Media Momentum

By Ryan Schlauderaff
Contributing Writer

The People’s Press Project - Training and Sight behind (not quite) closed doors.

I’ve always tried to be a good citizen in my community. I recycle, I drive carefully, I look out for my neighbors and I try to stay current on local government affairs. I know I should pay more attention to local elections, city or county commission meetings, school board meetings and the like… but I must admit I often fall short on this aspect of good citizenship.

There is often a dramatic gap between policy makers and the people who are affected by those policies. While it is every citizen’s responsibility to keep informed and get involved, it can be quite difficult in spite of most local government meetings being “open to the public.”

Further exacerbating this gap between policy makers and participants is the unfortunate lack of media justice in our community. There is a growing chasm in some elements of the local media coverage in relation to the disenfranchised or marginalized segments of the F/M area’s population.

A new voice in town, the People’s Press Project (PPP), seeks to take on both of these fundamental problems. The People’s Press Project, simply described, is a growing non-profit that was started in association with the HPR. PPP’s major concentrations are media justice, access to that media and further education of citizens by integrating technology in relation to media work.

The People’s Press Project was formed in April of 2010, in an attempt to tackle the thorny issue of the lack of any media justice organizations in the F/M area. More clearly defined, Media Justice refers to a grassroots movement of disenfranchised communities and concerned citizens, restoring a balance in power and representation through media, to address cultural problems and policies in pursuit of social justice.

From the start of its work, PPP’s focus has been creating accessibility to media for a wider demographic of people, providing media justice trainings and developing media opportunities for students and new journalists.

One of PPP’s greatest successes so far was last fall when it began offering training programs for students, budding journalists and community members in the area of Media Justice. The primary segments of this training were Pod-casting, video-casting, social networking and an overview of community-driven journalism.

A close relationship with Moorhead Community Access Media, or MCAM, has provided valuable help to PPP as it continues to gain momentum. MCAM provides a great majority of the equipment used by PPP and has also provided guidance and expertise to the community access and training components of the Project, as well as allowed the use of studio and editing equipment.

One of the earliest discoveries the PPP made through its Media Analysis was the lack of accessibility to many local governmental meetings. In spite of the great majority of local government meetings being “open to the public” as required by law, rarely are film or audio recordings made of these meetings. Given that, unless one had the time and knew the place to be, it would be next to impossible to learn what happened at the meeting.

The transparency and accountability that one would hope to go hand in hand with “public” meetings is easily lost if there is no one attending. PPP sought to change this by implementing the help of MSUM’s Social Work students through their SW 450 service learning project. PPP provided them with the training and new skill sets required to provide full coverage of local governmental meetings. This training and partnership has come to fruition in the form of regular and ongoing coverage of both the Cass County Commission and Fargo School Board meetings.

The benefits of making these meetings truly public have proven to be multi-faceted. First, it has continued to prove the integrity, transparency and accountability of local government; it has also led to more enthusiastic participation on the part of the policy makers themselves. The presence of the all-seeing public has served as a healthy reminder to officials that we the people expect to see the results of our votes, and we expect them to keep us in mind.

Also, as more community members are provided with access and coverage to events they otherwise would likely have missed, their participation and satisfaction with the overall process increases as well. Further more, as PPP increased its coverage of local government, the mainstream media followed suit and increased its reporting and coverage as well. The more stable and increased coverage by various elements in the media, both none-profit and main stream, has increased interest and simplified reporting for all entities involved.

The lead organizer for the PPP, Duke Schempp invited me to his home Feb. 3 to partake in a camera operator training session. I was admittedly somewhat apprehensive about the session, but Schempp’s easygoing and affable manner quickly put me at ease. As we chatted, Schempp did a quick run-through of the basic equipment we would be using: tripod, camera, microphone, monitor, some extra controls and wiring. Nothing terribly complicated, but at the same time it was just enough to leave me a little out of my depth. He explained everything quite clearly as we began to run through the setup of the equipment and discussed other aspects of filming meetings. Camera placement and sound recording are crucial but not without difficulty as he explained some of the frustrations, and solutions, he has had in filming past sessions.

After showing me how to set up the tripod and camera and which wires go where, we soon set to work on my panning and zooming technique. As I practiced some of the movements and began to understand a little more about how everything worked and fit together, Schempp regaled me with various stories about the PPP and the vision for it. His enthusiasm becomes quite engaging and I listened intently to both his discussion points and his instructions.

The People’s Press Project is certainly a project in motion, and momentum is crucial in the early stages of any none-profit organization. The greatest concentration at this stage is to continue to involve more people. The chance to show community members what sort of community access opportunities are available and just waiting to be used is paramount to the vision of community journalism. And believe me, access to equipment, air time and training are much easier than I would have ever guessed.

The long term goals of the PPP are to continue to shift the balance of media, providing greater access to the independent media within the community, and to endow the local media elements with a more balanced platform, giving voice and visibility to community members who may have been pushed aside in the more archaic media structures of the past. In the continuing pursuit of media justice, the tools, training, and mentoring that the PPP can provide will prove invaluable to our community.

Schempp will be holding a camera operator training session on Thursday, Feb. 17 from 6:00 p.m. -7:30 p.m. at the MCAM studios located at 2300 4 Ave. S., Suite 242-A (the north side of Moorhead High School, near door #13). If you or any of your friends are interested in filming, community access media, community journalism or media justice, I would highly recommend going to this session. I really enjoyed the experience as well as the information provided. I’d like to thank Duke for his time and the invaluable info he provided for this article.

If you would like more information, or a chance to participate, hit up the training session on the 17th, find them on Facebook at The People’s Press Project page or on their video site at http://vimeo.com/peoplespressproject.

If you would like to contact Schempp with questions or comments, he can reached by e-mail at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) 

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IF YOU GO:
What: People’s Press Project Camera Operator Training Session
When: Thurs., Feb. 17, 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Where: MCAM studios, 2300 4th Ave. S., Suite 242-A