Salina Media Connection is on a mission to re-connect with the public, and opened its doors Thursday evening to show off what it has to offer.
The non-profit organization has been around since 1991, when it was established in Salina as Community Access TV. At its height it was located in Memorial Hall, and had a large, working TV broadcast studio with a control room. It worked in partnership with local Salina government. Access TV received substantial funding from the City of Salina, and provided all of the video for Salina City and Saline County government broadcasts. It had three channels on the Cox Cable system including a government channel, an education channel, and a generic channel broadcasting citizen created content.
In 2021 the City of Salina opted to no longer provide funding to Access TV, and to instead produce all of its video and content in-house.
Since losing its partnership with local government Access TV, now called Salina Media Connection, has moved out of Memorial Hall and into a smaller space inside the Innovation Center, located downstairs in The Temple in Downtown Salina. Gone are the three cable TV channels, the large broadcast studio, and the control room. The organization now has a much smaller broadcast studio. Programming is produced for the organization’s YouTube Channel and social media.
Though many things have greatly changed at Salina Media Connection, one thing remains the same…providing an outlet and resources for community created content.
Greg Stephens is the acting executive director. He tells KSAL News they work with several organizations in Salina helping them create content, including the Salina Salvation Army. They also produce a couple of Spanish speaking programs each month as well.
Stephens says the public is invited to use Salina Media Connections resources to learn about creating content, including video editing.
Stephens welcomes and encourage media enthusiasts to learn more about Salina Media Connection.
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