Media in the US and for that matter in most other parts of the world is being used more against Islam than for Islam. One of the reasons for this situation is unavailability of sufficient funds with Islamic organizations for this expensive endeavor. A media opportunity however exists for us, which is inexpensive and doable!!!

In many big and small cities of the US there are public access cable TV channels. By law such a channel must exist and is funded by the giant media networks to provide a venue for anybody and everybody to reach out to public. Much non-profit religious and other organization utilize this channel to further their cause.

Here are some steps to start public access programming in your city:

1. Find out the studio/office of the local public access channel, visit them and let them know of your intentions as a non profit organization. They will provide you with rules and regulations and inform you about the whole process.

2. Although the rules and regulations may vary from place to place, the process will be as follows

   1. Request for a letter from 877-WHY-ISLAM on it’s letterhead as a non-profit organization. (by emailing info@whyislam.org)

   2. Training of a few individual that will make your production crew, usually a producer, a couple of people on camera and a couple on lights

   3. Test production to pass their minimum requirements

    

3. Once you are through these steps your crew can use the equipment of the studios, inside or outside of the studios for live or recorded programs.

4. An easier start is to produce programs in the form of lectures and interviews, covering topics that are relevant to the viewers, providing Islamic perspective on these topics.

5. At more advanced stage when your team has individuals with editing, graphics and other capabilities, you can go in to production of documentaries, TV magazine shows etc.

6. 6. As you grow you can start buying your own equipment to be more flexible with time.

There are many individuals and communities around the country who are already involved in cable TV production. You can either reach out to these groups and request for already-prepared material to air on these channels or create your own. In Houston, we are doing public access programming weekly under the name of “WhyIslam TV”. For any information on such programs or for more details please email us at info@whyislam.org