HomeMy WebLinkAboutVII(F) Discussion of OGTV Policies And Procedures Ngenua
Item VII F
"CENTER OF GOOD LIVING-PRIDE OF WEST ORANGE" MAYOR•COMMISSIONER
Ocoee S.SCOTT VANDERGRIFT
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CITY OF OCOEE COMMISSIONERS
1P4r n 150 N.LAKESHORE DRNE DANNY HOWELL
D SCOTT ANDERSON
OCOEE,FLORIDA 34761-2258 RUSTY JOHNSON
,:• yU (407)905-3100 NANCY J.PARKER
404, ``,
Of G00 CITY MANAGER
JIM GLEASON
Staff Report
Date: November 6th, 2001
To: The Honorable Mayor and City Commissioners
From: Karl Prihoda, OGTV Station Manager through
Janet Shira,Director of Community Relations
Subject: Request to approve OGTV Policies and Guidelines
As Ocoee Government Television grows it becomes necessary to put guidelines and policies into
place. I have pooled the guidelines and policies from Seminole Government Television, Orange
TV,Hillsborough County Television, City of Tampa Television, and City of Madison,
Wisconsin Television to help in composing the guidelines and policies for OGTV.
Walt Spiva, City Attorney, has already reviewed the proposed OGTV guidelines and policies for
any legal issues. All of his suggestions have been added to the final document.
Please review the attached documents for approval.
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Pratcct C roee's Water.Resources t: ,.
Ocoee Government TelevIsion
OGTV
Policles card Guidelines
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Introduction10/2001
OGTV Ocoee Government Television, OGTV, is a 24-hour government
Channel 10 access channel programmed and operated by the City of Ocoee.
OGTV is currently available to most Time Warner cable
Ocoee• subscribers in the City of Ocoee. OGTV is not a public access
v channel and airtime is restricted to governmental related
, .. programming.
,y{'t Of Goa4`,a`
Objectives
OGTV is committed to providing viewers with quality programming covering a
broad range of government information and services. The programming will
serve to provide citizens with interesting, timely, accurate, and relevant
information about the programs and services provided by the City of Ocoee and
other local and state government agencies in a manner that encourages trust, a
sense of accountability, and appreciation of the value of the services provided.
OGTV is committed to providing viewers with quality programming covering a
broad range of government information and services. Programming will serve to:
• Provide viewer access to government information and services.
• Facilitate citizen understanding of decision-making processes.
• Foster citizen involvement and interaction.
OGTV will accomplish this mission by providing the following:
• Program coverage of meetings of government boards, committees and
special events.
• Information on local government services.
• Explanations of the function of government.
• General information to the public about meetings, programs, and services.
• Emergency and public safety information.
• General announcements of current government events and job listings.
• Programs on current events or particular community issues.
• Reports to the citizens from elected or appointed public officials.
• State and Federal government programming of special local interest.
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OGTV is not a public access channel. Programming on OGTV is restricted
to government, or government-sponsored programs and functions.
Examples include:
• Live and taped broadcasts of City of Ocoee Commission and Board
meetings.
• Video Bulletin Board
• Public service announcements (PSA's).
• Local, City of Ocoee, originated programs. OGTV
Informational or instructional programs on various governmental agency Chc�ne110
• functions or services.
• Emergency and public safety information.
• In-service training programs appropriate for public viewing.
• Election results coverage that is non-biased and nonpartisan.
Promotional and station identification announcements.
• Program coverage on government events such as facility
openings, and government sponsored recreational and cultural
events.
• Government sponsored programming from other local and state
government sources.
Program Scheduling and Submissions
In addition to the City of Ocoee, the following agencies may submit
program proposals to OGTV.
• Other local Government agencies.
• Regional, State, and Federal Government agencies.
• Officials and Representatives of the Regional, State, and
Federal Government for use in their official government
activities, including State and Federal Legislators who represent
the districts in and around the City of Ocoee.
• Local groups working with local government agencies on
official government activities or programs.
All programming requests, as well as requests for production
assistance, are subject to review and approval by the City Manager or
his designee. Programs submitted by eligible parties will be evaluated
on the following criteria:
• Citizen interest.
• Compliance with programming Policies and Guidelines.
• Governmental nature. Ocoee
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• Production quality and tape format. .n 'mod
• Public service needs.
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All potential programs for OGTV will be viewed by the
Community Relations Director or designee prior to airing to
ensure compliance with the guidelines stated in this document.
Programming on OGTV shall adhere to the following prohibitions:
• Any advertising of a commercial product or service.
• Any information concerning any lottery, gift, enterprise, or
similar promotion offering prizes based in whole or part upon OG`PV
lot or chance. Chune110
• Any material that would violate any federal, state, county, or city law.
• Any material that promotes religious beliefs or religious
philosophies.
• Any obscene, indecent, or defamatory material.
• Endorsements of particular ballot issues. (Sample ballots and
ballot listings are permitted.)
• Appearances by, or on behalf of, candidates for public office
unless as part of a forum open to all candidates for that office,
starting at qualifying and up to general election.
• Technically unusable material, as determined by OGTV and the
Community Relations Department.
Programming on OGTV shall adhere to the following restrictions:
• Programming on OGTV is to provide non-editorial information
concerning the operations and deliberations of local
government. OGTV is not intended as a mechanism for
building support for a particular party,platform, or individual.
• Any solicitation of funds is limited to City of Ocoee programs
only, non-profit in nature.
• It is recognized that grants and other types of support may be
made available to individuals, groups, or entities for the purpose
of underwriting the cost of a production. In such instances, a
standard"patron's acknowledgement"may be placed at the end
of the production(e.g., "This program was made possible by a
contribution from the XYZ Corporation.").
• For copyright materials, all necessary permissions must be
obtained. Written permission must be obtained and provided to
the community Relations Department Director for all programs
and content produced by outside sources that are cablecast on
OGTV.
• The Community Relations Director reserves the right to edit
programs submitted for OGTV and/or display disclaimers.
Ocoee
The Community Relations Director, or designee, is responsible for L.pr:i
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coordinating all scheduling on OGTV and determining the time slots �•Q, ��,
for every program. All programs for OGTV will be viewed by the 'C/ °`.
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Community Relations Department Director or designee before airing to
ensure technical and contextual compliance. The program submission
process is as follows:
• Program is submitted to the Community Relations Department ..�.
for review. V/
• Program is reviewed and any changes needed are made.
• If the program is accepted as submitted, it can then be
scheduled for airtime. OGTV
• Requests for review, revision, or clarification of program Ganne110
content will be honored in order for the program to be aired.
• The review process should be completed within 10 working
days.
Technical Standards
Programs in half-hour and one-hour format are preferred, however,
programs of any length are accepted. Videotapes should be labeled
with program title, episode (if applicable), and length. A contact name
and phone number should also be printed on the label.
All taped programs must be submitted on a format that is compliant
with the tape format offered by OGTV. At the time of this writing the
tape format is VHS or SVHS. It is the responsibility of the applicant to
make any necessary tape conversions to ensure compliance.
Videotapes should have at least 30 seconds of black at the beginning
and end of the program. The Community Relations Director reserves
the right to decide if the submitted material meets "Broadcast Quality"
standards.
Video Bulletin Board
The Video Bulletin Board is a bulletin board publicizing government
and government-sponsored services, events, employment opportunities,
and other public service announcements.
• It is available at no charge to eligible users and must conform to
the OGTV guidelines for acceptable material.
• Messages are generally displayed for five to 15 seconds and
repeated throughout the day, as time permits.
• Requests for the Video Bulletin Board may be made on a
"Bulletin Board Request Form", available at the reception desk
in City Hall. Requests for the bulletin board may be submitted
in writing via mail, e-mail, fax, or in-person and may include °C°ge
fliers, press releases,brochures, and fact sheets. �}
• Requests for the video bulletin board must be received five days
prior to the desired airdate. lr*'f aoati'>
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• OGTV reserves the right to edit the messages for clarity and
brevity. Submitting agencies are responsible for ensuring
accuracy of information. OGTV or the Community Relations
Depaitiiient is not responsible for errors or omissions on the
Video Bulletin Board.
All Video Bulletin Board messages must meet programming guidelines
for OGTV.
Programming Priorities
The following programming guidelines determine how programs will .•
be aired, listed in order of priority:
• Live Programs/Meetings
Live coverage of the City of Ocoee Commission meetings have the 0GTV
highest priority in scheduling. Channe110
1. Live meetings of subsidiary boards or other live events
may displace any regularly scheduled videotape
programming.
2. Other meetings of the Commission, such as workshops,
planning and/or briefing sessions, as required and
authorized by the City of Ocoee Commission and/or the
City Manager.
• Tape Delayed/Replayed Meetings
First-time broadcast of tape delayed meetings and first replay of a taped
meeting or tape delayed meeting.
• Regularly produced programs
This programming will be given regular time slots around which
individual programs will be scheduled. Programs produced by and for
the City of Ocoee will have a higher priority than those produced by
others. Programming is subject to change as determined by OGTV
staff.
• Individual programs
Approved programs originated by an outside group and related to City
of Ocoee programs or services, or of interest to OGTV viewers.
Individual programs produced on a one-time only basis will be
scheduled around regular programs and their regular time slots. Again,
programs produced by and for the City of Ocoee will have a higher
priority than those produced by others.
Emergency programs
Emergency programs are defined as high-priority, unplanned
programming that affects the health and safety of citizens. Programs
must meet all programming requirements where reasonable. OGTV
and the Community Relations Department may interrupt programming
during its respective time slot to accommodate the emergency program. acoee:
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Use of Production Facilities and Equipment
Only City of Ocoee depaitaaients, or other local government agencies
that contract with the City of Ocoee for specific production services,
may request use of OGTV facilities and equipment. Those using the
facilities or equipment may be city and other government agency
employees, or approved interns, volunteers, and freelancers working
with staff. All users must be certified through OGTV.
Users are responsible for associated costs during use. The City of
MTV
Ocoee Community Relations Director may refuse to allow use of the Channe110
facility or equipment to those who misuse the facilities or equipment.
All original videotape footage and master videotapes acquired during a
production using OGTV equipment will be retained by the City of
Ocoee.
Videotape Library
A videotape library is maintained by the City of Ocoee Community
Relations Department. This library houses programs and footage shot
by OGTV as well as programs provided by outside sources. File
footage is available for use in productions. Tapes are available for staff
review and upon request, tapes can be made available within a
reasonable amount of time. All OGTV material must be reviewed on
premises.
Tape Duplication
Requests for copies of meetings and programs are available from
OGTV. A request may be made in person at the City Clerk's office
during normal operating hours. All requests must follow the guidelines
for a public records request. Copies will be provided in VHS format
and will be provided as soon as possible. All charges will be based
upon Chapter 119, Florida Statutes, which sets forth the allowable
charges that may be imposed for copies of public records.
Production Requests
Projects and requests for video services must be requested in writing at least
14 days before the projected production date. A production request form and a
production worksheet may be obtained in the Community Relations Department
during normal working hours and must be completed before any production can
begin.
Ocoee
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The Community Relations Department will provide production assistance to
boards, agencies, and depai talents that fall within The City of Ocoee television
guidelines. Projects and requests for video services may be facilitated if adequate
funding and resources are available. If a production request cannot be filled by
OGTV because of scheduling conflicts, equipment limitations, staff limitations, or
funding it is the responsibility of the requesting department to provide the � �
resources necessary to complete the project unless otherwise noted. The E`Jam/
Community Relations Department can help to price and schedule outside -•
freelancers if necessary.
OGTV
Channe110
Ocoee
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Prihoda, Karl
From: Spiva, J Walter[JSpiva@foleylaw.com]
Sent: Wednesday, September 12, 2001 4:06 PM
To: Karl Prihoda (E-mail)
Cc: Janet Shira (E-mail); Rosenthal, Paul E.
Subject: FW: OGTV Guidelines
> Karl,
• I have reviewed the applicable cases construing the FCC's cable
> television regulations, the 1992 Cable Television Consumer Protection and
> Competition Act (the "1992 Cable TV Act"), and the constitutional
> principles that apply to the regulation of cable TV programming and
> content. As I suspected, the law is mostly undeveloped in the area of
> local government control of content broadcast over a government access
> channel that results from the same local government's grant of a cable
> franchise. Most litigation to date over the regulation of public,
> educational, and government access (PEG) channels has been by cable
> companies challenging the constitutionality of the 1992 Cable TV Act or
> the resulting FCC regulations. Several important legal issues concerning
> regulation and control over PEG channels were presented to the U.S.
> Supreme Court in Denver Area Educational Telecommunication Consortium v.
> FCC, 518 U.S. 727 (1996), but a deeply-fractured plurality of the Court
> decided the case without providing a determination as to whether a
> government access channel constitutes a public forum or whether the local
> body that controls a government access channel may adopt policies that
> exclude content based on view-point or material that is not harmful to
> children. The Court recognized that technology and the various forms of
> communications are developing and expanding rapidly, and the Court was
> reluctant to establish broad rules that might prove unworkable in
> situations not then before the Court.
• Due to the opinions expressed by the Justices in their concurring
> and dissenting opinions in Denver, it might be well to examine the OGTV
> Guidelines in anticipation that government access channels may eventually
> be determined to constitute designated or limited public forums. As such,
> a government agency may create or make a public forum available for the
> benefit of all or a portion of the public, but may limit use of the forum
> to limited purposes. If the agency determines that a public or
> governmental purpose is served by the forum, and reasonable rules and
> regulations for use of the forum are established in advance--such that ad
> hoc content or speaker decisions do not have to be made without guidance
> from the regulations--then in most instances the exclusions and
> prohibitions will be upheld. Ad hoc decisions that appear to exclude
> speakers or content based only on point of view might not withstand
> challenge. My comments provided below regarding the OGTV Guidelines will
> take this approach.
• Since PEGs comprise three separately identified types of cable
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> channels (public, educational, and government access channels), it seems
> that the draft Guidelines presently are labeled as relating only to a
> government access channel, but include elements of an educational channel.
> From a designated public forum standpoint, it would probably be easier to
> defend the exclusion of content and speakers for a government access
> channel than for an educational channel. Government access content and
> speakers would need to bear some reasonable nexus to a governmental
> entity, activity, or concern. Education seems to be a much broader
> category and almost any content arguably could further the "education" of
> the public. Although the term "education" or "educational" appears four
> times on the first two pages of the Guidelines, only the reference on page
> two to "in-service training programs" identifies any particular type of
> educational content contemplated by the Guidelines. Depending on the
> City's actual goals for this area, you should consider eliminating the
> references to educational programming. Specific categories such as
> in-service training could be retained since this type of programming has a
> clear nexus to governmental needs and activities without labeling the
> channel as an educational access channel. There may be other
> educational-type programming that could be included in the Guidelines by
> specific reference that also are not inconsistent with a pure government
> access channel. The same issues apply to the single reference on page one
> to "cultural" events. You should therefore consider deleting this
> reference from the Guidelines.
• The Programming Scheduling and Submissions section beginning on page
> two states that the Community Relations Department will review programming
> requests and evaluate the requests based on the criteria set forth in that
> section. To avoid the possible unintentional creation of a Sunshine
> committee, I recommend that the Guidelines specify that programming
> requests will be reviewed and selected by the City Manager or his designee
> based on the listed criteria. It seems that the criteria also should
> include an element that is specific to the City of Ocoee's government or
> its activities. Once again, the "Governmental/Educational nature" element
> probably should be shortened to simply "Governmental nature."
• In the first section on page 3, one prohibition listed includes "Any
> obscene, indecent, or defamatory material as defined in applicable
> federal, state, county, or city law." Generally, only obscene material is
> defined by existing laws, and it is defined in an oblique manner based on
> U.S. Supreme Court cases. Indecent and defamatory materials are not
> generally defined by law, but usually constitute legal conclusions based
> on the facts and circumstances. These types of speech, along with
> religious and political speech, fall into a gray area for permissible
> regulation of speech in a designated or limited public forum. However,
> based on the governmental interests that are present here and the ability
> to control the types of speech permitted in a designated forum, I suggest
> that the indecent and defamatory prohibitions remain in the Guidelines,
> just delete the "as defined in applicable federal, state, county, or city
> law" language. If a decision has to made whether any content constitutes
> obscene, indecent, or defamatory material, the ordinary dictionary
> definitions could be used.
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> In the next to last bullet point on page 3, the sentence should read
> : "Written permission must be obtained and provided to the Community
> Relations Department Director for all programs and content produced by
> outside sources that are cablecast on OGTV." Also, in most instances, the
> references in the Guidelines to the Community Relations Department
> probably should refer to the Department's Director.
• The Video Bulletin Board provisions permit "public service
> announcements," but do not provide any definition for acceptable PSAs.
> Will church announcements be permitted? If yes, then the prohibition on
> material promoting religious beliefs should be modified to exclude from
> the prohibition routine announcements of meetings or events held or
> sponsored by churches or religious organizations. Any additional
> qualification that you are comfortable in adding could be helpful in
> properly excluding announcements from individuals or groups having dubious
> religious affiliation or motive (i.e., excluding from the prohibition only
> the announcements of churches located within the City, or possibly within
> the local community, etc.)
> The Use of Production Facilities and Equipment section states that
> the City will retain original video and master tapes made by use of City
> equipment. A short one-page agreement should be signed by the producers
> assigning rights to the City for broad types of re-use and rebroadcasts of
> the materials. Personal releases from actors and speakers should also be
> considered. I can draft these forms if you desire. As you are aware, music
> included on any programming presents special issues. We should address
> those issues as they arise.
• The Tape Duplication section states that requests for copies of
> meetings or programs must be made in person at the City Clerk's office.
> Since these materials will constitute public records, the statement
> concerning requests to be made in person at a certain location should be
> expressed as permissive rather than mandatory (i.e., A request may be
> made....). The Public Records law does not require that public records
> requests be made in person. Also, since these materials will be public
> records, the state records retention guidelines should be followed in
> storing and archiving the materials. Chapter 119, Florida Statutes, sets
> forth the allowable charges that may be imposed for copies of public
> records. You should confirm that the $15 per tape conforms to the
> allowable charges established by Chapter 119.
• Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to
> discuss any of these issues.
> Walt Spiva
> J. Walter Spiva
> Foley & Lardner
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> telephone (407) 244-3243
> fax (407) 648-1743
> e-mail jspiva@foleylaw.com
> The information contained in this transmission is attorney-client
> privileged or confidential and is intended solely for the use of the
> addressee. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient,
> you are not permitted to disseminate, distribute, or copy any part of this
> communication, and you are requested to contact the sender.
>
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