One of the unsung heroes of this pandemic in Vermont — and across the nation — is public access television.
The Center for Media and Social Impact at American University this week released a report, “PEG Access Media: Local Communication Hubs in A Pandemic.” The 22-page report looks at how communities across the nation came to depend on public, educational and governmental (PEG) access operations ... for crucial local information. Nationwide, most PEG operations are provided by a cable franchise fee, however, many also receive funding from local governments and through some fundraising.
Vermont has 25 PEG stations — among the highest concentration per capita anywhere in the nation.
Drawing from a nationwide survey of these community media services, “this study documents their role not only in providing community news, but also technical operations support for local governments and schools and a platform for community events. The transition to virtual provision of services sometimes increased user access. Lessons from the pandemic could strengthen PEG’s role in the future,” the report’s three authors wrote. “In the 2020 pandemic, PEG access media became virtual town halls and public squares. They moved governmental, educational and community leaders to virtual platforms. They provided essential local news. And they hosted community events, including graduations and holiday celebrations.”
Here in Vermont, many of the stations were broadcasting Gov. Phil Scott’s news conferences, which are being live-streamed and re-aired by ORCA Media — the PEG station based in Montpelier. Those news conferences, which were conducted virtually with print and broadcast journalists from around the state (and elsewhere), sometimes went on for hours at a stretch. ORCA Media kept the cameras on.
Similarly, PEG stations in Rutland, Barre and Montpelier — just to note a few — have provided gavel-to-gavel coverage of municipal and school meetings, where local officials have made key decisions about how to pivot to the pandemic’s challenges. Residents have been able to watch them live-streamed, archived and rebroadcast. The PEG stations have been crucial to local decision-making and public participation.
It is this kind of service the report points to.
“(L)ocal leaders needed ways to communicate with residents (who were sheltered in place),” the authors wrote. “Government officials, nonprofits, schools and community groups all turned to (PEG) access media operations, which often became local communication hubs. The lessons learned about providing reliable, consistent access to information and a platform for community engagement may permanently alter the role of PEG access media in the community.
Here is a summary of some of the key achievements found in the survey results:
- PEG stations moved quickly from in-person to virtual services, for their own programs and activities but also for public officials who needed the same.
- Government meetings drew increased attendance.
- New partnerships were forged; and more people sought virtual training in order to help the PEG stations to provide their services.
- PEG staffers were able to troubleshoot technical communications solutions for many agencies and governmental bodies.
- And, perhaps most notably, PEG media became one-stop shopping for public health information and sometimes launched community news services.
It was not all good. There were glitches and hardships for many stations, too.
The report notes that access to broadband and WiFi greatly affected success, and quality of broadband access varied greatly, especially for staffers who were working from home. The crisis revealed universal, high-speed broadband access is essential; inconsistent, inadequate access worsens inequalities — a point we know well across Vermont.
Some PEG operations were hampered by lack of access to buildings controlled by governmental or educational entities, which sometimes led to a Pony Express kind of innovation to get recorded material from meetings and into a format that could be aired for the public.
The report states that communities with PEG access received overwhelming gratitude from viewers, as well as public officials and community partners.
What more could we ask for during a global emergency like this? We are blessed to have these community resources that provide timely news and information; function as a platform for community events; provide educational support; and offer technical assistance.
At a time when democracy feels broken, PEG has remained the glue holding it together for us.
This August 20, 2020, editorial is reprinted courtesy of The Times Argus/Rutland Herald.
