Texas Media Snapshots

North: Dallas gets a C+ in community media, says Giovanni Gallucci from The Agency Blog. Artists have limited options and independent filmmakers have little access (to what exactly?). There's plenty of access and variety in local press, but they're virtually all for-profit with less community focus. Giovanni likes what he says is a thriving network of community radio stations and theaters. "You run around in Austin and community media is always in your face. One thing I see in Dallas is that Dallas iMedia network, [other groups[...can do a much better job of getting out there." He concludes that disparate groups are starting to organize community media on their own.

South: Chuck Robinson from the Texas Media Empowerment Project quotes the indymedia slogan "Be the Media." "Social and media justice groups must continue to erase the digital divide." Robinson is right-on talking about various community media groups and individuals taking on highway-tolls, police brutality, free speech, and perhaps most powerfully of all, the resistance to the private T. Don Hutto immigrant detention center led by independent media-makers. Chuck notes that progressive newspapers in Laredo and other Valley towns have upwards of ten thousand readers and is encouraged by the growing fight against border militarization.

East: Mary Lampe, with the Southwest Alternative Media Project, will focus on Houston in her discussion. A top SAWP project is "The Territory," a short film series which is in its thirty-third season. KPFT in Houston is a bedrock of community media, and shout-out to Houston Indymedia. Houston Media Source was threatened with a cut budget but the organization is fighting back.

Central: Julia Austin from the Texas Observer names a host of groups: KVRX, KOOP, Austin Triangle, NOKOA, The Villager, Austin Bloggers, etc.. Challenges to local community media include growing corporate power and conglomeration, training media-makers, outreach and publicizing these options... She concludes with the success of a recent Observer story on the border wall and how it was disseminates throughout the alternative media.

These snapshots were helpful; we heard a lot of inspiring stories of community groups around the state. What's missing is the macro-picture and context. How many people are these groups really reaching? We know that media conglomeration has increased since 1996 - how has community media been affected and how does it stack up against the reach of the corporate media behemoth? Maybe these questions will be answered as the summit proceeds. (There's a guy sitting just in front of the lectern who looks really unhappy, though.)