Lawrence Community Access Television (LCAT) is a nonprofit organization that enables people to express their creativity, explore important issues, and exercise their First Amendment rights through public access facilities.
As a community access television station, LCAT provides training, expertise, and production skills to residents and nonprofit organizations. They produce their own noncommercial programming for cable or webcasting.
We recently connected with LCAT’s Executive Director, Daniel Rajczyk, to learn more about the station and the opportunities they’re currently hiring for.
How would you describe the culture of working at LCAT?
Daniel: “Everyone at the station is here to help each other out. We have a small enough staff that it makes for a pretty open environment.”
What are some of the opportunities you’re hiring for?
Daniel: “We’re looking for three or four production assistants, at least one who is bilingual or able to speak Spanish, and we’re also looking for a Broadcast Engineer, preferably someone bilingual but they don’t have to be.”
How has your work been impacted by COVID-19?
Daniel: “We haven’t filmed as many community events, either because they got cancelled or they went virtual. Until very recently we couldn’t air Zoom meetings, but we actually took care of that this past week. Now we can air live meetings in general.
Right now we’re in a period of transition. We have a new president of the board who is very forward thinking. LCAT is getting new shows in and we’re going to be getting busier and busier.”
What are some of the skills/skill sets you look for in applicants?
Daniel: “Basically we’re looking for applicants who can help with our productions (i.e. set up the studio, the mics, run the control room). Also if they would like to produce their own shows, they will be able to. We will also need other things as needed, like helping with remote shoots and field shoots.”
Do you have any advice for young professionals getting their start?
Daniel: “Ask a lot of questions to make sure it’s a good fit for you. Make sure the position that’s offered makes sense and that you feel like a good fit for the company. Research the company. Just generally, this holds true to TV-related and non TV-related pursuits.”
LCAT will be in attendance at the upcoming School of Communication Virtual Internship Fair, happening on March 18th from 12pm to 3pm EST. Daniel and the team at Lawrence Community Access are excited to connect with Emersonians of all different backgrounds during that time!
