Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 6/27/2022
EASTHAMPTON – On June 16, Easthampton Media conducted their annual meeting in Eastworks to provide updates on what has changed and what the future looks like for the community media center and public access television station.
Jeff Mastroianni, who has been executive director of Easthampton Media for seven months, began the meeting by emphasizing the important housekeeping items they have completed like getting rid of dead cameras or computers over the past several months.
Additionally, Mastroianni explained that Easthampton Media has streamlined their studio production workflow, so cameras are ready whenever they need to be, and transferred their team to Adobe products in order to be in line with industry standards. They also hope to make their website more accessible in the coming months.
As a critical facet of recording and broadcasting meetings throughout the course of the coronavirus pandemic, Easthampton Media is pushing forward with a new logo with the moniker, “E-Media.”
“We thought [the name change] was appropriate because we do represent more than one town,” said Mastroianni. “We represent Southampton as well, so maybe getting away from ‘Easthampton Media’ and moving to ‘E-Media’ might be more inclusive.”
Easthampton Media also installed a new playback system, which is the machinery that broadcasts their channels out to the community. With this new system, Easthampton Media will now be able to utilize the close captioning functionality and stream all of their channels 24/7.
“That’s something that’s been continuously requested that we be able to provide,” said Mastroianni, when referring to the close captioning function. “I’m super excited to be able to say we can do that.”
Erica Ann Beaudry, the president of Easthampton Media’s Board of Directors, expanded on Mastroianni’s vision for the organization, and stated that those who would like to distribute their work through Easthampton Media can do so through a membership fee of $20 annually for Easthampton residents and $30 for non-Easthampton residents. Beaudry also encouraged fans of the channel to donate a monetary amount of any size to accommodate the staff and organization’s work.
“We know that cable cutting is having an effect on local access stations across the country,” said Beaudry. “Today, I’m here to tell you Easthampton Media is as strong as ever. But we do need your support to increase our capacity and offer more services.”
During the meeting, Easthampton Media also awarded their first ever “Producer of the Year” award to Dan Russell.