Friday, November 2, 2007

One more note on CCTV

Since writing the post about CCTV's open house and the silly name change, I have heard from two people who were at the open house and have seen the new space.
I asked them both about the space and whether or not a second studio was built. The issue of accessibility has been a big one over the years. One of the biggest complaints forwarded about the operation is how difficult it is getting time to use the studio. There is only one and the hours available are sometimes limited or not very convenient. Both people confirmed that there is no new studio space available to users of the facility - just new office space for the employees.
It is shocking to think that the need for more studio space was not taken into account when the new facility space was conceived. There could easily be a day when there are three employees working for CCTV again instead of six. Was the need for office space as pressing an issue as the need for more studio space? I don't know but I wonder.
The trend for PEG stations across the country is to figure out ways of getting more studio space built, to accommodate all the people trying to use the cable access stations. Some are finding ways of building new studio space and editing stations because usage has increased so much. Some, like the one in Manch, even split apart into two entities.
While there have been problems at CCTV, and diminished usage compared to previous years [although the public does not have the full story because the city refuses to force CCTV to comply with the state's open records law, 91A], that could change. More usage will make it even harder for people to get access to the studio. What a shame.

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