Armed with technical operating training, camera equipment and a passion for storytelling, a local nonprofit is working to empower current and future local journalists, regardless of age, background or previous experience.

Housed in the Center for Creativity, which is located within the walls of Fort Collins’ Historic Carnegie Library, Fort Collins Public Media has been serving Larimer County and the greater Northern Colorado region for over 20 years. The station was born from the simple desire to uphold our nation’s most principal rights of expression.

“We began as a grassroots organization back in 2004,” said Jorie Kramer, president of the board of directors. “A bunch of citizens knew the importance of public access television, to freedom of speech and encouraging local artists and local creators, and they came together and formed FC Public Media.”

Public, Education and Governmental Access Channels, as defined by Section 611 of the Federal Communications Commission’s Communications Act of 1934, requires that major cable companies set aside channels for public, educational and governmental purposes. In Fort Collins, FC Public Media makes up the “public” branch of the requirement.

Kramer explained that the organization’s independent nature without corporate ownership makes it unique compared to other media outlets.

“Because we don’t answer to corporate sponsors, we don’t have a billionaire oligarch telling us what we can and cannot say,” Kramer said. “And I think that’s really important, that we answer to the public. And so I may not agree with you. I may not like what you’re saying. But you can definitely come in, produce a show and put it on.”

The organization’s main goal centers on connecting local creators with training, gear and support to produce visual, audio and digital media projects of their own. Members have access to a dynamic workspace equipped with cutting-edge media technologies.

“We don’t just say, ‘Oh, put your videos up on our website or on our channels,’” Kramer said. “We also say, ‘We’ll train you how to make videos; we’ll train you how to do a podcast; we’ll train you how to edit it.’ So we train creators on every aspect of it, from basic camera operation to final editing.”

Members have access to a variety of industry-standard audio, photography and videography equipment. The physical space features a large filming studio equipped with green screens and professional lighting equipment, along with a soundproof podcasting studio. Several computers line the workspace, fully loaded with Adobe Creative Suite and other softwares that creators can learn about through the organization’s course offerings.

“I want to do my own films. I want to be able to have my own say about content that’s in the films. So through FC Media, they’re making a path for me so that I can learn how to do the camera (and) how to run everything. I feel very confident in the interviewing process. I know what I want to ask people. I know the story I want to tell, so they’re paving the way for me to learn.” -Betty Aragon-Mitotes, president and founder of Mujeres De Colores

“We have a basic camera operating class,” Kramer said. “We have editing classes focusing on Premiere Pro because we do offer our members access through our computers to the entire Adobe Suite.”

Membership is available on a tiered system, ranging from its lowest tier, supporter, at $32 annually to its highest tier, producer, at $128 annually.

Within the community, the organization sees itself filling a critical information gap in a city without a major broadcasting organization. Coverage to address this perceived void is viewable on FC Public Media’s On-Line Channel or on Comcast Channel 97 and Connexion Channel 22. 

“We have for 20 years been providing original programming,” Kramer said. “We’ve been providing programming 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the public access station. And some of that is original programming that we, as a very small group with our volunteers, are producing here.”

One such volunteer is Betty Aragon-Mitotes, president and founder of Mujeres De Colores. She joined FC Public Media after previously producing two documentaries covering the Hispanic community’s history in Northern Colorado.

“I want to do my own films,” Aragon-Mitotes said. “I want to be able to have my own say about content that’s in the films. So through FC Media, they’re making a path for me so that I can learn how to do the camera (and) how to run everything. I feel very confident in the interviewing process. I know what I want to ask people. I know the story I want to tell, so they’re paving the way for me to learn.”

Her upcoming documentary will cover a previously untold period of Colorado sports history.

“This has been a dream of mine, to do a film on the Hispanic and Mexican baseball players that played back in the ’30s, the ’40s, and part of the reason … is I want to shed light and educate the community about our history,” Aragon-Mitotes said. “It’s really important.”

Similarly, former CSU faculty member and English secondary language instructor Patricia Babbitt joined the organization to elevate voices and meet a market gap she found underrepresented in mass media.

“I would love to offer an English through podcasting class so that the students could learn how to use the stuff here and know that they have access to it and communicate with the people that they need to, but also then maybe in their different languages and communities or whatever, have their own podcast,” Babbitt said.

Producer Alexis Hmielak became involved with FC Public Media upon a discovery shortly after moving to the local area.

“I moved to Fort Collins in 2006, and six months after I moved here, I discovered that a Canadian mining company wanted to mine uranium up in Nunn (Colorado) … and so my hair caught on fire,” Hmielak said.

Outrage turned to action as Hmielak drew on her previous experience in cable television to bring light to the prospective mining operation.

“So I found out that FC Public Media was here and active, and so I got involved,” Hmielak said. “I learned how to do videos, and I became an activist, which I thought I would never do. And we worked for several years with local folks down in the Denver Legislature, and we were able to successfully get two bills passed, working with John Kefalas and Mike Johnston.”

Hmielak has stayed true to her passions with her current show, Beware Theater, which celebrates horror movies from the golden age of black and white, where Hmielak acts as the host. The program has run for 11 continuous years.

Whether producing social activist and history projects or drawing from professional and personal interests, every piece of media produced by FC Public Media’s volunteers is a testament to their dedication of the craft.

“I guess I could say that (Aragon-Mitotes) and I are children of the process,” Hmielak said. “We have learned how to take our passions and turn it into something meaningful, whether horror movies are meaningful, … we’ll see, but it’s something that you’re getting your passion solidified.”

All the volunteers implore anyone interested in the organization to reach out on FC Public Media’s website. 

“We are an entirely volunteer organization,” Kramer said. “We have no staff, no paid people, and so when we’re here, it’s on a volunteer basis, and it’s also participating out in the community, getting out there when there are events and just getting our name out. We’ve been doing that, and I think the traction is building.”

Reach Katie Fisher at entertainment@collegian.com or on Twitter @CSUCollegian.