In this the second installment of a series on local, independent media in Bloomington, Depauw University Assistant Professor Kevin Howley looks at Community Access Television Services (CATS). A long-time access television trainer, producer and advocate, Howley's video work has appeared on public access television in New York City, Boston, and Bloomington.
His forthcoming book, Community Media: People, Places, and Communication Technologies features a chapter on Downtown Community Television (DCTV) in New York City's Chinatown.
Community Access Television Services (CATS) is the umbrella organization for Channel 3, Bloomington Community Access Television (BCAT), Channel 12, Monroe County Access Television (MCAT) and Channel 14, SCOLA—International News.
Funded under the terms of a cable franchise agreement between Insight Communications, the City of Bloomington, and Monroe County, and housed on the first floor of the Monroe County Public Library (MCPL), CATS also provides equipment, training, and facilities for community residents to produce their own television programming. If you have a library card, you can make a program using the impressive production facilities at CATS.
Founded in 1974, CATS' programming philosophy is informed by a commitment to First Amendment rights and the vision of non-commercial, community-oriented television articulated by George Stoney and his collaborators at the Alternative Media Center (AMC) at New York University. In the early 1970s, AMC trained hundreds of video activists and media educators in support of a nationwide effort to create a viable public access television sector in the United States.
A number of AMC "graduates" helped establish public access here in Bloomington. Thirty years and thousands of videotapes later, CATS continues to make invaluable contributions to Bloomington's dynamic community media sector.
Cable television subscribers in Bloomington and surrounding Monroe County receive public access programming on Channel 3. Public access programming consists of locally produced programs by residents, civic groups, social service agencies, religious organizations, and area schools.
Program highlights include Cats Eye, a video version of the inquiring photographer feature found in local newspapers; Pets Without Partners, a weekly showcase of adoptable pets from the city's animal shelter; and dozens of "special event" programs, such as town hall-style meetings, the annual Vital Quiz Bowl competition, and highlights from local cultural events, including the Bloomington Early Music and Lotus World Music & Arts festivals.
Channel 3 also re-transmits programs such as Democracy Now! through an affiliate arrangement between CATS and Free Speech TV (FSTV). For progressive-minded readers of The Bloomington Alternative, FSTV is "must see TV."
Live and taped coverage of city, county council, and school board meetings is available on government access Channel 12. While some would sooner watch paint dry than watch their elected representatives at work, CATS' coverage of these meetings provides a unique and invaluable perspective on the dynamics of deliberative democracy.
During last year's protracted deliberations over the fate of the Monroe County Solid Waste Management District, CATS was there for the duration. Likewise, CATS provided unedited coverage of the contentious public hearings between INDOT representatives and community residents voicing their opinions over I-69.
In this way, CATS not only keeps a watchful eye on the deliberations of our elected representatives but also provides a forum for the community to discuss matters of public interest and concern. Furthermore, Channel 12 features a community calendar highlighting upcoming social, political, and cultural events in and around Bloomington.
If you or your organization wants to publicize a meeting or upcoming event, contact CATS and they'll help you get the word out!
Finally, on Channel 14, CATS runs SCOLA, an international television service that re-transmits programming from around the world. For the city of Bloomington, a community with a large international student population, SCOLA represents an important service to a diverse and underserved constituency.
Equally important, SCOLA gives American audiences a taste of how other nations and cultures use television as a means of public expression. Given the insular worldview presented on US television news, SCOLA's coverage of international relations is reason enough to watch newscasts from, say, Italy, France, Cuba, Korea, or China—even if you don't speak the language.
Don't subscribe to cable? Don't own a television? No worries. CATS streams current and archived video content online. Moreover, CATS has two screening rooms where library patrons can view public and government access programming on a first-come, first-serve basis.
A nationally recognized leader in innovative, community service television for three decades, CATS is perhaps best known (at least among access television aficionados) as the home of J&B on the Rox, an irreverent and enormously popular program that underscores public access television's ability to challenge, subvert, and reconfigure broadcast conventions in an humorous, engaging, and deceptively incisive fashion.
Kevin Howley can be reached at khowley@depauw.edu