Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 17, Number 3, 1 March 2000 — NATV gives Hawaiians a voice in the community [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

NATV gives Hawaiians a voice in the community

B y Caitriona Kearns ĪWO YEARS AGO, 'Ōlelo public access television consohdated its native programming broadcast time into Oeeanie Cable Channel 53, the Native Access Television ehannel, NATV. As one of 'Ōlelo's five-channel line-up, NATV focuses on indigenous cultures and showcases native eommunities. It has now become a voice on indigenous issues. "It was long overdue," said Lurline Wailana McGregor, president and chief executive officer of 'Ōlelo Community Television. "The idea of a 'station for the nahon' began in the seventies. Back then, though, there were not enough pro-

grams to support a dedicated ehannel. Even now we program in blocks so that the Hawaiian, . Paeihe Islander and Native American programming will run for several hours at a time. We still have a long way to go before we flll the ehannel with native programs." ō'ahu's Hawaiian community is very active in its use of public access television. McGregor

would like to see even more Hawaiians involved in sharing information, voicing their concerns or otherwise offering their perspective to the community. In addition to new offerings, 'Ōlelo seeks programming from all sources to run on the station, including some made 10 or 20 years ago. 'Ōlelo has run tapes from Alu Like's library and even some old Kamehameha Song Contest programs. 'Ōlelo trains volunteers to become producers and broadcasters, offering its smdio facilities and equipment, but ultimately what 'Ōlelo represents is the opportunity to air non-commercial productions. It is up to the community to produce these programs, whether the subject be hula, history, culmre, or eommentary.

| "The Hawaiians who eome to our training are often very focused on wanting to document what is going on in their own communities, whether it is cultural or polilieal," said McGregor. "What's great is working in partnership with others, like Wai'anae High School teacher Candy Suizo, who teaches video production to smdents. We are giving young people something to strive for and a plaee to go

in terms of career options." Over the past two years, 'Ōlelo began setting up community media centers in Kahuku, Wai'anae and at the Leeward Community College, where there were no broadcast facilities. This brought new opportunities for school children as the Department of Education does not fund broadcast education. After a recent broadcast on 'Ōlelo on plans to move a Wai'anae school, concerned residents responded with a huge turnout at their community meeting and rejected the proposed change. The school stayed where the community wanted it. 'Ōlelo trained the crew that produced the Uve broadcast of the reconciliation hearings from O'ahu, that aired on NATV. Viewer response was positive and included requests for a rebroadcast of the hearings. No other media in Hawai'i were able to offer such extensive cover-

' age of that important historical v moment. Without these volunteer producers, this momentous oeeasion would not have been shared on as widespread a basis. Hawaiian programming on NATV includes First Friday, the longest show running; last summer's World Indigenous People's Conference on Education in Hilo; the Bishop Estate ; trustees' point of view; Wai'anae's Hawaiian Homestead hearings; bi-weekly updates from the Hokūle'a; and | the annual Nānākuli High School song contest. McGregor said NATV is in a good position to help the eommunity understand the possibil-

ities of communicating with public access television. "Ōlelo's Mapunapuna facility has some of the best digital video equipment available for a public access center. In fact, 'Ōlelo is widely regarded as one of the top three public access centers in the country. That's due in part to ō'ahu's unusually high cable use, an estimated 85 percent of households here subscribe to cable. That winds up putting more money into 'Ōlelo's budget as a small portion of eaeh cable subscriber's bill goes to 'Ōlelo." "We're lucky to have the hnaneial resource that we do," said McGregor. "It allows us to take initiatives that other communities ean only dream about." And her own dream? "That NATV will one day have more new and high quality Hawaiian programming than we ean fit into a 24-hour broadcast day." ■

Above: Nā'ālehu Anthony (producer and crew member of the Hōkūle'a) and Lurline Wailana McGregor on loeaūon in Rapa Nui. Below: cameraman in an 'Olelo studio.