An ethnographic study of how public access cable television staff execute their mission to build community using video technology

Activists within the public access movement assert that video technology builds community at a local level. This study explores this assertion by describing the approach of one public access center to building community using video technology. Using ethnographic techniques, this study examines how the staff of the access center set in motion the process of building community by providing training, technical resources and outreach to individuals within the metropolitan area in which it is located. Video technology's effectiveness for social change and for constructing representation and identity are discussed. By focusing on the community building process described by access center staff, this study helps to clarify the linkage between video technology and developing community.