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The News & Advance Lynchburg Va. Sunday November 11, 2001 
Staff photo by Stephanie Bargo Wally Roach, a public access televison celebrity, uses his show for chit-chatting and for voicing his opinions about various local issues. His is one of 33 shows on the station. City's Public access station a forum for diverse opinions By Penny Colston The News & Advance You might call him the prince of public access television. He's Wally Roach, and on Wednesday nights he turns a modest television studio into a personal place of light-hearted chit-chat and controversial commentary. There in the basement of city hall, he takes live phone calls from Amherst to Appomattox and interviews friends and strangers, atheists and church ministers, former bus drivers and school teachers. Many dispute his slant on local issues; others applaud his unabashed Christian conservatism; some call just to ask. "Who are you". Either way, "thewallyshow" seems to stop remote-controllers in mid-press, and throw channel surfers off their way. But when they fall, its not on Fox or CNN or MTV. They land on Lynchburg's community access cable television station Channel 6. "It’s been a great outlet to talk about everything from a toothache to a sorry ex-wife situation, to a parking ticket in Dallas," said Roach, whose long, blond locks and guitar tattoo wouldn't look amiss to the movie "Spinal Tap". "I've had people call in and ask "Is the Republican Party paying you?" He continued; "I don't mind. I hope I make them think enough to ask a question". Roach's show gets attention: he receives hate mail, gets recognized in Wal-Mart, stopped in city streets, sent emails from people who say he's a raving nut, and Hallmark cards from others who think he's cool. (When he recently had a stroke, the emails and cards came rolling in.) "I think it's neat when people write and say they like the show, but I like the ones who disagree," said Roach, who collects and sells guitars off the air. "They're the ones who energize you. They're the ones who make you think." His show, which airs Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m., is one of 33 programs that run regularly on the city's community channel. Run by Adelphia, the station exists as the result of a contract between cable companies and communities nationwide to provide publicity produced programming. It offers slots to interested amateurs like Roach, and loans its signature blue backdrop to local religious leaders, education and city employees, who host talk shows, lead bible studies and produce public information programs. "We give people in the community a chance to find out how television works, and we give them a chance to produce a program of there own, said Phil Spinner station program director. "They decide the content basically. We're here to train them and to guide them." Spinner and his small crew of technicians, all of them cable company employees, will help you produce your show, and the content of which Adelphia and the city are not accountable for. The group will also train you in the art of television production. The station regularly offers free production workshops, which are subject to a waiting list. Producers air their shows at no cost. In between the talk shows and bible studies, Cannel 6 also hits the road to film large community events airs Lynchburg City Council meetings and information programs, and runs area DUI’s and mug shots of Central Virginia's most wanted. But the number of self-styled talk shows and personal programs like "the wallyshow" has grown, Spinner said, from fewer than 10 in the early 1980’s, when he joined the station to 33. And a station waiting list currently contains more than 40 names, he said and could find would-be producers waiting for a shot at a show. "Right now we're definitely at an all-time high in terms of usage," said Spinner, who is 41. “I guess you could say we have our share of local celebrities.” Among them is William Hawks, who gets recognized in supermarkets and parking lots as the host of "At Issue," which airs at 7 p.m. Thursdays. At a time when liberals and conservatives alike seem to embrace a "wave the flag and shout" approach to political commentary. Hawks uses his show to explore questions about patriotism, media bias and unflinching presidential support—questions he feels aren't being asked enough in mainstream media circles. "I still write letters to the editor and vote but (the show) is really good because it gives me a whole half hour to give my opinion on what's going on," said Hawks, a self-described liberal, "and it’s been good for me, for public speaking and communication." Public speaking is what William LeSure's students might practice on his show, "Here & Now", which airs at 8 p.m. Wednesday nights and at noon on Thursday. I've always had this dream of having a Jay Leno show which my own band," said LeSure, a part-time professor at Virginia University of Lynchburg. "But one of my fantasies is to have a soap opera." On "Here & Now" one can hear about an upcoming play, or meet a local actor, whom LeSure might grill about career ambitions a la "Inside the Actor's Studio". He also interviews members of the Lynchburg Fine Arts Center about upcoming events. "It really gives us the opportunity to introduce ourselves to the community and talk to have the sort of outlet," said Mary Brumbaugh, executive director of FAC. It's hard to gauge to the popularity of a public access television program. Producers get a sense from the e-mails and telephone calls they receive. Rating systems, such as those used to rate mainstream networks, don't apply. But Brumbuagh says she knows her time on "Here & Now" is not wasted. “(The evidence) is much more anecdotal than official." said Brumbaugh. "But I think it definitely does have an impact, we just get too may comments about it.” Patricia Williams Coleman prays her program "The True Vine", will have an impact. It is an outcrop of her Court Street Baptist Church women's ministry, "Sisters in Christ" and airs 5:30 p.m. Thursdays and 9:30 a.m. Fridays. "Basically, we try to encourage people to be more healthy, and to lead constructive lives using Biblical principles," she said. "I just kind of put out there what the lord is saying to me.” Coleman "has gotten lots of feedback from people who have said the show is very beneficial, and encourages thinking outside the box", about women's issues, such as relationships, emotional heath and raising children. "I just see the show as a extension of my ministry", said Coleman, who is a minister at Court Street Baptist, and whose husband James Edward Coleman Jr., is a senior pastor and also has a show, "The Real Viewpoint". Patricia Coleman caught the TV bug years ago as a guest on a public access show hosted by local civil rights activist L. Garnell Stamps. Stamps, urged her to take her teaching talent to the air, she recalled. "He said, "you should really consider it", she remembered. at first, Coleman said "No way". The rest is television history. "I was hijacked out shyness and held hostage in a hot studio," said Coleman, laughing. "And with my palms shaking and my knees sweating, I went on the air.”  Staff photo by Stephanie Bargo To get a complete listing of public access television programs, call Phil Spinner at 528-0033 Lifestyle section D Sunday November 11, 2001 reprinted with permission from The News & Daily Advance |
