BRATTLEBORO — Brattleboro Community TV (BCTV) and the town of Brattleboro each received a 2023 Hometown Media Award from the Foundation of the Alliance for Community Media. The awards program was established to honor and promote community media, community radio, and local cable programs that are distributed on Public, Educational, and Governmental (PEG) access cable television channels.
BCTV was recognized for “Overall Excellence in Public Education or Government (PEG) Access.” The award honors all of the programming of the station, not just one show. BCTV won the national award for coverage of community programming in 2022 in the budget category of $300,000 or less after submitting a 20-minute montage of videos produced by staff and volunteers.
This is the fifth time BCTV has won the overall award. Staff will attend the awards ceremony on June 28 in Brooklyn, New York.
“BCTV is thrilled to be recognized again for the breadth and quality of our local shows, especially as 2022 marked a return to in-person coverage after the challenges of COVID,” BCTV Executive Director Cor Trowbridge said in a news release. “The Fire Department Training Feature by Seth Thomas is an excellent example of the power of video to shine a light on municipal employees and all they do for our community.”
Thomas, the town of Brattleboro's communications coordinator, won a Hometown Media Award in the category of Government Profile for his video, “Brattleboro Fire Department's Training Feature.” The video documents training exercises held for new Fire Department personnel, including blindfolded rescue scenarios. It aired over the winter on BCTV and is available on the town's YouTube channel.
For the Overall Excellence Award, BCTV's submission included clips from:
• Vermontitude: (“Crime on the Rise”)
• Open Studio (Bollywood Spotlight Series)
• Harris Hill Ski Jump
• Brattleboro Gallery Walk (November)
• Brattleboro Literary Festival (Ben Shattuck)
• 18th (Almost) Annual A Cappella Concert
• The Power of Dignity producer: Reggie Martell
• Bandwagon Summer Series (featuring Mames Bebegenush)
• Vermont Reads (The Most Costly Journey)
• Here We Are (Melany Kahn, Author) producer: Wendy O'Connell
• Home Funerals Green Burials (“Mary Lauren Fraser – Coffin Weaver”) producer: Andrika Donovan
• NAACP third annual Freedom Fund Dinner
• Guilford Church Christmas Eve Service producer: Austin Rice
• Greenwood School Presents: (“Gettysburg – Learn the Address”) producer: Michael Hanish
• Brattleboro Area Middle School Move Up Day
• Windham Southeast School District Board Meeting (Dec. 30, 2022)
• Montpelier Happy Hour (“Abolishing Slavery in Vermont”) producer: Olga Peters
• Windham County State Senate Candidates Forum
• Guilford Selectboard Meeting (Sept. 26, 2022)
Brattleboro Community Television is a community media center serving eight towns in southern Windham County. BCTV's mission is to promote civic engagement and transparency, and to empower community members to share their knowledge, views and creativity, without prejudice. Find out more at brattleborotv.org.