In 1971, after meeting at Toronto Women’s Caucus, Ruth Hartman and Anne Smith-Bingham applied for a federal grant (LIP) to create television programming by, for and about women, anchored by the recent undertaking by private cable companies to create community programming in return for licensing approval.

From 1972 to 1973, a collective of 10-12 women known as Liberation Media or Women’s Involvement Programme rented an office at Rochdale College and researched, wrote and created over a dozen videos on subjects of relevance to women, inspiring and informing them to own their voice and creativity in the male-dominated world of media and artistic self-expression.  

Utilizing local cable TV and Ryerson College (now TMU) TV studios, together with their own Portapak videography, art and photography, Liberation Media produced videos that were broadcast on cable television and exhibited across the province at conferences, festivals and universities during the second wave of feminism.