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Report 4 (of 5): Tenant Spin
- UK
Introduction
Hit by the decline in sea transport in the 1970s,
Liverpool has seen a massive programme of regeneration
in recent years. But for most people living in
tower blocks outside the city centre, regeneration
is still a distant dream. Now their own internet
TV channel is empowering some of the tenants, giving
them new skills and a forum for discussing the issues
affecting them.
See The
Digital Revolution - Information and Communication
Technologies for an overview on the global picture
on ICTs.
The Housing Action Trust, or HAT, is demolishing
some of Liverpool's 67 ageing tower blocks.
Entire communities will be re-housed, putting the
most elderly residents at risk of social exclusion.
Life in Liverpool is changing as these tower blocks
are demolished and new buildings are created. In an
ambitious plan to combat social exclusion that is
backed by more than ten agencies, a number of Liverpool's
tenant communities have been supplied with a computer
and have joined the Superchannel online network.
What is Superchannel?
The Superchannel is a tool that enables people, organisations
and communities to produce interactive internet-TV,
directly engaging users in the creation and evolution
of content. It is a network of independent channels
run by people, local communities, and organisations
that use media for communication, discussion and presentation.
Currently there are 30 channels and 1356 shows.
The channels represented on the Superchannel are
all associated with one or more local broadcasting
studios. The studios function as gathering places
- attracting people to come and meet each other, create
media and get involved.
The channels are independent and the administration
of the channel's media is handled by that channel's
operators. Through user name and password they get
access to a web-based Content Management System that
allows them to develop the channel profile, broadcasts
and archive.
All shows are broadcast at the Superchannel website
where an open chat forum enables viewers, participants
and producers to discuss the current shows.
After the live broadcast the shows are saved in the
Superchannel archive. The archive allows people to
watch previous broadcasts, while the discussion forum
stays open to promote continued debate and discussion.
The opening of the internet-TV channel is supervised
and executed from Superchannel's HQ in Copenhagen.
(Source: Superchannel.org)
National Context
The British Government has warned that people
living in the most deprived neighbourhoods risk
being excluded from new technologies such as
the internet and e-mail. In order to tackle
the problem, the government launched a report,
'Closing the Digital Divide'. The report recommends
that:
- People in every deprived
urban neighbourhood should have access to
computers, the internet, e-mail and other
emerging information and communication technologies
(ICTs);
- All of these neighbourhoods
should have at least one public access point.
These should be located in places where
people feel at ease such as local community
centres, libraries, religious centres, post
offices, bus and train stations and shopping
centres; and
- Experts and mentors drawn
from the local community should be on hand
to provide training and support.
Billions of pounds are being
invested to bring ICTs to schools, to create
1000 new technology training centres in sports
clubs, pubs, schools, houses and churches.
Examples of how ICTs can help
people in disadvantaged communities:
- On-line job clubs for people
looking for work;
- On-line banking - some
on-line banks may be more willing than high
street banks to offer services to people
in deprived areas;
- On-line shopping, especially
for those looking after young children or
who have transport difficulties;
- On-line health for learning
about health and preventative health measures,
e.g. NHS Direct; joining local health and
sports clubs, and finding out where to go
for slimming groups, swimming classes, or
smoker's support groups;
- On-line government, providing
better access to government services such
as logging home repairs with your local
council on-line, or visiting government
websites for information and services such
as child benefit, driving licences and education;
- Employment - people, including
some with learning difficulties, are finding
jobs because they have learnt an developed
their IT skills.
Source: Closing the UK's Digital
Divide, Hewitt And Wills |
Superchannel was initiated by Danish artist group
Superflex in collaboration with American programmer
Sean Treadway. The intention was to develop democratic
media that allowed viewers to become personally involved
and get behind the microphone or camera. Individuals
can explore issues through the mediums of radio and
TV. Users of Superchannel can participate actively
in shows by chatting during broadcasts, leave messages
with their opinions, comments or suggestions, or even
become a producer themselves.
Existing internet media forums such as e-mail, discussion
groups and home pages all carry the message through
a mostly text medium. With streaming media the faces,
voices, and motion of people can be combined with
text and other exciting internet media to expand the
potential of communication.
Tenant Spin
Tenant Spin is a channel transmitted on the internet-based
Superchannel. It aims to promote resident participation
in regeneration and social housing issues through
constructive debate and shared experience.
In 1999 the UK's Foundation for Art and Creative
Technology (FACT) commissioned Superflex and programmer
Sean Treadway to establish a Superchannel at Liverpool's
oldest tower block, Coronation Court. This led to
the formation of Tenantspin in March 2001. It initially
encompassed 67 of the city's high rise blocks and
continues to operate as an innovative forum in which
to debate, compare, express and contrast experiences
of primarily elderly tenants from across the city
of Liverpool.
The project is currently co-managed by three agencies:
- The Liverpool Housing Action Trust (HAT),
set up by the Government in 1993 to oversee the
regeneration of 67 of Liverpool's tower blocks (5337
properties).
- The High Rise Tenants Group, formed in
1991 and consisting of annually elected representatives
of the 2,500 HAT high rise tenants. Of these tenants
77 per cent are over 60 years old and 14 per cent
have an annual income of less than £4,000; 56 per
cent of the flats have at least one disabled person.
- FACT, the UK's leading agency for the exhibition,
support and presentation of artists' film, video
and new media production.
Developing Skills and a Sense of
Community
The FACT Centre in central Liverpool hosts the tenantspin
studio in which residents run their own television
channel on the internet. It broadcasts live to community
centres and anyone with an internet connection. Liverpool's
HAT tenants produce the programmes, presenting a range
of subjects that are generally community-driven such
as features on anti-social behaviour, hi-tech homes,
tenants' rights and care.
In 2002 BBC Radio 3 commissioned tenantspin to produce
80 minutes of new drama, entitled SuperBlock. Set
in LIverpool in the year 2040 when all the demolished
tower blocks are rebuilt - on top of each other.
"It does develop a sense of community
around the users, around the audience and the participants
and the people who are actually delivering the shows."
Jim Jones, tenant.
Tenantspin runs a weekly training programme for tenants
on:
| Studio |
Camera, sound, lighting,
audio & vision mixing, health & safety,
audience management, interviewing |
| Webcasting |
Researching, programming,
scheduling, streaming (RealProducer) and archiving |
| Chat |
Acting as studio
host, relaying chat comments to live studio
panels. |
 |
Photographs copyright Tenant Spin
|
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To set up your own channel, you need to buy a license,
which is inexpensive compared to most normal providers.
It costs approximately £3000 in the first year to run
a permanent channel. This provides access to a content
management system that allows producers to have their
own channel, with profile, archive, subchannels/theme
channels etc. You are able to stream 24 hour a day,
scheduling, discussion forums for each show and channel.
You can submit a proposal to Superchannel on line, via
their website who can help with ideas, strategies and
pricing.
Since then, more than 20 studies have opened in different
locations and another five channels in England have
started with more planned in Manchester, Birmingham,
Wales and New Zealand. Superchannel and Tenantspin
are forums in which community members can develop
their skills and confidence to express themselves
creatively. Moreover, all community members benefit
from being able to connect with each other through
the medium of the internet, TV and radio.
Acknowledgements
This case study is based on the information available
on Superchannels website.
Further Information
SuperChannel.org
Superchannel HQ
Blågårdsgade 11b
2200 Copenhagen N
Denmark
Tel: +45 35 34 34 66
Contact: Bjorn Christiansen
Bstar@superchannel.org or info@superchannel.org
www.superchannel.org
To submit a proposal on-line
www.superchannel.org/home/proposals
Supermanual: An Incomplete Guide to The Superchannel
Find out more about the tenantspin project and how
Superchannel began. This 88-page illustrated book
documents and explains the development of the Superchannel,
from pilot project to the beginnings of tenantspin.
The book was conceived as a DIY guide to setting up
your own Superchannel, and includes five case studies
by artists and community workers, five critical texts
and a glossary of relevant terms and concepts.
ISBN: 09521221 3 8
Price: £8.00 (+ postage & packing UK: £1,
Europe and Worldwide: £3)
Tenant Spin
http://www.superchannel.org/Home/Profile/Channels/
SPIN/
http://www.tenantspin.org/
Alan Dunn
Tenantspin/ Superchannel Programme Manager
Tel: +44 (0) 151 707 4439
Liverpool Housing Action Trust
2nd Floor, Cunard Building
Water Street
Liverpool
Merseyside L3 1EG
UK
Enquiries: +44 (0)151 227 1099
Fax: +44 (0)151 236 5263
E-mail: enquire@liverpoolhat.org.uk
News: news@liverpoolhat.org.uk
Noticeboard: notice@liverpoolhat.org.uk
FACT, Film Art and Creative Technology is
the UK's leading organisation for the support and
exhibition of film, video and new media projects.
88 Wood Street
Liverpool L1 4DQ
UK
Tel: +44 (0)151 707 4450
E-mail: info@fact.co.uk
Minicom: 0151 707 4410
http://www.fact.co.uk/
Video Nation Liverpool is an online video
community across the UK
http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/videonation/index.shtml
Closing
the UK's Digital Divide - Hewitt And Wills
BBC Liverpool
55 Paradise Street
Liverpool L1 3BP
UK
Tel: +44 (0)151 794 0980
liverpool@bbc.co.uk
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