Citizen Producers

Make your own TV show: H-Town's public access channel upgrades its technology inyear 25

Ronnie Renfrow, the radio program director for Houston MediaSource, has been anon-air fixture since the 1970s.
Mathew Barnes, executivedirector of the nonprofit Families Empowered, speakswith Ariana Montelongo de Valdivia on the set of the Community Focus show.
HMS client relations staffer Mike Marston, far right, teaches a basic cameraclass to two new producers. Classes include basic and advanced camera, lightingand sound, editing and studio production.
HMS staffer Andrew Foy works in the control room, which will soon have updatedequipment.

The Bayou City is full of gems if you look hard enough.

One among them? Houston MediaSource (HMS), which is celebrating its 25th year of making mass media accessible and affordable for Houston residents with broadcasting aspirations.

The nonprofit organization makes it possible for practically anyone to be a citizen producer, with annual fees starting as low as $100 and discounts available to students and senior citizens.

From studios and props, to cameras, microphones, lights and tripods, to computers and editing programs, plus the training necessary for using it all, members have access to everything they need to make a program which it can then submit to the television station or HMSnetRadio.org.

The recent launch of a capital improvement campaign will even further improve the quality of equipment and resources available to HMS members.

As outreach coordinator Ariana Montelongo de Valdivia explains it the public access channel is open to participation by any paying producer. It's content-neutral, meaning that HMS doesn't edit programs or influence content, plus it has the ability to reach as many as half a million households, not to mention the capabilities of online streaming.

HMS programming runs the gamut from educational to inspirational, reflecting the variety of the city with spiritual pontifications, community roundtables and features on local travel and culture.

"There is a place for all types of programming at HMS — shows about food, culture, entertainment, music, and of course the public affairs programming that we are noted for," Montelongo de Valdivia says.

The recent launch of a capital improvement campaign will even further improve the quality of equipment and resources available to HMS members.

"We are awaiting delivery of new cameras for our television studio, and over the next several months, we will replace most of the equipment in our control room," HMS executive director Tom Richards said in a statement. "This will represent a significant upgrade in terms of the quality of service that we can provide."

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”

Citizen Producers

Make your own TV show: H-Town's public access channel upgrades its technology inyear 25

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

CultureMap Emails Are Awesome
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