Dear Editor:

A few weeks ago, I received a call from a gentleman from Wiscasset about the Wiscasset Board of Selectmen's decision to take LCTV's (Lincoln County Television) request for funding off the 2015 warrant. This gentleman fully supported the decision, and when I asked him why, his reasons were as follows: not everyone has access to cable TV, not everyone has access to the Internet, not everyone is interested in learning how to make video, and LCTV should be able to support itself through user fees.

I've heard the same every year for the 10 years I've been involved with LCTV and I'd like to take this opportunity to address the gentleman's concerns. LCTV, like all television channels, can not survive on revenue from subscribers. If it were not for advertising revenue, commercial television would not exist. And just like other nonprofit, non-commercial organizations, such as police and fire departments, schools and libraries, LCTV provides a value to the community as a whole; it is not necessary for everyone to watch the channel or use the services for everyone to benefit.

LCTV ensures the ability of any individual, regardless of financial ability, to exercise their right of free speech and expression via the medium of television. This is integral to maintaining our liberty, freedoms and democracy. LCTV is a vocational trainer for students of all ages; LCTV is the only educational organization strictly devoted to video. LCTV enables our towns to build trust in government through unbiased, unfiltered, and easily accessed information in the form of televised and on-line government meetings.

LCTV provides all organizations with the means of advertising themselves and their events, in the form of public service announcements and bulletins. LCTV also maintains and adds to an incredibly rich archive of locally produced video, all in one place. Future historians will be very thankful of our efforts to preserve evidence of our culture.

I think we should all be proud to support an institution which offers so much, for so little.

Mary Ellen Crowley

Executive Director, LCTV

Newcastle