Vermont Magazine Winter 2020 | Seite 14

Snowshoe racing season is here! Get the best & the lightest! - Most popular racing snowshoe - High performance - Modular design - Rentals available at most snowshoe races Made in Vermont companies. One of these is providing channel capacity and funding for Access TV providers (with funding costs typically being passed on to cable subscribers). * Durable for all hiking conditons * Use any type snow boots * Easy to use * Gift certificates available Made in NY * Fun for the whole family nevitrek@gmail.com nevitrek.com/518-831-1707 12 VERMONT MAGAZINE In turn, these centers offer a wide variety of services to their communities: the aforementioned meeting coverage; coverage of community events; camps, workshops, and classes; local news programming; educational partnerships; technical support for nonprofits; election programming; equipment, training, and channel time for community members; and many other resources not otherwise available. In 2017 alone, Vermont’s Community Media Centers produced 18,000 hours of original local programming (49 hours per day!) that were presented on their 81 cable channels and websites. That year, the centers received more than $8 million in funding from cable subscriber fees, which translates to nearly $74 million in services for Vermont citizens. A frequent question posed to Community Media Centers is, “Why are you still relevant in the age of smartphones and YouTube?” It’s not a bad question. When the means of media production and distribution is in our pockets, why do we still need Access TV? Aside from the fact that most Media Centers offer profes- sional-grade production equipment a cut above that pocket studio, there are other resources to consider. Vermont’s Centers employ nearly 200 professionals who are at the ready to aid community members with both the training to get the most out of the available resources—and guidance to hone messages, organize ideas, and communi- cate more effectively. There’s also the idea of curation of content. No matter the platform, online content is frequently part of a great deluge. Getting the message to the desired audience or