NOVAC’s History as Alternative Media

A headline from the original newsletter for NOVAC announcing the nonprofit. http://novacvideo.org/preservation/

The New Orleans Video Access Center (NOVAC), after 45 years, is the longest, continuously running media arts nonprofit in the Gulf South. Their mission is to empower communities through local storytellers by way of creative, educational, and economic opportunities. As delineated on their website, “NOVAC accomplishes this mission through education, career development, community outreach, independent productions, and special events.” NOVAC offers a platform for those interested in engaging in the creative industry and developing one’s artistic potential. NOVAC “[believes] in southern storytellers, and the vision and voice of our community,” and so supports independent, local creatives to produce new media as an alternative to the mainstream media, which targets and excludes certain demographics.

The alternative television movement was emerging around the United States and having access to engage in and express oneself through that medium was critical in fighting the domineering discourse in media that is controlled and owned by the ruling, business elites. This new form of television for the people by the people became a form of activism and emerged from 1960’s underground video which brought “alternative-media guerrillas” into the mainstream consciousness. As the media became increasingly commercialized and regulated by the government, the underserved portions of American society were forced to create their own alternative form of media that would address their populations and their needs.

The nonprofit organization, NOVAC, emerged from the lack of opportunity, influence, and participation underprivileged communities had in programming content in the 1970’s. During this movement, as researched by NOVAC, “New Orleans had the largest percentage of poor residents and the most inequitable income distribution of the fifty largest American cities.” As a response to this phenomenon, the media training program was established in 1972 as a way to provide production resources to those who previously did not have access and serve the needs of minorities to better the community.

NOVAC continues its efforts to involve racially and economically diverse communities in television production and community programming via collaboration with local social service agencies and low-income citizens to produce TV projects on housing, literacy, health care and other issues of importance to their communities. NOVAC has provided a multimedia platform for the diverse voices of the city’s citizens, “producing original content focusing on current social issues, but inspired by the documentary work of our founders,” as a way to “counter the prevailing narratives is a crucial part of our community’s survival.” NOVAC empowers and inspires local storytellers, encouraging the representation of unique voices and supporting the workers in the creative industry.