Alternating Currents

An American television consumer, perusing the array of viewing choices on a particular evening a few years ago, might have chanced upon an NBC program entitled Television: Revolution in a Box. In this special, Ted Koppel brought an emerging aspect of contemporary culture to view-the revolution, initiated by consumer investment in inexpensive, lightweight video recorders and players. While Koppel enlightened the about the uses of home video, a click of the remote control would have transported a wayward viewer to any one of many programs airing at the same time on other commercial, public, and cable television stations. In fact, tuning into any one of the thousands of channels designated to public use across the nation, much more unusual fare than that which Koppel presented might have been sampled. Manhattan Cable, for example, airs a weekly program titled Living with AIDS, which provides health care information unavailable from other sources. Safer sex practices are explained and even demonstrated. Paper Tiger Television, a series on many access cable channels across the country, provides critical readings from dominant media culture-from the New York Times to biker magazines. Another click might land you on the Deep Dish TV Network series, Beyond Censorship: The Assault on Civil Liberties, eight hours of programming from various parts of the country examining the controversies behind censorship and control

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• Pictures of Sickness

  Martha Gever•October•1987

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