About

For information on ORCA Board of Directors click here

To find out more about ORCA Media staff click here

A copy of ORCA Media's 2012 and 2013 Annual Report to the Community is available at the bottom of this page.

ORCA Media is a local, non-profit television production facility operating in the Central Vermont areas. We provide public, educational and governmental programming to the residents of the Central Vermont towns of Berlin, Bethel, Braintree, Calais, Duxbury, East Montpelier, Middlesex, Montpelier, Moretown, Randolph, Rochester, Waterbury and Worcester. ORCA Media strives to provide diverse programming which informs, educates, and entertains. 

Mission Statement

The mission of ORCA Media is to promote participation in local government, community and organizations through the use of telecommunications technology. ORCA Media provides free video production, training and distribution services to citizens and organizations in the towns served by ORCA Media and is dedicated to the principles of free speech, content neutrality, localism, civic engagement and tolerance of diverse opinions and perspectives.

History

"[We] recognize the great potential of the cable technology to further the achievement of long-established regulatory goals in the field of television broadcasting by increasing the number of outlets for community self-expression and augmenting the public’s choice of programs and types of services.

— Federal Communications Commission Report, 1969

The Federal Communications Commission through the regulation of cable companies created public access television in the late 1960s. Under the acronym PEG (public, educational, and governmental), access television channels on cable TV are intended to serve a wide range of community organizations, including churches, synagogues, Lions and Rotary Clubs, local political party organizations, high schools, and colleges. Today, PEG access centers are primarily funded through the compensation cable companies pay for the use of state and local rights-of-way.

Each component of PEG serves a specific purpose: The public component requires that stations’ resources, facilities, and programming be available to the public. The educational component is twofold: it encourages the training of individuals through television production courses, and it stresses the importance of educational programming such as literacy training. The governmental component addresses PEG stations’ commitment to increasing the public’s awareness and knowledge of local government issues and processes.