Cambridge Community Television

Cambridge Community Television is the public access television, cable radio, and computer multimedia center serving the extraordinary city of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Already voted best in the nation seven times, CCTV is seeking a talented staffer to join our team.

We are seeking an energetic, ambitious, creative and mature individual to oversee our membership operations, manage our communications, and promote CCTV’s services and channels to the greater community. If you would enjoy being a cheerleader and proselytizer for a vibrant and dynamic community media center, this may be the job for you!

If you like working with people, have experience with desktop design and publishing, can manage records in Filemaker Pro, are able to set goals, meet deadlines, and maintain a standard of quality that reflects the great work that CCTV does, we hope that you will apply. read more...

The New York Times recruited student reporters from colleges and universities across the country to report on student reaction to Friday night's Presidential Debate. The reviews are in: Senator Obama's message of change, relief to middle class families, and a smart foreign policy continues to resonate with young people. I will let our local Cambridge resident, Neil McMullen explain why. He speaks about turning 18 years old and voting for the first time with his naturalized United States citizen mother and older brother. Neil offers some insightful and personal feelings about democracy in America and the right to vote in the land of the free. I will be reporting on these final days of Presidential Debates and Election 2008...please follow video blogs. Be live...Be there

Revels and the Charles River Conservancy teamed up again to present RiverSing on September 21, 2008 to celebrate the first day of fall. The free giant community sing happened along the banks of the Charles by the Weeks Footbridge linking Allston and Cambridge.

In this short featurette you will see samples of performances by Bill Staines, David Coffin, Stan Strickland, Ken Field, Emperor Norton’s Stationary Marching Band, the Mystic Drummers, the River Folk Band and members of the Mystic Chorale, Revels Repertory Company, Sharing a New Song, the Halalisa Singers, and the Greater Boston Intergenerational Chorus.

CCTV is looking for a few organized, reliable, and friendly individuals to help oversee computerCENTRAL during public drop-in hours. A sincere interest in helping people use computers is required, as is sensitivity to the needs and concerns of those new to computers. Must feel comfortable working with a non-profit organization with a diverse constituency.

Knowledge of both MAC and PC computers is required. Interns receive free CCTV Access Membership, which includes media production training and equipment and facility use.

Time commitment is 3 hours per week. Must be available during the following lab shift:

• Thursdays, 3:00 - 6:00 p.m.

Please contact Colin at (617) 661-6900 or email colin (AT) cctvcambridge (DOT) org for more information. read more...

Come to CCTV on Monday, September 22, 2:00-6:00PM and tell us what issues in Massachusetts are important to you!

If you're a CCTV member and you would like to volunteer, just stop by CCTV on Monday afternoon.

Learn more about other YouTube Town Halls taking place across Massachusetts at NewGov.us:

"On OneWebDay, events are planned around the country that demonstrate the power of the Internet to enable active citizen participation in the democratic process. read more...

Are you a Cambridge teen interested in learning about media? The School Year Production Program (SYPP) is a media production and work experience program designed to provide teens between 14 and 18 with an opportunity to develop career readiness and media production skills. During the SYPP, participants can work up to 8 hours each week. Participants learn camera, editing, lighting and audio skills and use these skills to produce a variety of videos—many that will address community issues, and others on topics of participants’ choice.

In the past, the SYPP has been an after school program, running three afternoons per week, from October to May. This year, we are considering adjusting our program schedule to include some weekend hours. The new schedule we are considering would include Sunday afternoons from 12 to 4 pm, and two additional weekdays after school. If you are interested in the SYPP, please complete the attached form. The program starts in early October.

The following video is an excerpt from this morning's press conference with MBTA General Manager Dan Grabauskas and Cambridge Mayor Denise Simmons at the Alewife T Station.

Here's a bit from the MBTA's press release:

"MBTA General Manager Daniel A. Grabauskas, joined by Mayor of Cambridge Denise Simmons and various bike advocacy groups gathered at Alewife Station on the Red Line to unveil the T’s first ever unstaffed bike cages. Accessible with a swipe of a Bike CharlieCard, two cages constructed to accommodate 150 bicycles each, will provide customers with a safe, secure, and sheltered location to park their bikes. These cages will more than double bike parking capacity at Alewife station to approximately 500 spaces." read more...

• NeighborMedia

Last but not least, the rest of the group to be inducted tomorrow to CCTV's honorary board includes Jeff Lockwood, George Metzger, Professor Charles Ogletree, Nancy Ryan, Ellen Semonoff and Gail Pettiford Willett. In conjunction with their work at our universities, businesses and community institutions, these local professionals have advocated for CCTV in various ways over the course of our 20-year history.

Short bios for these six individuals and the rest of the honorary board can be found on the 2008 BBQ homepage. Please join us tomorrow at the BBQ to congratulate these individuals and thank them for their continued efforts to keep CCTV and public access strong. And most importantly, help us celebrate our 20th anniversary with lots of great food, entertainment and bidding! Tickets are $45 for adults; $20 for seniors; $18 for children under 12. All proceeds benefit CCTV's youth and special outreach programs. See you there!

The Board of Directors is an integral part of CCTV, helping to oversee and shape the policies and procedures that allow the station to run smoothly on a daily basis. Eight former board members - Robert Boulrice, Joe Douillette, Fred Fantini, Margaret Lazarus, Dyanne London, Susan Richards, Judy Richardson and Simon Shapiro - as well as one former staffer, Rudy Hypolite, will be inducted into the new honorary board at this Thursday's BBQ due to their impressive history of dedicated service to the organization.

Short bios for these individuals and the rest of the honorary board can be found on the 2008 BBQ homepage.

Please join us two days from now to help us congratulate these individuals, and thank them for their continued efforts to make CCTV an invaluable community resource, as well as a nationally recognized public access center. And check back tomorrow as we introduce the six other honorary board inductees!

Each year, CCTV presents a Leading Role Award to one special individual at the Backyard BBQ. Leading Role Award recipients have worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make Cambridge a better place. At this week's BBQ, four Leading Role Award winners from years past will be inducted into CCTV's Honorary Board:

Terry Delancey, Exec. Director, Agassiz Neighborhood Council
Sarah Gallop, Co-Director of Government and Community Relations, MIT
Susan Flannery, Director of Libraries for the City of Cambridge
Nancy Murray, Director of Education, ACLU of Massachusetts.

Short bios for these individuals and the rest of the honorary board can be found on the 2008 BBQ homepage. Please join us three days from now to help us congratulate these four individuals, and thank them for their continued efforts to make this city a great place to live and work. If you don't yet have tickets to the Backyard BBQ, you can purchase them here. And check back over the next few days as we introduce the other sixteen honorary board inductees!

CCTV's Backyard BBQ is now just a week away! You can buy your tickets at the door, or you can purchase them in advance by visiting CCTV or our online store. Where else can you help yourself to a wide selection of the best Cambridge-area cuisine in one sitting?

At this year's BBQ, our volunteers will be serving up everything from Redbones' ribs to Four Burgers' veggie burgers, so come hungry and we guarantee you'll leave happy. Check out a full list of participating restaurants here.

(Photo: Pit Stop servers get their grill on at the 2006 Backyard BBQ.)

Take your pick: A baseball signed by Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia... a RockBand II bundle autographed by the game's developers at Harmonix.. or an autographed photo of Celtics player Rajon Rondo!

There's only one place to win these items and many, many more: CCTV's Backyard BBQ on Thursday, Sept. 18th. The silent auction will begin at 5:30 p.m. and it will close at 7:30 that evening. Don't miss your opportunity to score some great items for a great cause. All proceeds benefit CCTV's youth and outreach programs.

Buy your tickets now for this special event, and get a sneak peak of the full list of silent auction items here.

CCTV's Annual BBQ Fundraiser on Thursday, Sept. 18th will once again feature live music by Zili Misik! With a sound that reconnects Haitian mizik rasin, jazz, roots reggae, samba, Cuban son, and neo soul, Zili honors its influences while creating a sound that is uniquely its own. Voted #1 in the "Best World Music" category in a recent Boston Phoenix poll, Zili retraces routes of forced exile and cultural resistance through diasporic rhythm and song with captivating sounds that evoke the African continent. Powerful Haitian, Brazilian and West African rhythms infuse Zili's original creations and traditional folksongs. Click "play" below to watch a clip from Zili Misik's performance last year. And don't forget to buy your ticket for this year's BBQ by clicking here!

You could be learning how to make media for all of Cambridge to see! This public information session will show you how to get involved at the number one public access center in the country and begin making your own media and television programming.

CCTV is currently accepting applications to our NeighborMedia program, where we provide the training and you provide the stories!

NeighborMedia is designed to help you learn how to make media around issues that are important to you and other residents of Cambridge.

All NeighborMedia participants receive a free Flip Mino video camera during their time in the program and a free one-year membership to CCTV.

Download a program Flyer (PDF) or an Application (PDF) and become a NeighborMedia journalist today! read more...

I have the wonderful honor and opportunity to volunteer as a CCTV Intern and will participate as a Citizen Journalist in the CCTV's NeighborMedia Program and in the spirit of service I will be reporting from the 2008 Democratic National Convention for CCTV...please follow my daily DNC video blogs:

"Your own story and the American story are not separate - they are shared. And they will both be enriched if we stand up together, and answer a new call to service to meet the challenges of our new century ... I won't just ask for your vote as a candidate; I will ask for your service and your active citizenship when I am president of the United States. This will not be a call issued in one speech or program; this will be a cause of my presidency." - Presidential Candidate Barack Obama, Speech in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, December 5, 2007

Serving others is the American way
Denver Post
By Michelle Obama and Jeannie Ritter
August 21, 2008 read more...

CCTV's Annual Backyard BBQ is just around the corner, on Thursday, Sept. 18th. In honor of our 20th anniversary, we will be recognizing a group of individuals who have demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the mission of our organization, providing guidance, advice and advocating on behalf of CCTV. These individuals will be inducted to CCTV's first ever Honorary Board at the BBQ next month. A list of Honorary Board inductees can be found on this page along with more information about what's on tap for this year's BBQ fundraiser.

Help us celebrate these individuals and 20 years of free speech in Cambridge! Get your BBQ tickets today! (All proceeds will benefit CCTV's various special outreach programs.)

• CCTV's 20th Anniversary

The deadline for the ACM's Fall Video Festival is coming up really, really soon. The deadline to submit your locally produced video programming is September 5, 2008 (postmarked). The screening for winning entries will take place on Nov 15, 2008, in Brockton, MA.

Historically, our CCTV members have done extremely well in this contest and we want YOU to enter your program. As an incentive for members to enter this festival, we are offering to pay 1/2 of the entry fee for each of your shows. In order to take advantage of this offer, members must submit their programs to us by September 3, 2008, by 5PM. The entry should include one DVD (or VHS) copy of the program, one completed and signed entry form, and one check for $12.50 payable to CCTV. Get moving, that date is coming up fast. read more...

This video shows how hard the Summer Media Institute (SMI) students worked putting together their final screening for 6PM tonight at CCTV.

Thanks to all the SMI participants for decorating, soliciting food donations, and producing their fabulous videos.

For everyone else, we hope to see you tonight!

A video on the new, accessible community garden near Neville Place at Fresh Pond. Produced by the July 2008 Zipdocs Class: Amar Mehta, Dana Bensimon, Kethia Beausejour, and Ukwori Onuma.

• ZIP DOCS