We’re Off and Counting: Join Us In Mapping The Field
25 Feb 2010
These days, mapping has become the activity du jour across much of the independent media landscape. Too much, you might think, as yet another request to fill out a survey appears in your email in-box and you procrastinate, with varying levels of remorse, about filling it out. Days go by turning into weeks and bing, a new survey appears seeking your input.
These often daunting requests do have, in fact, an extremely important purpose for the field of independent media, public interest media and media arts makers and organizations. In reality, we are all mapping and capturing very specific data that by its self will provide one picture of activity, but collectively, will provide the firepower our sector needs to back up our arguments with empirical data. Here are just a few examples of why this data collection is important now:
Don’t let those mapping surveys pile up! Join NAMAC, if you haven’t already, by sending us the name of your organization, and a contact person and that person’s email address to mapping@namac.org.
These often daunting requests do have, in fact, an extremely important purpose for the field of independent media, public interest media and media arts makers and organizations. In reality, we are all mapping and capturing very specific data that by its self will provide one picture of activity, but collectively, will provide the firepower our sector needs to back up our arguments with empirical data. Here are just a few examples of why this data collection is important now:
- The telecoms and the cable/broadcast industries have sophisticated data that they constantly use at the local, state and national legislative levels to argue their positions. We have very little. These conglomerates will increasingly try to erode or make impotent any protections to public access and space in the service of their commercial needs. Let’s not forget that the FCC’s ruling on ownership consolidation had a lot to do with the empirical data that the Future of Music Coalition gathered showing the effect of Clear Channel’s radio consolidations across the country.
- A number of current mapping projects will identify how consumers, nee citizens are being, or not being, served by broadband penetration or media consolidation. This data become increasingly important in holding existing and future corporate obligations to communities when negotiating their rights-of-way assets for tangible public rights in spectrum access and PEG Channels.
- NAMAC’s Mapping the Field is capturing workforce development issues: we want to know how many people you employ, at what salaries, your annual budget sizes – all to to show how our sector creates jobs and revenue for the communities we serve. In addition, we’re tracking how does our work reach people and whom are we serving.
Don’t let those mapping surveys pile up! Join NAMAC, if you haven’t already, by sending us the name of your organization, and a contact person and that person’s email address to mapping@namac.org.
