CIES on SHAW TV

Public access, educational and governmental television are local TV channels that provide programming as diverse as the communities in which they’re based. By extension, public access TV plays a very important role in constructing community identity. Offerings range from local events and services to city council meetings to community sporting events, and a whole lot in between. Shaw TV Calgary is a cable television community channel operated by Shaw Communications. The channel operates on cable channel 10.

In the days of budget cuts and the internet, public access community television has taken some knocks. The importance of local community media however, cannot be understated. I was once channel surfing with a couple of friends late one evening, when suddenly one of them shouted out "that's my old volleyball coach". It turned out her former coach was an activist promoting more participation for young girls in sports, and in her spare time and hosted a once-a-month program on the benefits of sports for young women. We weren't looking for information on sports or gender issues. We watched the program because we knew the person. And we continued to watch because we learned something: not only about the subject at hand but about someone who lived in our community. That's the importance of community media: that proximity, that sense of relativity, that brings issues and people together that may very well never cross paths even though they live side by side.

Shaw TV and Hello-Bonjour Alberta Access Producer Suzanne de Courville Nicol invited CIES to talk about the work we do for the Calgary community. Hello-Bonjour Alberta hosts Ann Boiteau and Marc Lalonde introduce Francophile personalities and community leaders who share their stories in English and French. It was a pleasure for us to stop by and share our Society's mission and would like to thank both Suzanne and Shaw TV for their continuous efforts on behalf of the Calgary Community. For more pictures of the evening's shoot CLICK HERE.