A p ril 7, 2010
'rilc jlnrthinh (Obstruer
Page 3
IN S ID E
photo by
H ealth M atters
J ake T homas /T he P ortland O bserver
Sophie Butigan, a master control specialist at Portland Community Media, edits video at the non­
profit’s headquarters on Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
page 8-9
Rough Patch for PCM
Community
TV braces for
job losses
J ake T homas
T he P ortland O bserver
by
INIIEIAINHENI
page 10-13
O pinion
page 14-15
C lassifieds
page 16
S ports
page 17
F o o d
Portland Community Media
has been steadily shifting its fo­
cus from the eccentric and free­
form Cable TV programming to
helping the disadvantaged gain
media literacy skills.
But with the economy still in a
slump, PCM ’s funding sources
have taken a hit.
Located on Northeast Martin
Luther King Jr. Boulevard, the
non-profit offers courses on the
cheap to people looking to get a
better handle on skills like video
editing or digital media in hopes
that they can land a job in our
increasingly technology-oriented
society.
PCM re c e n tly la u n c h e d
SmartAccess, which partners
with community organizations to
extend its educational reach di­
rectly to the community. It also
features programming typically
excluded from more commer­
cial outlets that showcases the
work o f community organiza­
tions, or shows like “In the Mix,’’
which features local hairstylists
chatting it up on a variety o f
topics.
PCM relies on the City o f
Portland for about 80 percent o f
its income. This year, all city
bureaus not related to public
safety are being asked to take a
4 percent cut.
“The challenge we face right
now is there will be less access
for the public to come in and use
it,” said Jo Ann Bowman, a com­
munity organizer who serves as
PCM board president.
City Council is currently in the
midst o f drawing up a new bud­
get, which will again include
a c ro ss-th e-b o ard cuts. C ur-
will mean even more diminished
access to the public. The non­
profit also serves as the “C-
Span o f Portland” covering gov­
ernment meetings. But this func­
tion, said Bowman, will also drop
off.
“The thing we need to do right
now is hunker down and focus
on our core mission,” she said o f
making sure that PCM, which
provided 91,214 equipment hours
to the public last year.
With budget cuts becoming
I have no idea what an additional
cut would look like at this time. The
thing we need to do right now is
hunker down and focus on our core
mission.
-CeceHughleyNoel,
PCM deputy chief operations officer
rently, the city contracts with
PCM for over $900,000 for the
non-profit to provide coverage
o f government functions.
However, this money could
be cut by up to 2.8, according to
Cece Hughley Noel, the deputy
chief operations officer for PCM,
who isn’t sure what the outcome
might be o f the cut.
“I have no idea what an addi­
tional cut would look like at this
tim e,” she said.
As a result o f the budget cuts,
Bowman said that PCM will
likely have to lay o ff staff, which
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commonplace at other non-prof­
its, like the Interstate Firehouse
Cultural Center, faltering rumors
have circulated that PCM might
be shutting its doors.
Sylvia McDaniel, PCM ’s ex­
ecutive director, states on a video
on its website that the non-profit
may have to cut its hours, but it
isn’t going anywhere.
The city’s Office Cable Com­
munication and Franchise Man­
agement, also comes up with
other grants for PCM to keep it
continued ' W ' on page 18
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