Contributor

Barbara Popovic

Executive director, Chicago Access Network Television

Barbara Popovic is Executive Director of Chicago Access Network Television (CAN TV). CAN TV gives every Chicagoan a voice on cable television by providing training, facilities, equipment and channel time for Chicago residents and nonprofit groups. Ms. Popovic advocates for public, educational and governmental (PEG) access through Alliance for Communications Democracy (ACD), an organization that participates in court cases involving constitutional questions about PEG access and Alliance for Community Media (ACM), the membership organization of PEG centers. She was instrumental in negotiating at the state level for protections for PEG funding and channels in what is now widely seen as the strongest state video franchise law for PEG. CAN TV spearheaded the Keep Us Connected (KUC) movement in Illinois for the preservation of localism and diversity through PEG Access.


Prior to CAN TV, Ms. Popovic was the Director of Cable Services for the City of Wheaton, Illinois, where she developed their first public access facility and institutional cable system. Ms. Popovic previously worked as a public affairs producer for WMAQ-TV, the NBC-TV owned and operated Chicago station, and taught television courses at Columbia College.