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Free speech latest budget crunch casualty
In the midst of the city's $3 million in budget cuts, the station will receive only $5,000 of the $46,000 requested from the city by the board of directors. The reduced funding represents a 90 percent cut of the money that represents nearly half of DCAT's annual operating budget.
This isn't a plea to the council or city staff to reverse their decision. In the face of such a crisis, it was inevitable that many community organizations that have relied on city funding for years would be first on the chopping block. When a dollars and cents decision comes down to either funding firefighting and road repair or public access television, elected officials can hardly be faulted for erring on the side of the former.
But that doesn't mean DCAT isn't a valuable community asset that deserves support. In better times, we can afford the luxury of tax dollars providing that support, but it's when the public option is no longer an option that small nonprofits such as DCAT need a sugar daddy or mama, and more than one in a perfect world.
Not everyone has had the opportunity to see what DCAT offered these last 10 years or so. The station is broadcast only on Bresnan cable systems, so those who watch TV via satellite or rabbit ears never see it. What they've missed is the city's only outlet for independently produced television, where any resident can air anything without having to run it by a slew of content-filtering hacks.
It's resulted in quite a mix, from broadcasts of public debates for city, county and state offices to high school sports, game shows and even the La Plata County Fair Demolition Derby. Other local broadcasts include former state Sen. Jim Dyer's weekly profile of nonprofit groups and regular broadcasts of Fort Lewis College's Lifelong Learning Lecture Series. It's also one of the only outlets in the state that airs Al Jazeera news, for what that's worth.
It would take a major donor to make up for the loss of the city's share of income to DCAT. Compounding the problem is the impending departure of executive director Chris Hall, who is leaving at the end of the calendar year for personal reasons. Hall has been responsible for training and production since DCAT's inception, and it will be difficult if not impossible to replace him, even if there was money in the budget for that salary.
Between the cuts and the skeletal staff - the station will be left with one part-time scheduler working fewer than 20 hours per week - DCAT will cease to exist as we've come to know it.
And there's no one to blame but ourselves.
People demonstrate what's important to them by spending their dollars, and if the public doesn't step up to support DCAT then city officials can hardly be criticized for doing the same in allocating public dollars.
It's a minor tragedy to see so many years of well-meaning effort go to waste, and it's hard to view it as anything other than a step in the wrong direction for independent media in Durango.
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