Making Public Access TV Cool For A New Generation

From “Wayne’s World” to “UHF,” public access television often seems to serve more as a satirical punching bag than a respected media form. But that’s about to change.

Portland Community Media is renovating its building and rebranding itself as Open Signal, a media arts center where you can learn not only TV, but storytelling, podcasting, coding, mixed reality, and other forms of digital media. They’re celebrating the transformation with an open house on Feb. 25.

“The fact that the city has this asset, where anybody can come off the street, for practically free of charge, and learn how to tell a story,” says Justen Harn, “it is amazing.”

Harn was part of the team that transformed the Hollywood Theatre from a dilapidated, second-run movie house into an innovative cinema and community hub. He we hired as the executive director at PCM a year ago with the instructions to create a more global vision for the organization, focused on programs, equity, and the future. With a budget of roughly $2.5 million drawn mostly from fees paid by cable service providers, PCM oversees five cables stations that serve an audience of 2.5 million.

Harn gave us a tour, along with the director of strategy and development, Rebecca Burrell, who signed on to work with Harn from her post as the head of the Right Brain Initiative at the Regional Arts and Culture Council. Here are highlights from our conversation.