Gretjen has been making positive change happen in Philadelphia for a long time through building media access and education. She takes the proverbial minute to answer some questions about her latest effort, Philadelphia Community Media Access and the history of public access in Philadelphia as well.

GeoClan.com (GC): Thanks for interviewing with us. Can you tell me your name, where you are from and how long you’ve been in Philly?

Gretjen Clausing (GR): Thanks for the opportunity!  I’ve been living in Philly since 1989 and I was born in Media, PA in Delco.

GC: What brought you to Philly and why have you stayed?
GR: It’s always been my city.  Never thought of living in any other town.  In the nineties it seemed like so many my of friends were leaving to make their mark other places.  But I stayed because of the independent filmmaking community.  I wasn’t interested in heading to an industry city like New York or LA.  Here I felt part of a community where I could make an impact.

GC: How did you get interested and involved in media and media access?
GR: I went to film school and figured that I would be a documentary filmmaker.  I have worked on my own films but really found my calling as an film exhibiter.  I loved showing films for people, seeing how films and filmmakers can help expose an issue or a hidden history and move folks to action.  My work with public access came later.

GC: Tell us about the fight for public access TV in Philadelphia.

GR: PhillyCAM is proud to be one of the newest community media centers in the country.  But our launch was a struggle 27 years in the making!  In 1983 Philadelphia City Council passed an ordinance to establish public access television with funding provided by the cable companies, but failed to realize the promise of this legislation.  As a result of intense grassroots fight began in eighties and this evolved into the Philadelphia Community Access Coalition in the late ninties.  Activist and community groups lobbied their elected officials, sued the City, protested Comcast and held media education events.  The result was that in the fall of 2007, the city finally signed the articles of incorporation to create the non-profit to run public access. On October 23, 2009, Philadelphia Community Access Media, PhillyCAM for short, began providing Philadelphians the opportunity to produce and air their own non-commercial television programs on cable channels Comcast 66/966 and Verizon 29/30.

GC: How is the fight for public access different here compared to other cities you know of?
GR: It was loooooong and tough.  No city has had to wait as long as Philadelphia to get its public access tv.  We had to work on so many fronts.  There was a lack of political will, a lack of understanding of the benefits and opportunity and in some cases a fear on the part of our elected officials of what people would say if they had this type of open access to tv.   Plus being in Comcast’s hometown didn’t make it any easier.

GC: Tell us about your organization, how long it’s been around and it’s goal(s).

GR: PhillyCAM is the non-profit designated by the City of Philadelphia to operate its public access television network. On October 23, 2009 PhillyCAM started cablecasting on Comcast 66/966 and Verizon 29/30. This is a landmark achievement in a city that fought for 27 years to finally get its public access television.
We’re striving to expand the idea of public access TV and operate a vibrant community media center that’s accessible and welcoming to all residents, providing a valuable means to gain access and training in digital media technologies. We’re showing how public access television can be a tool by which communities can highlight unique points of view and celebrate cultures, beliefs and artistic expressions through production of their own television programming and other media platforms. We want all Philadelphians to have the opportunity to make and watch programs about themselves, their lives, and interests, as well as utilize other new technologies.

GC: In the city and the state (federal?) what are your obstacles and major players?
GR: A major obstacle is that people are choosing to watch media in so many different ways and a lot of focus has turned towards the Internet.  So there is a question of the relevancy of public access television.

GC: Have there been successes thus far with this effort? If so please let us know.
GR: Wow, yes.  Our tv schedule is packed with new programs.  We are on the air 24 hour a day 7 days a week.  There are programs on local spoken word artists, community news, health and fitness and youth-produced work.  An incredibly powerful show is Unsolved Philadelphia by Grady Jones.  With much respect and compassion he looks into unsolved murder cases in the hopes of getting folks to supply any info they can to help solve the crime.  But it also gives the survivors an opportunity to remember their loved ones.  Since it went on the air an arrest has been made.  You can read more about that here: http://articles.philly.com/2011-04-12/news/29410083_1_channels-unsolved-philadelphia-cases

And we have trained nearly 70 people since the beginning of the year to use our video production and editing equipment and they are out their making tv!  And this fall we will be moving to a new facility where we’ll have 2 tv studios, a media lab and tons of other spaces where folks can come together to learn and collaborate!

GC: What still needs to be done and how can people do to get involved?
GR: Well folks can help by watching. We want to know what you think.  And if you don’t have cable you can see some of our shows online here: http://phillycam.org/on-demand-2/
And then if you want to learn how to make your own tv show contact us or come to one of our upcoming member orientations.

GC: How important is advocacy in this cause and in general?

GR: As exciting as it is for PhillyCAM to be celebrating our arrival it is not without the awareness that our peers, other access centers around the county, are closing their doors almost on a weekly basis.  So it is critical that  we define our worth, reaffirm our purpose and claim our unique and powerful place in the public media system.  PhillyCAM came into being from place of long fought community struggle.  We have made an organizational commitment to make sure that all of our members and viewers understand that history and learn how issues of media policy affect our future and the survival of a free and open media system.  To find out more about these issues check out http://www.allcommunitymedia.org/
Also folks need to stay educated about who owns our media systems.  Ownership is so concentrated!  And we live here in Philadelphia where Comcast has grown into one of biggest media corporations in the world.  It is critical that the public retain access to the airwaves and the Internet.

GC: Are you involved in anything else you’d like to mention?
GR: I’m on the board of the Leeway Foundation which is an amazing organization that gives out grants to women and trans artists who use their artistic practice to inspire social change in our city.  You can check them out at http://www.leeway.org

GC: How do you stay passionate about this effort and others you engage in?
GR: This is going to sound corny but its the people.  Everyday I meet new people at PhillyCAM who are just so amazed that they can work with us and get their voice on tv and learn to use media in new ways to express themselves.  That’s what keeps my batteries charged.

GC: Any events or happenings we should be aware of coming up or that have recently passed?
GR: PhillyCAM has a Member Orientation coming up on Thursday, July 23 at 6:30 at our studio at 232 Vine Street in Old City.  It’s free and open to anyone interested in learning more about PhillyCAM and how to get involved, get skills and get your show on tv!