ACM West 2025: CMC's and the Future of Local News

Public, educational, and government access has always faced many challenges, including funding, legal, legislative, political leadership, credibility, and public awareness. In 2025, those challenges are weightier than ever. The time has come to consider survival strategies that address the dramatic changes and chaotic political and social environment. What is involved and how do we get started? This plenary discussion will address key factors that must be included in that survival strategy. How can community media centers (CMCs) be seen as embedded and vital in the community? What relationships should we have built (or build) and maintain in the future? How can PEG access be more insulated from political “blowback” that happens when change happens locally or nationally? Where is funding going to come from? How can a CMC be comfortable with making change? How can PEG access build long-term resilience? This panel of community media veterans will begin a conversation and create the building blocks for ongoing action.