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Guide to the Paper Tiger Television Archive, ca. 1981-2014 MSS.276

The Paper Tiger Television Archive

Call Number

MSS.276

Date

1981-2014, inclusive

Creator

Paper Tiger Television Collective (Firm)

Extent

143.25 Linear Feet

Extent

4 websites
in 4 archived websites.

Language of Materials

Materials in English and possibly Spanish.

Abstract

Paper Tiger Television is a non-profit, volunteer-based video collective founded in 1981, which has produced weekly public access television programming that critiques media, culture, and politics. The Paper Tiger Television Archive contains papers, objects, and media that document the running of the organization, the production of the television programming, and all other activities of the collective. Materials in the 2016 Accretion included audio and video recordings and Betamax masters of broadcasts, and CDs.

Historical Note

Paper Tiger Television is a New York-based, non-profit, volunteer video collective founded in 1981. The collective has produced weekly public access television programming that critiques media, culture, and politics. Since its creation, Paper Tiger TV has produced more than 320 videos that aim to expose and fight against the corporate control of mainstream media. These programs have been shown nationally on public access television stations, and internationally in screenings and installations.

In 1985, Paper Tiger Television established Deep Dish TV Satellite Network, the first national public access satellite network. Deep Dish TV has since become independent of Paper Tiger TV; however, the two organizations collaborated extensively in 1991 to produce the Gulf Crisis Television Project, a ten-part series exploring many aspects of the Gulf War.

Paper Tiger Television has also been active in social and media activism. Members of the collective have organized several workshops and programs that enable at risk youths and other marginalized groups to have their own voice and become their own advocates. Several of the videos produced through these workshops and programs have gone on to be shown in film festivals and screenings.

Arrangement

This collection is divided into 14 series. The folders in each series are arranged alphabetically, with the exception of the financial matierials and the photographs, which are arranged chronologically. The series are:

Series I: Administrative Files
Series II: Activities
Series III: Publicity
Series IV: Financial Material
Series V: Posters and Maps
Series VI: Photographs
Series VII: Video recordings
Series IX: Objects - NO RESEARCHER ACCESS
Series X: Digital Objects
Series XI: 2016 Accretion
Series XII: 2016 August Accretion
Series XIII: 2019 Accretion
Series XIV: Archived Websites

Scope and Content

The Paper Tiger Television archive consists of the records and materials created and used during the planning and production of the video collective's programming. The archive contains Paper Tiger TV's administrative and financial records, meeting notes, correspondence, job applications, newspaper clippings, mailing lists, and publicity for the collective. It also contains photographs of the collective and the production of their shows, audiovisual elements, objects such as backdrops, "crankees" (hand-painted scrolls used to display credits in videos), and props. Materials in the 2016 Accretion included audio and video recordings and Betamax masters of broadcasts, and CDs.

Subjects

Organizations

Genres

Topics

Conditions Governing Access

Materials are open to researchers. Please contact the Fales Library and Special Collections, fales.library@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright (or related rights to publicity and privacy) for materials in this collection was not transferred to New York University. Permission to use materials must be secured from the copyright holder. Please contact the Fales Library and Special Collections, fales.library@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596.

Preferred Citation

Identification of item, date (if known); Paper Tiger Television Archive; MSS 276; box number; folder number; Fales Library and Special Collections, New York University Libraries.

To cite the archived website in this collection: Identification of item, date; Paper Tiger Television Archive; MSS 276; Wayback URL; Fales Library and Special Collections, New York University.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The Paper Tiger Television Archive was donated to NYU's Fales Library by the Paper Tiger Television Collective in 2010. Accretions were donated in 2016 by Julie Ludwig, Paper Tiger Television, and in 2018 by Marisa Holmes. Further accretions were donated in 2019.

http://papertiger.org/, http://blog.papertiger.org/, and http://papertigertv.blogspot.com/ were initially selected by Tamiment curators and captured through the use of The California Digital Library's Web Archiving Service in circa 2007-2009 as part of the Alternative Mass Media / News Web Sites Web Archive. In November 2015, these websites were migrated to Archive-It. Archive-It uses web crawling technology to capture websites at a scheduled time and displays only an archived copy, from the resulting WARC file, of the website. In 2015, these seeds were transferred to the Fales Library. In 2018, http://weinterruptthisprogram.org/ was added. The accession number associated with this website is 2019.057.

Audiovisual Access Policies and Procedures

Access to audiovisual materials in this collection is available through digitized access copies. Researchers may view an item's original container, but the media themselves are not available for playback because of preservation concerns. Materials that have already been digitized are noted in the collection's finding aid and can be requested in our reading room. To request an access copy, or if you are unsure if an item has been digitized, please contact special.collections@nyu.edu with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.

Take Down Policy

Archived websites are made accessible for purposes of education and research. NYU Libraries have given attribution to rights holders when possible; however, due to the nature of archival collections, we are not always able to identify this information.

If you hold the rights to materials in our archived websites that are unattributed, please let us know so that we may maintain accurate information about these materials.

If you are a rights holder and are concerned that you have found material on this website for which you have not granted permission (or is not covered by a copyright exception under US copyright laws), you may request the removal of the material from our site by submitting a notice, with the elements described below, to the special.collections@nyu.edu.

Please include the following in your notice: Identification of the material that you believe to be infringing and information sufficient to permit us to locate the material; your contact information, such as an address, telephone number, and email address; a statement that you are the owner, or authorized to act on behalf of the owner, of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed and that you have a good-faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; a statement that the information in the notification is accurate and made under penalty of perjury; and your physical or electronic signature. Upon receiving a notice that includes the details listed above, we will remove the allegedly infringing material from public view while we assess the issues identified in your notice.

Collection processed by

Laura Newsome, 2012. Video recordings processed by Harry Bleakley McDowell, 2014.

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2024-02-06 14:19:40 -0500.
Language: Description is in English.

Processing Information

In 2014, the Paper Tiger Television archived website was added to Tamiment Library Web Collection on Organizations (WEB ARC 003). Crawling of the websites in this collection were ceased in 2018. In 2022, archived websites associated with this collection in the Alternative Mass Media / News Web Sites Web Archive were shared to the Paper Tiger Television Web Archive in Archive-It for access and replay purposes.

Additional processing information about this collection was not recorded.

Revisions to this Guide

January and March 2019: Record updated by Rachel Searcy to reflect 2019 accretions
March 2021: Updated by Rachel Mahre to state that video materials have been digitized and are accessible to patrons
July 2021: Edited by Anna Björnsson McCormick to correctly identify Pearl Bowser
February 2023: Updated by Nicole Greenhouse to include archived websites and additional administrative information
May 2023: Updated by Rachel Mahre to state that video materials have been digitized and are accessible to patrons

Repository

Fales Library and Special Collections
Fales Library and Special Collections
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
2nd Floor
New York, NY 10012
https://library.nyu.edu/locations/special-collections-center/