Deep Dish TV Records

Call Number

MSS.312

Date

1980-2021, inclusive

Creator

Deep Dish TV Network (Role: Donor)

Extent

134 Linear Feet

in 78.5 manuscript boxes, 64 record cartons, 45 upright video containers, 20 cassette boxes, 16 LP boxes, 5 flat boxes, 4 CD boxes, 5 custom boxes for physical digital media, and 1 flat file folder

Extent

1124 MiniDV

Extent

539 U-matic

Extent

95 1_Inch_Video_Reel

Extent

87 Betacam_SP

Extent

59 DVCAM

Extent

1 DVCPRO

Extent

33 VHS

Extent

26 Betacam

Extent

5 Hi8

Extent

3 audiocassettes

Extent

2.16 Terabytes

in 12,075 digital files

Extent

7 websites

in 7 archived websites.

Language of Materials

Materials are in English.

Abstract

Deep Dish Television, launched in 1986 by Paper Tiger Television, was a distribution network committed to exploring new and democratic ways of promoting video artwork and reporting. Their programs connected artists, independent videomakers, programmers, and social activists, and covered topics such as women's rights, the environmental movement, the U.S. healthcare system, U.S. elections, the Iraq War and the Gulf War, the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, the World Trade Organization, the prison industrial complex, media censorship, and racism and colonialism worldwide. The Deep Dish TV Records (1980-2021) contain video broadcast masters from 1986-2018, source material such as interview and event footage, and production files detailing the process of funding, staffing, researching, writing, shooting, and editing programs. The collection also contains materials related to the Network's administration, interaction with viewers, participation in events such as film festivals and conferences, publicity, political advocacy, and relationships with other independent media organizations.

Historical Note

Deep Dish Television was the first grassroots satellite network in the United States, committed to exploring new and democratic ways of promoting video artwork and reporting. The network was launched in 1986 by Paper Tiger Television, a volunteer-based video collective that has produced public access programming since 1981. From 1986 to 2018, Deep Dish TV produced and distributed television series on a variety of cultural and political topics. Their programs linked the work of artists, independent videomakers, programmers, and social activists and reached millions of people through public access channels.

Deep Dish TV produced and distributed programs on a wide variety of issues. Starting with their Opening Series in 1986, their programs investigated labor and immigration (Beyond the Browning of America, Siempre Trabajando: Latinos and Labor), environmental justice (Green Screen: Grassroots Views of the Environmental Crisis), censorship (Writers Uncensored and Behind Censorship: The Assault on Civil Liberties), the prison industrial complex (Emergency Programming: Mumia Abu-Jamal, America Behind Bars, and Lock Down USA), the U.S. healthcare system (Sick and Tired of Being Sick and Tired), and the Gulf War (The Gulf Crisis TV Project). They also explored international video activism with …Will Be Televised: Video Documents from Asia, Unheard Voices, and Rock the Boat.

From 2003-2005, Deep Dish TV broadcasted the series Shocking and Awful: A Grassroots Response to War and Occupation investigating the impact of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. The series was later featured at the Whitney Museum of American Art's 2006 Biennial Exhibition and the Museum of Modern Art's "Theater of Operations: Gulf Wars 1991-2011" exhibition from 2019-2020. Deep Dish TV became known for their criticism of the Iraq War, and later produced extensive coverage of the World Tribunal on Iraq (Istanbul, 2005), the International Commission of Inquiry on Crimes Against Humanity of the Bush Administration (New York City, 2005-2006), and the Winter Soldier Eyewitness Accounts of the Iraq and Afghanistan Occupations (organized by the Iraq Veterans Against the War, 2008). They also criticized the Bush administration's handling of Hurricane Katrina and highlighted resistance in New Orleans with the series Trouble the Water (2006).

Throughout the 2000s, Deep Dish TV covered the Israeli occupations of Palestine ("Imperial Geography," c. 2005) and Lebanon (Nothing is Safe, 2007). In the 2010s, they focused on social movements in the United States with DIY Media: Movement Perspectives on Critical Moments (2011), Uprooted: A Grassroots Examination of the Politics of Migration (2011), An American Nightmare: Black Labor and Liberation (2015), and We Interrupt This Program (2018). They also highlighted community media around the world in the interactive series Waves of Change: The Many Voices of a Global Village (2011).

In addition to their television programming, Deep Dish TV frequently organized and participated in film festivals, conferences, screenings, panel discussions, and exhibitions. They organized speaking tours across the United States to promote Not Channel Zero (1993-1995), "Iraqi Women Speak Out" (2006), and "Environmental Justice for All" (2006). They also organized a conference in 2010 titled "Re-Igniting the Network: Video and New Technology in the Service of Social Movements."

Deep Dish TV had a history of collaboration with other independent media organizations and advocacy for public access media. Deep Dish TV produced the first year of the television version of Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez; they played a large role in founding the Indymedia Center in Seattle, and have worked to expand that network in Africa, Asia, and Latin America; they had a close working relationship with Free Speech TV and LinkTV; and they collaborated with numerous independent media organizations within their television programming, including the series DIVA TV: Collections from this Activist Collective (broadcasted in the Spring of 1990), Black Planet Productions' Not Channel Zero (broadcasted in 1992), Seattle Independent Media Center's Showdown in Seattle (broadcasted in 1999), and Washington DC's Independent Media Center's Breaking the Bank (broadcasted in 1999). Deep Dish TV was also active in the Access for All coalition in the mid 1990s, composed of individuals and organizations working to educate and organize New Yorkers on the topic of universal, equitable, and affordable telecommunications systems. Fiscally sponsored by Media Network, the coalition conducted media literacy workshops throughout New York City.

Arrangement

This collection is organized into five series:

Series I. Video Productions

Series II. Administrative Files

Series III. Events

Series IV. Publicity

Series V. Subject Files

Scope and Contents

The Deep Dish TV Records (1980-2021) contain audiovisual, paper, and digital materials documenting the public access network's productions, administration, event participation, publicity, media advocacy, and relationships with other media and political organizations. In addition to the production and organizational history of Deep Dish TV, the Deep Dish TV Records document the political topics that Deep Dish investigated, as well as the independent media scene and its most active members from the 1980s-2010s. Frequent collaborators include Paper Tiger TV, Free Speech TV, Democracy Now!, DIVA TV, Indymedia, and Alternative Radio.

The production history of Deep Dish TV from their 1986 Opening Series to their 2018 series We Interrupt This Program is reflected in this collection's broadcast masters, dubs, source footage and media elements on analog and digital video. Corresponding paper and digital files portray the production process in a range of documents, including calls for submissions, program proposals, budgets and expenses, projected timelines, production and licensing contracts, correspondence with producers, video stills, graphics, and cover art design.

This collection includes thorough documentation of the day-to-day administrative activities of Deep Dish TV, including Board of Directors and Steering Committee minutes, memoranda, and notes; financial documents such as budgets and expenses; fundraising strategy and related documentation such as merchandise sales and grant applications; mail received from viewers and mailing lists for outgoing communications; contact lists for research and outreach on a variety of subjects; carriage lists detailing the television stations that carry Deep Dish programs; and internal staff correspondence, job descriptions, and staff biographies.

Deep Dish TV's participation in numerous film festivals, video screenings, speaking tours, conferences, and exhibitions is reflected in paper and digital files such as event ephemera, awards, photographs, and audiovisual recordings.

Promotional materials, advertisements, and publicity for Deep Dish TV's programs and activities are also represented in this collection. These paper and digital files include press releases, press clippings, program directories, mock-ups for logos and graphics, flyers and posters for Deep Dish programs, outreach to producers, programmers, and viewers, files related to marketing and advertising, and demo reels, samplers, and PSAs recorded in analog and digital video.

The Deep Dish TV Records also hold research files compiled by the Deep Dish staff. These paper and digital files include press clippings and notes on topics related to independent media advocacy, political activism, and world events. They also include ephemera, correspondence, and promotional materials from a variety of television networks and media organizations that were also active in the public access scene. These files were referenced by the staff for research, networking, distribution and outreach.

Subjects

Organizations

Paper Tiger Television Collective (Firm); Democracy Now! (Organization); Free Speech TV

People

Halleck, DeeDee

Topics

Television broadcasting.; Public Access Television -- New York.; Public-access television -- United States; Asian Americans in television broadcasting.; African Americans in television; Documentary television programs.; Television producers and directors.; Gay and lesbian film festivals. -- 21st century; Alternative mass media -- United States; AIDS (Disease) and mass media.; Feminism and mass media.; Labor unions and mass media.; Mass media and culture.; Women in mass media.; Environmental justice.; Prison-industrial complex; Health care reform; Iraq War, 2003-2011; Persian Gulf War, 1991.; Emigration and immigration -- History -- United States.; Elections -- United States.; Protest movements -- United States.

Donors

Deep Dish TV Network

Conditions Governing Access

Materials are open without restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

This collection is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use materials in the collection in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Preferred Citation

Published citations should take the following form:

Identification of item, date; Deep Dish TV Records; MSS 312; box number; folder number or item identifier; Fales Library and Special Collections, New York University.

For archived websites:

Identification of item, date; Deep Dish TV Records; MSS 312; Wayback URL; Repository Name, New York University.

Location of Materials

Some materials are stored offsite and advance notice is required for use. Please request materials at least two business days prior to your research visit to coordinate access.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Collection donated by Deep Dish TV in 2011. In April of 2016 an addition to the collection was donated by Brian Drolet on behalf of Deep Dish TV; the accession number associated with this gift is 2016.022. In August 2018 an additional accretion was donated; the accession number associated with this gift is 2018.098. A further accretion was donated in August 2022; the accession number associated with this gift is 2023.003.

http://www.deepdishtv.org/, https://deepdishtvuprooted.wordpress.com/, and http://www.deepdishwavesofchange.org/ were initially selected by curators and captured through the use of The California Digital Library's Web Archiving Service in 2009 as part of the Alternative Mass Media / News Web Sites Web Archive. In 2015, this website was 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, crawling was discontinued in the Alternative Mass Media / News Web Sites Web Archive and began being captured in the Fales Library: Deep Dish TV Web Archive. In 2018, http://www.deepdishtv.org/ redirected to http://catalog.deepdishtv.org/catalogue/ and was added to the web archive. The accession number associated with the redirect is 2019.070. In 2019, http://www.deepdishwavesofchange.org/ and http://weinterruptthisprogram.org/ was added to the web archive. The accession numbers associated with these websites is 2019.053 and 2019.057. In 2020, the original https://deepdishtv.org/ was revived and http://ddtv-stage.herokuapp.com/ was added to the collection. The accession number associated with these websites are 2021.006.

Custodial History

This collection was donated to Fales by Deep Dish TV in 2011, 2016, and 2018.

In 2007, Deep Dish TV hired a vendor to digitize and create MiniDV copies of all master 1" open reel videotapes and U-matic videotapes. An internal report notes that the transfer was not completely accurate and had some errors. The digitzed files were uploaded to the Internet Archive.

Audiovisual Access Policies and Procedures

Access to some 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.

Audiovisual materials that have not been preserved may not be available to researchers. Materials not yet digitized will need to have access copies made before they can be used. To request an access copy, or if you are unsure if an item has been digitized, please contact Fales Library, special.collections@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596, with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.

Born-Digital Access Policies and Procedures

Advance notice is required for the use of computer records. Original physical digital media is restricted.

An access terminal for born-digital materials in the collection is available by appointment for reading room viewing and listening only. Researchers may view an item's original container and/or carrier, but the physical carriers themselves are not available for use because of preservation concerns.

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 repository email.

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.

Appraisal

In August 2023, 7 linear feet of paper materials were deaccessioned, including duplicate materials, sensitive financial and legal documents, and materials outside the scope of the collection. Two blank miniDV tapes were also deaccessioned.

In September 2024, 2 videotapes were deaccessioned as they were found to contain duplicative content.

Collection processed by

Rachel Mahre, Lyric Evans-Hunter, Olivija Liepa

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2024-09-30 14:55:24 -0400.

Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Language: Finding aid written in English

Processing Information

This collection was donated to Fales by Deep Dish TV in 2011, 2016, and 2018. Upon reception of donations in 2016 and 2018, materials were rehoused in order to adhere to preservation standards. Boxes were consolidated as possible, however original order was maintained. During offsite prep by Winthrop Group in May 2022, audiovisual items were moved between boxes for stabilization.

In 2019, the archived websites were added to the finding aid. Additional websites were added in 2021.

In 2023, this collection was processed by an archivist. The collection was divided into series based on the records' contents and arranged intellectually within these series. Audiovisual and digital physical media were arranged by format and lightly cleaned. Log sheets and notes stored within video cases were removed and stored with other paper materials.

In the Spring of 2023, 7 U-matic tapes were identified as moldy by the Media Preservation Unit. These items are currently isolated from other items by housing them in polyethylene bags with desiccated boards and RH monitor strips. If this strip indicates an RH greater than 50%, the Preservation department should be contacted ASAP. Do not open this packaging without contacting the Preservation Department. 9 MiniDV tapes were cleaned by Preservation due to pest damage. 18 1" open reels were inspected and cleaned due to their dirty condition.

In the Summer of 2023, paper materials in two boxes were treated by Preservation for rodent damage.

23 hard drives, 12 floppy disks, and 180 optical discs were forensically imaged, analyzed, and arranged. New York University Libraries follows professional standards and best practices when imaging, ingesting, and processing born-digital material in order to maintain the integrity of the content.

Revisions to this Guide

September 2019: Edited by Nicole Greenhouse to reflect additional administrative information and added archived websites.

September 2024: Updated by Linda Smith to state that video materials have been digitized and are accessible to patrons

Repository

Fales Library and Special Collections