The final three chapters of DeeDee Halleck’s book Handheld Visions covers international and global community media projects, and looks toward the future with early attempts at globally connected community media projects through the internet. Chapter 7 is about Nicaragua, Cuba, Brazil, and Mexico. Chapter 8 looks at liberatory online projects. Chapter 9 examines projects connecting community media groups around the globe.

I gathered that in most countries, public access television as we know it in America never existed. This is for a variety of reasons. In many countries, the funding simply isn’t there to fund a network of free-speech access centers in every municipality around the country. Especially considering that the state will run the broadcast networks already, there isn’t more money for smaller projects. However, this doesn’t mean that community TV and video is dead. For example in revolutionary Nicaragua, community video “is part of a social dynamic that is transforming a country. Video is not just documenting that process. It is very much a part of that process” (289). There are five different government agencies of the national government which have some sort of community video arm. They could be making programs about local issues with extensive community collaboration, or teaching locals how to use video equipment and using footage they shot for news clips. In some cases, the agency would set up a TV in a community center to play back tapes and facilitate a conversation as many people did not own a TV.

Halleck, DeeDee. Chapter 7-9. Handheld Visions: The Impossible Possibilities of Community Media. New York: Fordham, 2002. Pgs. 286-433. Print.