Sean McLaughlin

Sean McLaughlin is an educator, media access advocate and non-profit executive. In 2006, he became the first executive director for Access Humboldt , a community media organization providing local access channels, broadband network connections, digital media production resources, training and support in Humboldt County, California.

McLaughlin is a policy wonk – he has published articles, provided expert testimony before legislative and regulatory agencies, and participated in international conferences. Previously, McLaughlin was the first chief executive officer for Akaku: Maui Community Television.

In this interview, McLaughlin describes the ways that Access Humboldt has increased the value of Access Humboldt to the rural communities it serves by creating wireless broadband connectivity for people who would otherwise be "off the grid." McLaughlin also talks about an innovative, affordable approach to providing video on demand, and other innovations.


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Interview Log

0:00 – 7:55 Access Humboldt comes up with a way to leverage its I-Net and create wireless services to an outlying rural town.

7:55 – 11:45 How a dynamic public-private collaboration took form to make it happen quickly. What’s still to be added.

11:45 – 14:55 Feedback and subsequent broadband projects.

14:55 – 18:15 Why the push for broadband access fits right into the Access mission.

18:15 – 22:15 As a new access center in the digital era, how did it affect the planning for services?

22:15 – 28:45 A dynamic and cost effective way to present video on demand

28:45 – 31:30 Sean’s roots in Access TV and the first video he produced that demonstrated its potential to build bridges.

Tony Shawcross

Tony Shawcross is the Executive Director of the PEG facility in Denver, CO. He developed and launched the visionary - and provocative model for community media that has evolved into the Open Media Foundation. The Open Media Foundation replaced the previous PEG nonprofit and receives a much smaller funding package from the city. Before founding Deproduction and Denver Open Media, Tony worked with Little Voice Productions, the Colorado State House of Representatives, the Pan African Arts Society and FreeSpeech TV, among others.

In this interview, Tony talks about innovative ways to empower access users and eliminate some of the gates that are still in place with our traditional operations. He describes the work OMF (previously Denver Open Media) has done to build a Drupal web site in collaboration with other media centers that feature modules unique to PEG operations. The project is funded by the Knight Foundation. In Denver it has allowed the PEG operation to do more with less city funding.

Listen to the interview here. The interview log is listed just below.
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Interview Log
:0:00 - 4:45

Keep reducing the "gatekeeper" role on citizen generated media. Look at the "Wikipedia" model.

4:45 - 9:55

Overview of seven drupal modules that automate PEG operations including scheduling; also voting on shows for additional cable showings

9:55 - 11:55

Video on Demand (VOD) and an example of one series and how to search

11:55 - 14:30

Membership; Beta test of drupal functions and eventual online program exchange.

14:30 - 18:00

Internet literacy and "digital divide"

18:00 - 29:00

Details on the Knight grant to create drupal web site template for any PEG media center; more about the specific modules.

29:00 - 34:15

The advantages of having come out of a computer technology center (CTC) background; facing the challenges of PEG operations with decreased funding.

34:15 - 35:15

Advantages of open source; competitive advantages of nonprofit community media.

35:15 - 36:20

When will we know we succeeded?

Sue Miller Buske

President, The Buske Group

For the past 35 years, Sue Buske has represented local governments, citizens, and community organizations in their interactions with cable companies. Ms. Buske is widely recognized as one of the leading experts in the United States on cable policy and local cable programming issues. She is one of the pioneers of public access TV having participated in the training for Access Directors organized by George Stoney and Red Burns at the Alternate Media Center in 1972. She has received numerous national awards, including the George Stoney Award for Humanistic Communications. An award bearing her name, The Buske Leadership Award, is presented annually by the Alliance for Community Media to persons providing outstanding leadership in the field of local cable programming. Ms. Buske’s alma mater, the University of Wisconsin at Platteville, selected her to receive a Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2000.

You can listen to the entire interview or listen to individual subclips that appear below. Please consider leaving a comment or a question and subscribing to the discussion.

full interview
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Sue recounts how she first got involved in public access TV via an ad in the NY Times.
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Sue remembers the training she got at the Alternate Media Center with George Stoney and the other pioneer Access-Directors-to-be.
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Sue describes the environment and the mission in her first months as a public access manager in Dubuque, IA.
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Sue's memories of the first shows in Dubuque. You will be surprised at the gameshow Sue hosted!
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Sue provides an overview of the legislation that has been sweeping across state legislatures and changing the franchising process and formulas for cable TV and PEG.
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In the state legislation maneuvers, Sue describes the dynamics between the cable TV industry is doing with the telco industry.
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How are the Telcos persuading the state legislatures?
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What has been left behind in the new state cable franchising laws?
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Two states fared better than the other 18 where the cable franchising laws have been changed.
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Sue identifies the ingredients that led to better outcomes in the state legislatures of Illinois and California.
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Many PEG access centers are closing down.
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http://www.archive.org/details/42_Buske_closings

Can we expect this franchising paradigm shift to be played out in all 50 statehouses?
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Background on the restriction of PEG funding to capital expenditures only
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Sue's opinion on what ought to happen regarding PEG and the law.
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http://www.archive.org/details/46_Buske_FedMandate

Coalitions help on the local and national levels.
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What is Sue's answer to those who say that the internet has made community media centers and PEG channels irrelevant?
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What are the ingredients of a vibrant PEG center?
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Why makes a PEG center less likely to succeed?
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Helen Soule Ph.D.

Executive Director
Alliance for Community Media

Throughout her career, Helen Soulé, Ph.D., has focused on providing leadership at the intersection of media, technology and learning. She has broad experience leading public and non-profit organizations, most recently as the Executive Director of Cable in the Classroom, the cable telecommunication industry’s education foundation.

Previously Soulé served as chief of staff to the assistant secretary for the Office of Post Secondary Education in the U.S. Department of Education and for eight years, was director of the Mississippi Department of Education Office of Technology, with responsibilities including the statewide internet backbone, teacher professional development, state and local technology planning, E-rate, and textbooks. As former teacher and district technology coordinator, she worked with teachers and administrators at every level to use technology and media to transform and enhance teaching and learning.

Soulé is one of the founders and past chairman of the State Education Technology Directors Association (SETDA), has been a member of the George Lucas Educational Foundation Advisory Board and has served on the board of the Consortium for School Networking and the International Society for Technology in Education. She is the recipient of Converge magazine's 30 "Shapers of the Future" award for 2001, a recipient of the 2001 E-School News "Impact 30 Award for Excellence", the 2004 SETDA Pioneer Award and a recipient of CableWorld’s 2007 “Women with Clout” award.

Soulé holds a B.S. in Elementary Education from Mississippi State University, M.A. in Educational Administration from Mississippi State University and Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from the University of Southern Mississippi.

You can listen to the entire interview or listen to individual subclips that appear below. Please consider leaving a comment or a question and subscribing to the discussion.



Full interview.
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In the first subclip, Helen points to the ACM's biggest strength and its greatest challenge.
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http://www.archive.org/details/21_Soule_ACM_strength_challenge

Helen says that "localism" is the key to the success and sustainability of PEG operations.
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http://www.archive.org/details/22b_Soule_localism

It's critical that we get our message to government officials.
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http://www.archive.org/details/23_What_msg_to__offcials

...the importance of building coalitions on the local and national level...
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http://www.archive.org/details/25_Web2ToolstoTeach

What does a PEG staff need to accomplish?
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http://www.archive.org/details/26_Meet_Community_Needs

Helen's favorite part of the job.......
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http://www.archive.org/details/27_Soule_Favorite_Part

What are Helen's hobbies outside of work?
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