<strong>How eight layoffs at the gavel-to-gavel channel threaten more than jobs</strong><br />
<br />
Judy Dugan is research director for Consumer Watchdog, which fights for
the rights of consumers and taxpayers. "Public-access channels are
uniquely powerless," she explains. "They have small audiences for
programming that [those viewers] can't get elsewhere. The service
they're getting from [CityView] is highly valuable to [viewers], even
though they're in small numbers." Although Dugan concedes that these budget cuts are not the same as, say,
the state reducing funding for prenatal care, she questions City Hall's
wisdom in targeting "a dedicated space" that big cable interests are
mandated to support.<strong><br />
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