Select Board member Russ Anderson proposed overhauling Channel 15, the town’s public access channel it shares with Westfield. He said residents could expect these accomplishments if his proposal is adopted.
Reminder Publishing submitted photo
SOUTHWICK — Recognizing that local media outlets don’t cover the town like years past, Select Board member Russ Anderson wants to overhaul how the town utilizes its public access channel.
He proposed a three-phase plan that would explore a partnership with the school district and use equipment the town already owns to create town-focused content.
“What will we accomplish? We’ll rebuild a Southwick-first, programming model, create original community-focused content, increase transparency and message consistency, and use existing assets more effectively,” Anderson said during the board’s meeting on Dec. 1 during a PowerPoint presentation of his proposal.
Referring to the late, former executive director of Channel 15, Anderson added, “As Art Boissonnault said, ‘let the people know what’s going on in town.’ And that’s as simple as it is, and that should be our goal.”
He began the presentation by talking about what type of media coverage Southwick has had for years.
“I wasn’t too long ago that we would have two or three reporters sitting in a Select Board meeting. We had The Westfield News, we had the Suffolk News, we had the Republican, the Pennysaver or Masslive. So, we had multiple perspectives and diverse coverage with a lot of local newspapers and a lot of local everything,” he said.
And then most of the local media outlets began consolidating, he said.
“They’re all one, so what do we end up with? We have less local news than we used to … it’s the world we’re in, and how news works now,” he said.
The consequences of that communication failure, he said, are a misinformed public, loss of trust in government, a reduction in civic engagement, higher municipal costs and a polarized public.
Those negatives can be overcome with “proactive” communication that builds trust, prevents misinformation — which he blamed mostly on social media platforms — and ensures accountability.
Currently, the town has two public access channels, 15 and 12. Channel 15 is the primary outlet for Southwick announcements and a few shows that offer local content.
“You click on those channels now, it’s all about Westfield … I looked today, and there’s still stuff on there from June on our [information] board. It doesn’t change. That tells me they don’t have time and we’re not their top priority,” Anderson said.
Regarding Channel 12, he said it “doesn’t work and it’s never worked … I don’t know what’s up with that.”
To make his proposal a reality, Anderson said the town is missing a few things, including a dedicated producer/director, coordination to bring all the resources together, a renewed content strategy focused on the town and the Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional School District.
“Southwick Community Television needs to be redesigned in a relaunch plan and a roadmap for telling our local stories. One that promotes Southwick businesses and nonprofits, increases our values, encourages civic participation … a small investment will bring in a large return,” he said.
What does the town already have to get started? Anderson asked.
“Equipment, we have it. Technology, we have it. Funding, we have it. Meetings recorded, we have it,” he said, adding that in the last three years the town has spent $70,000 on equipment, with a caveat.
“None of it is here, or very little of it is physically in this room,” he said, referring to the Land Use Room in Town Hall, where there is audio/visual equipment, adding later that the room should be considered as potential studio space.
However, he said it could be space at Southwick Regional School that could be used as a studio.
He offered three phases to get the proposal started.
For phase one, Anderson suggested “temporarily suspending” all broadcasting on Channel 15 and redirecting viewers to the town’s YouTube channel — where all the town’s meetings are posted — and announce to residents the restructuring of the channel’s content.
He would also conduct a “full inventory” of the town’s audio/visual equipment to get it “back on site.”
To accomplish phase two, Anderson said there should be redesigning and planning to build a sustainable, transparent and modern community television service.
That would include partnering with the school district to have it cover its events, including sports, School Committee meetings, and music and drama productions that utilize Channel 12.
“This is a hands-on opportunity for school students and it [prepares] them [for] pathways [in] modern careers in broadcasting, journalism and graphic production. There are so many things that the kids could be involved in,” Anderson said.
Phase three would be to update the Land Use Room.
He said if the steps are taken, the town can rebuild its programming with the Southwick-first model, create original community-focused content, increase transparency and message consistency, and use the town’s equipment more effectively.
Select Board member Diane Gale asked where the funding for the project would come from.
Anderson said it would come from small charges on Comcast customers should use its program.
Gale then wanted to know what the first thing is that needs to be done to get started.
“Phase one is to get our equipment back to see what we’ve got. We don’t even know the condition it’s in,” Anderson said.
Gale and Select Board member Douglas Moglin both asked, “Why isn’t [the equipment in Town Hall],” with Moglin questioning Anderson if he was sure it wasn’t.
“That’s definitely not the case, because I see the list of what’s here and there’s one camera in there my grandfather owned, and that’s it,” Anderson said.
Moglin and Gale said they support the proposal, but all acknowledged that additional details needed to be worked out.
Anderson said his goal was to get started at the top of the year.
