Viewfinder: Access Counts
Congress created regulations requiring cable operators to provide access to "all comers."Publishers have it made. (I should know, I've been one for eight years.) For us, access is easy. Anyone can become a publisher--all you need is a PC, page layout software, a printing vendor and lots of stamps.
Producing TV programming shouldn't be much different, but it is. All you need is a camcorder, a PC for editing and a TV network willing to carry your program. Producing the show isn't really much more difficult than publishing, but gaining distribution through a TV network is very different from buying stamps.
That's because the Post Office is a "common carrier." It provides nondiscriminatory access to "all-comers"--just like the phone company. In fact, so supportive is the Post Office of the publishers' mission to provide information, that it gives us an 80 percent discount (in the form of second class mail). Our founding fathers created this postal subsidy for all publishers because they believed the free flow of information and diverse opinions from all sources were indispensable to democracy and freedom.
Unfortunately, cable networks don't feel the same way. They like providing information only when it's t…
To View This Article
Start Your Free Trial Plus Membership
Why Become a Plus Member?
As a Plus Member, you'll enjoy:
- Exclusive access to 1,000s of articles, tips, and videos
- Unlimited access to Videomaker Tips & Tricks video series
- Special contests and monthly drawings
- Members only eLetters
- Early online access to the current issue of Videomaker Magazine
- Members only discounts on Videomaker merchandise and more
- Priority status at Videomaker events
- The Expert Hotline: direct email access to our editors. Get answers to questions about any video subject
