Arlington Independent Media now has new board of directors and the outlines of a battle plan to bring itself back from the brink of extinction.
“We’re not giving up the ghost,” the organization’s outgoing secretary, Claire Seaton, said at the end of AIM’s annual membership meeting, held Sunday (Oct. 27).
Arlington Independent Media’s floundering finances have left a former employee with significant personal debt.
Linda Lawson, AIM’s former head of production, obtained a credit card to help cover operating funds at the struggling nonprofit in the second half of 2023, AIM Treasurer Amanda MacKaye said in an email to members last week. At the encouragement of AIM’s former executive leadership, according to the email, Lawson racked up a debt of about $15,000.
A radio show that got its start at Arlington Independent Media has received recognition at the national level.
“Choose to be Curious,” run by former AIM president and producer Lynn Borton, won the Alliance for Community Media Foundation‘s Hometown Media Award for best audio programming by an independent producer. The award will be formally presented in June at a conference in San Jose, Calif.
Updated 3/27 After an intense several weeks involving a county audit, a board president’s resignation and a mass layoff of all staff members, Arlington Independent Media is attempting to turn a new leaf.
The beleaguered nonprofit’s board members, now the only operational staff of the longstanding public access television and radio broadcaster, sketched out a tentative path forward yesterday (Monday) while fielding questions — and occasional accusations — from members of the public.
(Updated at 10:15 a.m.) Arlington Independent Media has laid off all staff members while electing new leaders amid a county audit of the group’s finances.
AIM’s board, now under the leadership of President Rhonda Snipe and Treasurer Amanda MacKaye, will be “taking over operations of the organization for the time being,” the organization announced Monday following a closed special meeting.
Amid its stalled move from Clarendon to Courthouse, Arlington Independent Media is being audited by the county, according to the nonprofit’s leadership.
Meantime, simmering divides among the organization’s leadership, AIM members and people currently or formerly on AIM’s Board of Directors boiled over this week.
Arlington’s local radio station has been playing the same music on repeat since December.
The continuous lo-fi beats, noted by listeners more than a month ago, are a result of aging equipment and financing delays complicating Arlington Independent Media‘s move into a new office building that is home to a transmitter critical to AIM’s operations.
As we have been reporting, local public access station Arlington Independent Media is at a crossroads as it vies for funding from Arlington County and local cable providers.
Despite some internal strife, a bigger force is driving the existential questions around AIM: the ongoing loss of cable TV subscribers known as cord cutting.
This weekend, the Arlington County Board adopted a new agreement governing how Arlington’s public access station, Arlington Independent Media, can request funding.
AIM has a claim on Public, Educational and Government (PEG) funds that Arlington County receives as part of its franchise agreements with Comcast and Verizon. It competes with Arlington Public Schools and county government initiatives for this pot of money, which is dwindling as people end their cable subscriptions.
(Updated at 12:20 a.m. on 12/7/23) After a 2-year search for new digs, Arlington Independent Media is on the cusp of moving from its long-time headquarters in Clarendon.
Next week, Arlington’s public access TV channel, community radio station and media training provider intends to sign a lease for space in Courthouse Plaza, says its CEO Whytni Kernodle. The building is owned by JBG Smith and home to Arlington County headquarters.
(Updated at 6:30 p.m. on 08/25/23) Arlington Independent Media is seeking sponsors for a free community event it will host early next month.
Arlington’s public access TV channel, its community radio station and a media training provider is throwing its first-ever “MusicFest.” The event, on Sept. 7, from 5:30-10 p.m. at its Clarendon studios at 2701 Wilson Blvd, will have live music, food and drinks and vendors.
(Updated at 5 p.m. on 7/3/23) Arlington Independent Media is Arlington’s public access TV channel, its community radio station, and a media training provider.
Under its current leadership, AIM — which was founded in 1982 — is trying to broaden its reach and uplift diverse residents. Reaching this goal, however, is hampered by messy finances: audit reports from 2018-19 show it has been losing money, while its 990s are behind schedule and staff are not getting paid on time.
