Public broadcasting in Santa Monica highlights new voices
CITY HALL There have been talk shows tackling same-sex marriages, religion in schools, obesity, even one about a guy who fell in love with a horse, but leave it to Santa Monica to produce a series on one of the most pressing issues that communities face today — homelessness.
Wednesday marked the premiere of CityTV’s “It’s Your Call: Homelessness in Our Community,” a live call-in show in which viewers can pose questions to a panel of experts as the cameras roll.
Hosted by Stephen Solomon and Ralph Saltsman, who also host the legal advice show “Legal Help Live,” the program will feature new guests and different topics each week for eight weeks and cover issues ranging from stereotypes amongst the homeless population to aggressive panhandling to explaining homelessness to young children.
The show, which is being broadcast to more than 700,000 homes, can be picked up locally on Channel 16 and in Los Angeles on Channel 36. Both are public access stations.
“I knew that homelessness was the number one issue in the community and I was looking at a way for CityTV to get involved and help promote the discussion,”said Robin Gee, CityTV station manager. “I felt a call-in format would be more lively and more likely to draw viewers and create more discussion.
“Hopefully, we will get some new perspectives and other points of view and help people become more enlightened and informed.”
The first show went relatively smoothly on Wednesday. There were some problems with a guest speaker’s microphone and only a handful of people called in, but the hosts managed to keep the conversation moving.
Those who participated said they hope more people will call in once word spreads about the show.
“The best benefit here is that we can use the show as sort of a temperature check to see what the feelings are about homelessness,” said Orlando Ward, the director of public affairs for the Midnight Mission on downtown Los Angeles. “Hopefully there will be those who can help us think outside of the box and look at different solutions.”
Ward, a former Stanford University basketball player who became homeless before finding help at the Midnight Mission, was joined on the program by Michael Dear, a professor of geography at USC and author of “Malign Neglect: Homelessness in an American City,”and Rachel Feldstein of New Directions, an organization that helps homeless veterans.
The series, sponsored by the Westside Shelter & Hunger Coalition and the Los Angeles Central Providers Collaborative, will run until June 13.
“We are hoping this is something people respond to so we can have a lively discussion,” Gee said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 26, 2007. Read the original PDF.