Picture of eggs with one illuminated.

Our Beginnings...

At a Committee Meeting of the Writers' Producers' and Directors' Branch of the trade union BECTU, a discussion was held about media bias and the need for improved media democracy. As professionals in the film and broadcasting industries, we all, by act or omission, were to some extent responsible for much of our own dissatisfaction with the output of the media. What could we do to redress and re-balance the situation?

During the discussions, Chester proposed the idea of creating an alternative television channel that broadly supported trade union, labour movement and community values. After some deliberation about the viability of such an idea, it was suggested that it was worth exploring. This was endorsed by the Committee with Marcus and Ian offering their support in helping to explore, and, if possible, develop the idea.

Progressive TV was created to try and help provide an alternative media solution and build greater awareness and understanding of the social issues, challenges and achievements in communities across the UK. A solution that would be more inclusive, one which brought together hitherto marginalised voices to aggregate and amplify their messages as well as multiply their audiences. The project was formally presented to members of BECTU at the
union's AGM in 2015, where it won official support. 

 

Working together

Editorially independent, we will work with and support the work of our project partners, including trade unions, community organisations, educational institutions, voluntary and grass-roots organisations to provide a collective home for programming that unites the voices of the labour-movement, community groups and social action initiatives in the fight for Equality, Justice and Democracy and a better and more prosperous society that can be shared by us all.

Through the curation and sharing of this work, we can help connect to a growing audience interested in looking deeper than the mainstream headlines, into the real stories and issues that highlight our society's failings, our achievements, and how we can all contribute towards a better, fairer, more democratic society, across our platform, co-operatively. 

 

Content creation 

We will seek to actively support the work of independent social content creators, filmmakers and journalists. Content will be acquired or developed to cover a range of social themes, topics and issues, including (but not be limited to):-

Employment, Labour Conditions and Workers'; Rights; Trade Unions and Labour Movements; Social Enterprise and Co-operative Movements; Finance, Industry and Commerce; Human Rights and Justice; Sustainable Communities, Ecology and Environment, Circular Economies,
Transition Towns; Social and Affordable Housing; Education, Health and Social Welfare; Art, Music, Culture, Media and Technology; Democracy and Electoral Reform; Personal Privacy and State Security; Ethnic, Religious and Gender Inclusivity, Diversity and Equality; Campaigning, Activism and Protest.

We will build online film libraries of documentaries, drama, historic archival content, as well as providing other programming such as news, interviews, discussions and live coverage of public events. Whilst we will focus on content with a social or cultural conscience, we want our films, programming and subject treatments to be engaging, relevant, refreshing, thoughtful and
forward thinking in outlook.

 

Considerations

The planning and creation of this type of media project will undoubtedly involve an interesting learning curve, working through a variety of business, technology and policy (political) issues, across a range of topic areas, including:-

Finance (e.g. accounting, capital, business models, investments, software); Technology (e.g. proprietary, open source, custom made);  Organisation (e.g. traditional, non-hierarchical, flat, matrix, hub, open, distributed); Legal (e.g. ownership, voting, copyright, licensing); Distribution (e.g. satellite, IPTV, Web TV); Policy (e.g. editorial, curatorial, stakeholders, remuneration); People (e.g. volunteering, employee structures, partnerships). 

Our approaches and solutions will be guided by our focus on the following aims:-

  • Uncomplicated technology framework that is easily accessible, replicable by other groups, and easy to maintain.
  • Content that does not advocate violence, but rather, offers peaceful alternatives
  • Editorial independence, with fact-based and reliably sourced content, reflecting the professionalism and dedication of filmmakers.
  • A common resource of multi-platformed access to scheduled, live and on-demand programming, created, curated and shared by its community of members,
  • To be collectively owned and managed by its stakeholders - staff, filmmakers and content owners, as well as the audience, and freely accessible to potential viewers.
  • To create a financially viable business model that is scalable, whilst being free from investor control or dependence on commercial advertising.

If you have any questions or would like to get involved, please do get in touch.

 

Ian Noah