If PEG is a "dinosaur" then its a fricken Velociraptor, biotch!

"An LSJ editorial" so anonymously authored probably due to its complete disregard for the facts titled "Public access TV is a policy dinosaur" has been the inspiration for my profound ire today. Who wrote this crap? The LSJ doesn't even seem to have full grasp of how this all works. I've worked in Public Access TV for over 10 years and Chaired the Lansing Cable Board for about a year before I resigned. (Ugh, long story, maybe later.) PEG, Public, Educational and Government channels are all funded by YOUR cable bill and its around 2 or 3 dollars a month. I don't have cable anymore, (another long story) but you can look it up on your bill as "PEG fees." Basicly, its not tax money at all that funds PEG. Even if the city wanted the money to fill in "pot holes", as this article ridiculously proposes, they can't have it. Its the law and its a good one that protects free speech. I'm glad to see a revitalization of PEG after Comcast's strong and failed attempts to squash it and the City's heel dragging delays.

Here's why its a good and CRITICAL thing for the preservation of free speech. Sure, you can post stuff on Youtube. But good luck really getting anyone to watch. The net is great but only if you KNOW what you're looking for. You have to ACTIVELY look for things of interest. And so how do you promote it? With flyers? Sky writing? An expensive and mostly worthless print add in the Lansing State Journal? NO! PEG TV promotes itself! Its a critical voice that is PASSIVELY heard among the louder voices of countless commercial media outlets. PEG are just a few of the many channels you can surf on by, and maybe land on because you caught an image of something familiar, something LOCAL. PEG is there to inform about local issues you may not have even been aware of. Not to mention it can be damn entertaining! Ill take a "pot hole" or two if it means that I can be assured that all the voices in OUR community have full access to mass media. Free speech and an informed electorate is the whole point to me. You really can't put a price on making cracks in the foundation of what we still like to call a democracy. THOSE are the "pot holes" we NEED to be filling, LSJ.