With one foot firmly planted on each side of the Rock River as it winds through the southern part of the state on its way to the Mississippi, the City of Janesville, county seat of Rock County, can boast of serving its population of 63,000 with a community television station since 1997 — the one and only Janesville JATV.
Located in the lower level of the Hedberg Public Library, JATV’s mission blends seamlessly with the missions of both the library and the city. “Transparency in government is the most important thing to us! We also love to share and educate about what our city services do for people,” says Alan. That sentiment really shines through in their programming. JATV’s cable TV and YouTube channels are jam-packed with city meetings, presentations, and original programming originating from the library, city hall, and out and about in the community.
JATV also loves to assist local nonprofits in relaying their message to the community. “We have a whole list of them I could get to you,” says Alan, but by this point, he’s already named many of them: the Janesville Performing Arts Center, UW Whitewater at Rock County, Downtown Janesville, Inc., the YWCA, the Diversity Action Team of Rock County, the Janesville Art League, the Janesville Women’s Club, the Rock County Historical Society, and the League of Women Voters top the list.
JATV serves the needs of its community with four staff members: Media Services Director Alan Luckett, Program Coordinator Tina Breeze-Wahlers, and production assistants Bujar Sadiku and Christopher Valley. Alan has been working in the community media field since 2000. His first management position was as the director of Whitewater Community Television for the City of Whitewater. “I applied to be a volunteer at Whitewater Community Television after I earned my degree from Columbia College in Chicago in 1987, but I never got a call back. For thirteen years I worked in media-related jobs, but I always wanted to be in community TV. Then years later when I was hired, I found my volunteer paperwork in a file!” Alan would stay with the City of Whitewater, building up the program working especially with the school district and their concert coverage, until 2016 when he was hired by the City of Janesville.
Not only does JATV facilitate transparency in government, help local nonprofits, and produce some great coverage of community events, it also welcomes the community to use the station and their many media platforms. Community members can submit shows they’ve produced with their own equipment or check out professional field equipment. Alan is particularly excited about beginning a series of in-person video production classes soon.
Check out all JATV has to offer on Spectrum Channel 994 (in SD), online at jatv.org, on YouTube and Facebook.
