Somerville Community Access Television won two awards in the 2012 Alliance for Community Media’s Hometown Video Contest. The awards were for Overall Excellence and for “The Somerville Alderman Debate” at the Somerville Theatre. The Alliance for Community Media is the national organization of public access TV stations. Congratulations to all the SCATV producers!

The prestigious award for Overall Excellence recognizes SCATV’s service to the community, and the high quality and diversity of programs produced by Somerville residents, organizations, and staff. This is the seventh time since 2005 that SCATV has won this award, despite competition from access centers across the country. The contest involves submitting a 30-minute compilation of clips from shows that aired on SCATV Channel 3 during 2011. SCATV’s compilation included clips from talk shows, drama, live entertainment, documentaries, promotions, political forums, youth-produced videos, and more. Many SCATV programs are in languages other than English, reflecting Somerville’s large immigrant community. In addition, written materials are submitted to the judging panel that detail SCATV’s involvement in community affairs, its training and internship programs, and its youth workshops. SCATV won in the category of mid-sized public access stations.

“The Somerville Alderman Debate” won in the category of programs concerning “Democracy in Action” that were produced by video professionals. The program was shot at the Somerville Theatre in October 2011 ahead of the November City elections. It was hosted and coordinated by Joe Lynch, co-host of the SCATV live show, “Greater Somerville.” Wendy Blom, SCATV Executive Director, directed the three-camera production. Gordon Nelson, SCATV staffer, operated a camera and edited. Other crew members were Gwyn Ables, KyAnn Anderson, Vaughn Simkins, Donald Sweatt, and Bill Trudell.

The award ceremony will take place at the Alliance’s national conference in Chicago in July.