SOUTHWICK – Recognizing that the town’s public access station, Channel 15, is underutilized, Select Board member Russ Anderson is reaching out to residents to get them involved in creating content specific to Southwick to broadcast.
“We want to broaden Southwick’s exposure. There are so many positive things going on here, and we don’t always tell those stories,” Anderson said about trying to attract residents, young and old, to help with the effort.
In December, Anderson made a PowerPoint presentation to the Select Board about his vision of what Channel 15 should be.
“Southwick Community Television needs to be redesigned in a relaunch plan and a roadmap for telling our local stories,” he said during an early December board meeting.
He said the town already has the tools it needs to overhaul the channel’s programming.
It has the equipment, including video cameras, editing equipment, and funding from franchise fees paid by Comcast, the town’s cable provider.
The Comcast funding is designed to pay for the town to produce and broadcast government, education, and community television, which it has been doing on Channel 15, but it has very little Southwick programming.
“It’s supposed to be just for Southwick residents, but we really have never supported it the way it needed to be supported,” he said.
To make that goal a reality, Anderson hopes to attract residents who want to tell the town’s story using those tools.
He’s looking for residents interested in television and video recording, camera work and editing, studio operations and graphics, producing local programming and learning new skills.
“And no experience is necessary,” he said.
“If you can press a button, you can make TV,” he added.
Anyone can get involved — residents, students, creative types, tech-curious folks and absolute beginners.
“We want to give residents the opportunity to produce their own TV shows or short multimedia presentations,” he said.
He said a short multimedia presentation would consist of a story about a specific subject, like farming, that would be 10 to 15 minutes long, and there is a reason for a particular format.
“People don’t want to sit down and watch something for an hour. This is the wave of the future,” he said.
He is also currently in discussions with the Southwick-Tolland-Granville Regional School District School Committee to get students involved in the project.
“We hope to be working closely with the schools,” he said.
He envisions students covering school events, including sports, School Committee meetings, and music and drama productions for Channel 15.
This would be a hands-on opportunity for school students that 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 during the December meeting.
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.
During the December presentation, Anderson lamented the consolidation of media outlets that has led to reduced coverage, not only in Southwick, but most small- and medium-sized communities.
That can lead, he said, to a misinformed public, a loss of trust in government, a reduction in civic engagement — like volunteering or running for office — 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.
Once he gets a batch of volunteers, Anderson said they’ll be given hands-on training and behind-the-scenes access to television production during classes that will be announced soon.
The town made a call for volunteers on Tuesday, and it has already gotten four individuals who want to get involved, said Select Board Executive Assistant Margaret McCarthy.
She said on Thursday that two of those interested have previous experience in the broadcasting field.
For those interested in helping tell the stories of Southwick, email McCarthy at mmccarthy@southwick.ma.gov.
