Public Access to Festival of Dionysus

Public Access like our notion of democracy antedates the American Constitution with its First Amendment by some 2500 years. Acting as we know it came into being at the three annual festivals of Dionysus in Athens, the birthplace of democracy. The production costs were paid for a group of wealthy citizens who vied for the privilege of government appointment to do this as a liturgy or public service. Attendance was a civic if not religious obligation and admission to the theatre was free. When it eventually became necessary to charge for tickets, the state provided funds for all citizens who could not afford the price. The society that invented political freedom also held the view that society should pay a fee so that all people could hear and be heard! Consider how important the Greeks must have held this view.
Public access is not about theatre, it is about democracy.

2500 Years Later, on April 15, 1912 Captain Edward Smith ordered his radio operator to send the following: "We are the Titanic. We are sinking. Come at once." No one came! No one was listening! Public Access has its roots in the legislative requirement that all ships at sea have continues mandatory radio watch. By this act, Congress acknowledged the fact that the wireless service has an obligation to serve the public good. Thus it is ethically indisputable and acknowledged in law that Public Access exists as a right, not as a favor granted. Some may claim that the citizens who demand unfettered access to the communications media are somehow demanding the right to trespass. It is just the other way round. Those who deny a citizen the means to speak, trespass on the First Amendment. Without the means to speak, the right to speak becomes mere. A technicality. The apt analogy is the danger posed to our ship of freedom and the obligation of the telecommunications industry to provide a watch for her safety. With right comes responsibility. Public Access has at least two obligations. One, to provide a platform from which the community may speak and be heard. This obligation is obvious on the face of it, for it is the voice of all citizens that we must assure. A second obligation of Public Access stems from our pragmatic understanding of the dangers of a hair trigger democracy. Like a good draft-horse, free and open discussion often can prevent the social wagon from careening uncontrolled downhill.
Public access is not about television, it is about democracy!