By Autumn Labbe-Renault
Next week, Davis Media Access will launch its annual fundraising campaign. I’d like to share my take on why community-based, participatory media matters and what donations to DMA support.
Davis Media Access (DMA) will stage a live "Thank-a-Thon" Wed., May 1 from 6-8 p.m. The program will air live on DCTV Channel 15 on the Comcast system in Davis and also on KDRT 95.7 FM.
The live show will feature a wide range of community producers and volunteers from both DCTV and KDRT, as well as representatives from community partners, non-profits, and elected officials. DMA Board Chair Ron Clement and Vice Chair Paul Sheeran--DCTV and KDRT programmers, respectively--serve as co-hosts for the live show.
“Canada’s Tar Sands are perhaps the most visually compelling example of all that is wrong with our addiction to fossil fuels and why we must change or face dire consequences for all life on Earth,”Garth Lenz states in his award-winning slideshow talk, The True Cost of Oil: Images of Beauty and Devastation.
Over the holiday break, DMA's staff and volunteers began the large task of relocating our large media library--a collection of nearly 10,000 titles dating back to the early 1980s--from its physical space upstairs. The videos span many different formats and with assistance from interns, we are slowly digitizing them. In the meantime, they will be boxed and stored to free up space upstairs for other uses. A shout-out and thanks to DMA staffer Alex Silva-Sadder for managing the process, and to volunteers Thomas xxx, Bryce Parker, Frank Dogg, Richard Sequest, and Cliff Gamble.
The days are ticking away, but if you're still making decisions about your year-end charitable giving, please consider making a gift to Davis Media Access. We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit and your donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.
As the year closes, I'm sifting through some favorite memories from 2012. At the start of the year, we relaunched the new television studio and began training community programmers again. By spring, we were ramping up for a busy election season on the local front, and attending and tabling at many community events. Summer found us ushering dozens of kids through Kid Vid and Animaniacs camps, teaching them valuable technical skills, as well how to have fun with them.
By Autumn Labbé-Renault
This column was originally published Nov. 29, 2012 in The Davis Enterprise.
Davis Media Access (DMA) does a lot of good work in our community. We’re proud of that, and looking forward to sharing what we’re about by throwing open the studios for a Holiday Open House.
This column was originally published in The Davis Enterprise Oct. 25, 2012
Years ago, our organization ran a single public access channel and used it to help individuals and organizations who didn’t have access to media. Our emphasis was on maintaining a free speech platform, with access for all. It was good work, and I look back and can’t help but think things were simpler then.
Davis citizens are a mobile bunch, and this means we sometimes have to say good-bye. We offer a fond farewell to DJ AA and Vincent with “Empire Radio,” who have moved on to the Bay Area. Ted and Josh of “The Recollection” are on hiatus at present but rumor has it they plan to return in January. Congratulations to Ted, who welcomed his first son this summer.
Davis Media Access (DMA) has recorded many of the Parent University presentations over the past few years, and thanks to the efforts of Programming Manager Alex Silva-Sadder, we are now proud to host all their information and videos in one easy-to-access place: http://dctv.davismedia.org/dpu-home