Fresno’s CMAC provides media opportunities in a pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has made many tasks difficult to accomplish this past year. For the Community Media Access Collaborative, television broadcasting was one of them.

Despite some initial fears, CMAC has managed to program its three tv channels and provide workshops to community members entirely remotely.

“It was a big oh no how do we do this. But through many Zoom calls and virtual meetings we were able to put together a game plan,” shared Kyle Lowe, the Operations Manager for CMAC.

Though much of CMAC’s services involve hands-on training with equipment and renting out studio space for locally produced shows, there was a silver lining to providing resources entirely online: It allowed more people to access them.

“We’ve been able to expand our reach since moving to virtual workshops and tutorials. We’ve been getting feedback and participants from outside of the Central Valley,” Lowe said.

In addition to the challenges faced by those working behind the scenes, some performers in front of the cameras have also had a rough time. Donald Munro, host of The Munro Review, detailed his struggles.

“It’s actually been pretty awful. I hate having to do the show remotely. I’m not particularly good at the technical stuff. I need to have a lighting designer come in and help me,” he said.

While producing his show from home has been less-than-ideal, Munro explained that he was grateful CMAC still managed to make it possible.

“I am always impressed with CMAC. I’m always impressed with how much they’re able to do with what they’re given, and this is the case again with the pandemic,” he said.

CMAC is now offering reservations of its facilities on Tuesdays and Saturdays. The organization will continue to slowly offer more based on ongoing safety guidelines.