Mission Statement

The Open Media Globe

A Model for Collaborative Development

Initially funded by a Knight NewsChallenge grant, the Open Media Project's mission is to develop and implement open-source tools designed to free the staff of public access stations and community technology centers from many repetitive tasks. The self service workflow shifts more of the burden of operating a station or center onto the community using the resources.

Throughout 2008, Deproduction updated the Drupal modules already used in the automated, user-driven operation of Denver Open Media into a generalize solution that would work for other stations with a variety sizes and workflows.  In early 2009, Deproduction began implementing a beta version of the tools at Denver Open Media and 6 other public access stations that agreed to partner in the project. The initial beta partners were:

By the end of 2009, the modules developed as part of the project will be released as an installation profile making it easier for additional groups to adopt the tools. Beginning in 2010, locations using the Open Media System will begin sharing video. With each update, we get closer to the vision of a nation-wide network of user-driven public access stations and community technology centers.

Technology in our Changing Democratic Environment

The changes happening in the world of media and technology today have the capacity to close the gap between the privileged and under-privileged on a level never before possible. With people, not advertisers, driving a new, two-way media conversation, the voices of the silent majority will begin to be heard, reversing the disenfranchisement that results from the advertising agenda of mainstream media, catering to individuals according only to their purchasing power. In the end, we hope to reverse the trend of the media serving only the wealthy, and establish a new media network that can be a force for ensuring that the poorest 20% of the population is as engaged and influential in society as the wealthiest 20%.

The user-driven new media revolution is changing the way communities engage and communicate, increasing the diversity of the dialogue that is the media. A major setback of this change is that the most disadvantaged communities continue to be left out. Without access to cameras, computers, education and high-speed internet, many communities cannot participate in the new media dialogue.

Closing the Digital Divide

Access stations are designed to serve communities that lack access to the internet. Web-based and user-automated approaches are meaningless if people don't have to resources to take advantage of them, which is why access stations are in the business of providing technical equipment and skills to communities that need them. Both access stations and our communities benefit when new technologies are made available to low-income and other underrepresented neighborhoods: stations broaden their participant base, and community members can both make their voices heard and learn new technologies.

Every Access station has that 1% of content that is truly brilliant. Providing an outlet for the other 99% is an important role in society, but often leads to a poor viewer experience and an insignificant media presence. With hundreds of thousands of hours of user-generated content produced daily across the Access/CTC sphere, a wealth of high-quality content exists, but is buried among countless hours of content fit only for the most limited of audiences. The necessary tools to organize, rank and share this content effectively have been missing. Borrowing from the model of other successful efforts, we're leveraging the best solutions available today to provide a new viewer experience that allows each individual to find the 1% of the collective content that they want to see. By allowing PATV stations to aggregate the very best content for Cable TV, the end result could be a user-driven new media network on par with the mainstream networks, but truly framed by the people. There’s no corporation in the world who will have the resources to dominate the future of the world’s media, especially when every hobbyist from Denver to Detroit is making films. In looking to organize the masses, the Open Media Project is merely a tool that can serve to empower citizens in the future of decentralized media.