Dave Butler - October Member of the Month

Dave Butler - October Member of the Month

As a volunteer at PhillyCAM, I have met some of the TV show hosts and other interesting people that use PhillyCAM's computers to edit video for broadcast. As a newcomer, I have not yet learned how to operate the cameras and other equipment that PhillyCAM lends to members at no charge, but I am
looking forward to participating in upcoming workshops to learn how to use the equipment and editing software.

I have very little experience in video
editing, but I did learn a few basic features of Final Cut Pro (FCP) video
editing software a couple of years ago, using a friend's computer to edit
some home movies I took on a borrowed camera. I have worked for several
local nonprofit organizations, most recently as a grant writer for Nonprofit
Technology Resources (NTR), where I solicited small grants to allow NTR's
Learning Through Technology program to place refurbished computers with
low-income families at no charge to recipients. At PhillyCAM's member
orientation meeting, I met other community members who share my interest in
preparing shows for broadcast, and got some ideas on how I might use my
video training. As an amateur musician, I think I might want to organize a
show featuring musicians in my neighborhood, or join an existing,
music-related project. As a fed-up voter, I might want to develop, or join,
a platform for my political rants. If I were to find work again as a grant
writer, or in some other role at a nonprofit organization, I might want to
prepare videos for web sites or broadcast that advance the mission of the
organization.

I think it is increasingly critical to make public access media available to
the people of Philadelphia because large corporations continue to increase
their domination of mass media here -- and all across this country. Rupert
Murdoch, Fox News and CNN do not speak for me. PBS, under the thumb of our
corporate-controlled government and the major polluters that sponsor its
shows, does not speak for me. In my neighborhood, Comcast shows a lot of
mainstream, corporate-controlled, news and commentary, but I have found it
necessary to look elsewhere to find dissenting viewpoints.

I think that anyone who cares about the democratic process -- anyone who
believes that America's electoral process needs sweeping reform, anyone who
thinks that our government is no longer a government of the people and for
the people -- should see the lack of diverse viewpoints in the mainstream
media as a serious problem.

If you think America's promise is being stolen by the powers-that-be, here
is your chance to tell it like it is. Wherever people are engaged in open
debate, public access media is on the front lines. If you believe in working
for meaningful change, raise your voice and work to enable others! Join
PhillyCAM!