Davis Media Access new name for Davis media center

Davis Community Television announces new name
Mission statement, website also revamped
By Autumn Labbe-Renault, executive director

DAVIS, CA--Davis Community Television (DCTV), which operates public access
channel 15 on the Comcast cable system and low-power radio
station KDRT 101.5 FM—announced a new name for the media
organization.

Henceforth, the organization will be called Davis Media Access
(DMA).

During strategic planning sessions last summer, DCTV’s board and staff
generated a short list of possible names. The name was
finalized earlier this month after soliciting public input and
conducting a vote among the organization’s members.

“Davis Media Access emerged as the clear winner, and one we felt
was representative of where the organization is and where we want
to go,” said Pete Peterson, DMA board chair. “Since we launched
KDRT two and a half years ago, we ceased to be about just
television, and we felt that DCTV no longer described all that we do.

“DCTV channel 15 will still continue to exist and function as an integral part
of the larger DMA organization, as will KDRT,” he added.

“Looking forward, it’s clear that we’ll be offering public training and
services related to television, radio, Internet-based content and
more,” he said. “It was key the name reflect that we serve Davis, and
provide access to and education about communications media. I
think we are all very pleased with the name.”

DCTV was incorporated in 1988 and has provided public access television
services to the community ever since. A 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization,
DCTV’s main mission all these years has been to provide training in
television production, access to equipment and technical support, as well
as air time on the local public access channel. Over the years,
those services grew from “first-come, first-served” to also include a
variety of specialized services geared at meeting community needs.

But budget cuts this past year left the organization with a lot of restructuring to do. According to Autumn Labbé-Renault, a long-time staff member who stepped up as executive
director of the organization last February, the name change crystallizes
what has been an intense year of rebuilding.

“We had local franchise negotiations that dramatically changed our
funding and partnerships, followed by a complete overhaul of our
equipment and facilities, strategic planning, staff restructuring, and
so on,” Labbé-Renault said. “To be at this point and looking
forward feels really good.”

She added that DMA’s new mission, workshop schedule and more
information about the organization is available on its new web site,
http://www.davismedia.org. Launched on Feb. 18, the web site is still in
development but is current in terms of basic information and
services. In the coming weeks, staff and volunteers will continue to update
the site in terms of the name change and in adding additional features.

Labbé-Renault said DMA Technical Manager Darrick Servis
developed the web site, with significant assistance from Steve
McMahon of Davis Community Network (http://www.dcn.org). DMA board
member Diane Crumley and DCTV staff also played significant
roles in the site’ s development.

Next steps for the organization include revisioning its logo and
marketing materials, collaborating on the media components of several
grants, and long-range strategic planning.

DMA receives major funding through its partnerships with the City of Davis
and the Davis Joint Unified School District. For more information, please
visit the website or call Labbé-Renault at (530) 757-2419.