Open Media Foundation

The Open Media Foundation (OMF) is an American, non-profit, charitable, multimedia organization that provides the means necessary for people to create, edit, and share their visions across various media platforms.[1] OMF’s main goal is to put the power of media into the hands of community members who otherwise would not have the fiscal means of doing so. They provide communications services to nonprofit and public sector organizations (primarily web and video production), training in media and technology, and access to media tools and resources, primarily through Denver Open Media.[2]

OMF Logo

About The Open Media Foundation

The foundation's main building at 700 Kalamath Street in Denver.

OMF's mission statement:

"to put the power of media and technology into the hands of the people in order to enable every person to actively engage their community and bring about the change they wish to see in the world."[3]

Open Media Foundation attempts to divert some of the power away from larger media conglomerates into the hands of the people. Many people do not have access or the necessary funding to get their voices heard by the masses; OMF wants to change this by providing equipment, space, and the knowledge necessary to create whatever the producers desire.

OMF is based in Denver, Colorado's "Santa Fe Arts District" where they manage a 20,000SqFt building that houses their 2 TV studios, classrooms, and production facilities. The Open Media Foundation building is also home to a number of smaller, independent nonprofit media entities, including The Colorado Independent online news agency, KGNU AM & FM community radio, Just Media (academy-award-nominated nonprofit film production company), The Denver Voice newspaper distributed by the homeless, and DenHac, a hackers collective which has announced plans to launch KOMF FM Radio together with OMF in 2016. [4]

History of Open Media Foundation

In 2001, Tony Shawcross, Executive Director of the Open Media Foundation, co-founded a non-commercial website called [denverevolution] in order to promote independent arts and non-commercial community events overlooked by the local media.[5]

In 2003, members of the denverevolution collective began producing video as the [denverevolution] production group, borrowing gear from friends at KBDI (PBS 12), Free Speech TV, and Denver Community Television. FSTV provided them with their first editing station in an office donated by Little Voice Productions'.

In 2004 OMF significantly expanded their media and technology training services, and formed a board, incorporating as "the [denverevolution] production group."

In 2005 OMF changed their name to Deproduction and with the closure of Denver Community Television, submitted a proposal to re-launch Public-access television in Denver under an entirely new model, leveraging emerging web 2.0 technologies and business models into community media.

In 2006 OMF launched Denver Open Media (DOM), with an independent brand and name that could be owned by the community.

In 2007, OMF (then Deproduction) was selected to manage production and launch the State-Wide Colorado Channel, which launched in January, 2008.[6]

In 2008, after winning a Knight News Challenge award, OMF (then Deproduction) merged with Civic Pixel, a Denver-based web development firm who had built the DOM website.[7]

In 2009, the parent organization changed its name to the Open Media Foundation, dropping the Deproduction and Civic Pixel names. Denver Open Media remains an independent, community-run project of the parent company, Open Media Foundation.[8]

In 2010, OMF launched the Open Media Project, the result of their two-year Knight News Challenge Grant. The Open Source Software was beta-tested in 6 other cities, in an effort to build a nationwide network of Public Access TV stations collaborating on web-based community media tools and sharing content.[9]

In 2012, OMF launched the Open Media Project -for Governments, an open-source software-as-a-service based on the software designed for Public Access TV. The Colorado State House of Representatives and Colorado State Senate were the first clients of this service, followed by the City of Thornton, The Colorado State Supreme Court, and the Louisville, CO City Council. [10]

References

  1. ↑ Personal Interview, Tony Shawcross, 18 February 2010.
  2. ↑ OMF website <http://openmediafoundation.org>
  3. ↑ "New Brand, Same Mission | Open Media Foundation." Open Media Foundation. Web. 26 February 2010. <http://openmediafoundation.org/new-brand-same-mission>.
  4. ↑ denhac.org
  5. ↑ Archived Deproduction Website, History section <http://web.archive.org/web/20080215210100/deproduction.dnsalias.org/>
  6. ↑ Colorado Channel Website: About Us section<http://www.coloradochannel.net/mission>
  7. ↑ Shawcross, Tony. "2008 Knight News Challenge Winner Launches Open Media Foundation". Idea Lab. Retrieved 27 September 2011. <http://www.pbs.org/idealab/2009/12/2008-knight-news-challenge-winner-launches-open-media-foundation335.html>
  8. ↑ Archived Deproduction Website, History section. http://web.archive.org/web/20080215210100/deproduction.dnsalias.org/
  9. ↑ Open Media Project website <http://www.openmediaproject.org>
  10. ↑ Colorado Channel News Item <http://www.coloradochannel.net/colorado-channel-viewership>
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