The circumstances of Scranton Today’s demise lend themselves to righteous outrage. The competing entity, Electric City TV, was apparently hatched by one of our volunteers and at least one of our employees while they were, so we thought, working for us. The process that selected ECTV over Scranton Today was deeply flawed and ECTV, even before it opened, foundered among financial, staffing, and zoning problems. I would be lying if I said I didn’t take pleasure in some of these recent misfortunes or fantasize that ECTV would implode publicly and spectacularly, but, in truth, the failure of ECTV will do nothing to secure the future of community access television in the Scranton Area. In fact, it may well end it. (It certainly won’t bring back Scranton Today.) So what can you do if you are concerned about open government and free and equitable public access? Get involved with ECTV. Go up to their studios at 933 Prescott Avenue and ask to see their By-Laws. Ask if there are board vacancies. Get yourself on the Board of Directors. Volunteer. Work to bring the values espoused and, we hope, borne out by Scranton Today into a new organization that clearly needs a great deal of help.
I have recently been asked, regarding my tenure with Scranton Today, to describe my proudest moment. This is easy. Back in March 2007, the President of City Council ordered our cameras removed from Council Chambers. Many of you turned out to protest. Many of you communicated your support. Our cameras were gone, but we showed up with a port-a-cam. We lost our live capability so we ran tapes one block up the court to our head-end to make sure we were “almost live.” That night Council voted to restore the cameras partly because of the outrage expressed by the citizens and partly because they realized they could not stop us. They could remove the camera from their wall, but they could not remove the one in our hands. I am convinced this passionate commitment to open government helped to hasten our demise, but if I had a chance to go back in time or, to use an apt metaphor, rewind the tape and edit the show, I would still air it “as is.”
Again, thank you for support over the last decade.
