aswanny@unm.edu
For Lobo readers not in the citywide loop, you may be interested to know that uPUBLIC TV (uTV) was officially awarded two public television stations, Public Access TV Channel 27 and Encantada TV Channel 26. Quote-UnQuote, Inc. (QuQ) has run these stations for the past 33 years, and the ad hoc advisory committee made a big stir when it recommended to the City Council last October that uTV take over the channels.
Everyone who cares about QuQ has been breathing hard down the necks of those involved in the decision, digging up dirt and handing it to local journalists to do something about the situation.
I received some dirt myself this past semester, and spent most of my spring break checking out these suspicions, ranging from “irregularities in the procurement process” to accusations of uTV’s involvement with Calvary Church.
The initial informant had me reeling with all the avenues to pursue, but I left no stone unturned. As juicy as the worms sounded, I couldn’t find more than the scent of one. Still, the scent left me curious, especially where Calvary Church conspiracy comes into play.
It turned out there was nothing to expose — at least, nothing I could verify. For all the speculation and supporting documentation, I could not find one thing wrong.
If you have no idea what QuQ’s beef is, here are the basics (I won’t include every bone the organization had to pick):
-In lieu of the Cable Franchise and Hearing Board, Rob Perry, Chief Administration Officer for the city, selected an ad hoc committee to make the recommendation, some members of whom were already involved with public access programs in Albuquerque. QuQ said this was unusual, but an ad hoc committee has made the recommendation for the past several years. Additionally, the Materials Management Officer for the City, Ramona Martinez, said it was not necessary that the recommendation be made by this board.
-uTV was put in charge of the public-education channel a year ago, and has yet to air anything. QuQ insisted the same will happen with channels 26 and 27 now that they’re in uTV’s clutches, but uTV owner Rick Metz said this will not be the case. When I interviewed him earlier this year, he said uTV would continue QuQ’s programming and slowly introduce its own. You can go to uTV’s website to see trailers for a few of the shows it has in store.
-QuQ claimed uTV’s takeover meant the end of public access as a means of self-expression in Albuquerque. I questioned Metz about the list of production standards on the uTV website, but he insisted they are merely suggestions and said the organization offers equipment for any and all producers to use if they prefer their shows to be of higher quality. However, Metz said this is not a means of censorship.
All in all, it looked like the City Council did what it was supposed to do. QuQ claimed the council extended the deadline to accommodate uTV, which turned in its proposal in late, but the council stated it followed protocol so nothing went wrong. City Council didn’t seem to do anything wrong.
However, the council is weighing the pros and cons of selling public stations back to Comcast, and there is documentation of this.
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You see, Comcast gives each city free Public, Educational and Governmental Access (PEG) channels, in exchange for the rights to lay cable. Contractors for the city are estimating each channel’s value at $250,000, which is basically pennies on the dollar, said QuQ Executive Director Steve Ranieri, because they’re usually sold for more than a million each.
Why would the city sell its citizens so short? Metz asked me the same question when I suggested such a scenario, especially just a year after the channel operator changed. There must be a reason — why else would the City Council look into it? I suggested that by doing Comcast a favor by selling channels cheaply, Comcast will return the favor by supplying air-time to the city for political ads and the like. Of course, they could just sell the channels currently not in use (only three of the nine PEG channels in Albuquerque are operating).
Metz said uTV has no reason to support the city, but again my gut tells me otherwise. Honestly, the whole uTV presentation from its website on the “shows” it will air comes off as phony and fluffy.
Then, I noticed another publication with an equally striking presentation: “Static,” a newspaper that appears to be an alternative weekly publication in the same league as the “Alibi.”
I picked it up at Mannie’s restaurant because it had an eye-catching cover warning about the sexual nature of the paper’s content, and then realized it was published by Calvary Church. The handful of people I’ve discussed it with said they had the same reaction, which turned to shock as they read the contents. Stories about homosexuality being a choice with interviews from former homosexuals, for instance, left my jaw hanging.
One of the ads in the paper featured the same guy co-hosting one of uTV’s original shows. Sure, the Calvary Church is humongous; it’s not so surprising that a member would be involved in a local endeavor like uTV and its programming. But it does seem a fishy coincidence.
The Calvary Church, from what I can tell, is too big and, therefore, influential. Because of its size, there’s no telling how many city administrators are members. The influence of the church could be taken advantage of by politicians looking to bump up their street cred, because any church is an institution its members believe to be the source of legitimate information and guidance. Likewise, the church could use politicians as their pawns to what end I can only imagine.
Perhaps I’m just searching for something because this informant blue-balled me bad on a story that consumed my spring break. I’ll know for sure by the end of summer vacation, because I’m determined to explore this issue from all angles. Be sure to tell me everything you know.
Meanwhile, QuQ was granted a judicial hearing in District Court; another stab at the beef will go down June 19.
