Election season is upon us and it can be as turbulent as a Pacific Northwest autumn. With races for city, county, and state officials, referendums, initiatives, and an 87 page Voters’ Pamphlet, voters can easily find themselves overwhelmed.
National voter turnout for the 2012 Presidential election was only 57.5% and that was after almost $2 billion in political advertising. With many local options on the table at this year’s November 3 General Election, local voters can turn to Thurston Community Television (TCTV) to combat voter exhaustion.
From humble beginnings as an informal study group in 1982, TCTV has grown into a non-profit dedicated and “unequivocally committed to the expression of lawful free speech. Our responsibility is to assist, to the best of our abilities, all residents, nonprofit organizations, schools, and local government agencies in Thurston County in the production of their programs…We hope that this will lead to entertaining, diverse, informative, challenging, and interesting video that, in the aggregate, will appeal to a wide spectrum of the community.”
Public Access Manager Robert Kam explains that they have partnered with the League of Women Voters to hold candidate forums for decades. They stress that “everyone on the ballot is invited to participate; our goal is to educate the voters not to persuade or advertise a candidate or issue.”
Because of this inclusive attitude, TCTV won a ‘Best of the Northwest’ from the Alliance for Community Media, Northwest region, and a national ‘Hometown Video Award’ from the national Alliance for Community Media for coverage of election night 2014.
“TCTV allows citizens of Thurston County to submit programming to air on channel 22 for free; no membership required. We also have equipment for check out and a live HD television studio any member of TCTV can use as much as they want,” shares Kam. They offer their production services to local events such as Procession of the Species, SPSCC and Saint Martin’s University graduations, the Olympic Air Show, and many others.
This year’s coverage includes a ‘Video Voter’s Guide,’ as well as candidate forums. They can be watched on channel 77 eight times a month or streamed through TCTV’s YouTube page. Live election night coverage starts on November 3 at 8:00 p.m. on TCTV channel 22 or radio’s KAOS 89.3 FM.
Follow all of TCTV’s programming, on both sides of the camera, via their Facebook page or website’s News and Events page. Contact their offices at 360-956-3100 with questions about membership or services.
Don’t let information overload keep you from making your voice heard in the 2015 election cycle. Let TCTV help you make the informed choice for our region.
Upcoming Voter’s Guide showings (channel 77)
Friday, October 30 at 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, October 31 at 10:30 p.m.
Sunday, November 1 at 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.
Monday, November 2 at 12:00 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.
League of Women Voters 2015 Candidate Forums
