfect for this role."

Q: "So far, what has the Working Group been able to come up with or put together?"

A: "As I mentioned, the first report is on the Website and I think it has some useful and interesting stuff. It is too early on the Action Plan. In fact, a contract for the work has not even been signed as we speak (January 24th) but we are proceeding."

Q: "What hopes do you personally have for the Dublin Community T.V. Channel?"

A: "I hope it will begin to redress the balance in television back towards people, and away from commercial and private interests. It will help put the horse before the cart again - the media should be tools and instruments for people, created by people and ultimately answering to them. As it is, people are subjected to media, delivered up en masse to advertisers neatly ranked by income and consumption preferences." " I would also like to see some alternatives to the ultra-packaged and increasingly predictable mainstream public service media. When is the last time you saw anything really provocative on RTE? Self censorship is reaching new heights in today's flattened out world, and citing our laws on libel is no excuse - if the laws are really the problem, why not challenge them!"

Q: "When can we expect to have a community T.V in Dublin?"

A: "My honest guess that in the best of circumstances it would be up and running in a year to 18 months."

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