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Channel 13 Policy
Purpose and Intent
The purpose of this document is to provide information concerning the general guidelines and policy direction of the City Government Television Channel 13. The Cable Communications Act of 1984, 47 U.S.C. Section 531 et seq. distinguishes between public access, educational access, and governmental access.

Authority for the Channel
The Government Television Channel for the City of Greensboro operates pursuant to a city-granted franchise through Time Warner Cable and the City of Greensboro. Management and programming of the Government Television Channel 13 is under the authority of the Public Affairs Department.

Objectives

  1. To provide public service and emergency information to the residents of the City of Greensboro and Guilford County.
  2. To widen the dissemination of the activities of the legislative, administrative and advisory bodies of The City of Greensboro.
  3. To increase the knowledge of the residents of Greensboro and Guilford County about the various functions
     performed by their local government.
  4. To provide additional information to residents needing access to various departments.
  5. To provide information on functions performed by or sponsored or funded by the City of Greensboro, Guilford County, the State, or Federal Government.
  6. To cablecast 24 hours a day.

Types of Programs
Greensboro Government Channel 13 is not a public access channel. Access to Channel 13 is restricted to governmental entities. Appropriate programming may include:

  1. Live: Live coverage of selected meetings and events. This will consist of City Council meetings, Zoning meetings and other special program events. 
  2. Tape delayed: Meetings and events recorded in advance and cablecast at a later time. Some events (City Council and Zoning Commission) will be cablecast live and will also be recorded for later playback. 
  3. Original Programming: Programs produced by the City of Greensboro Cable Channel 13 facility, to include programs for City departments, issues related to City government or which use City tax dollars.
  4. Outside Program Sources: The Communications Manager and Station Manager will consider pre-recorded material for cablecast on a variety of topics regarding Federal, State, local government, or economic development issues, subject to the constraints of this policy.
  5. Bulletin Board Information: Character generated messages related to City activities, programs, services and events. This service will operate 24 hours a day when other programs are not scheduled.
  6. Election coverage of vote-counting only 
  7. Emergency service operations for natural and man-made disasters, weather phenomena, poison prevention, first aid, etc.

Access Policy
All programming cablecast on Channel 13 must be government related. Final approval of each request will be made by the Public Affairs Department or City Manager's Office. Channel 13 is not to be used for anything other than City government or quasi-government functions. The City of Greensboro’s government channel shall provide non-editorial information to the residents of Greensboro and Guilford County. The cable channel is not intended as a mechanism for building support for particular policies, programs or issues. Requests for access to the cable channel by any individual or group for the purpose of advocating personal or political viewpoints shall be denied.

Utilization of the channel for personal gain will not be permitted. The following general priorities will apply to the Government Channel. The priorities may be altered on a case by case basis by the Communications Manager and Channel 13 management.

  1. Programming of an emergency nature which would involve public safety or health matters. 
  2. Programming on or about meetings of policy making bodies, City Council, Boards and Commissions and regulatory bodies of City government. 
  3. Programming concerning various departments of City Government and their services.
  4. Programming may be locally produced or obtained from alternate sources. However, only those programs
    consistent with the overall operating policy of the City of Greensboro Channel 13, that have copyright clearance, shall be considered.Programs submitted from eligible applicants are evaluated on the following criteria (not necessarily in order of importance):
                    • Resident interest 
                    • Governmental nature 
                    • Broadcast quality 
                    • Compliance with programming restrictions 
                    • Public service / safety needs
  5. Programming produced by Channel 13 or outside sources which is relevant to government services and the public interest.

Operating Guidelines
The Channel 13 Station Manager shall oversee the various phases of production for programming aired on Channel 13. Channel 13 is responsible for televising local government meetings, government-sponsored activities and events. Channel 13 shall operate 24 hours a day through Time Warner Cable.

Channel 13 recognizes the jurisdiction of the Federal Communications Commission guidelines pertaining to television programming. All such guidelines will be adhered to in the approval of programs for broadcast. Accordingly, the following representative programming applies:

  1. Meetings / programs containing obscene, offensive or defamatory material / language shall not be broadcast on Channel 13. Community standards of good taste will be adhered to at all times. It shall be the responsibility of each contributing entity to assure that programs, PowerPoint presentations, or audio files submitted to Channel 13 shall not contain such material / language.
  2. The City of Greensboro is not responsible for statements made during public meetings such as City Council and Zoning meetings and speakers from the floor.
  3. Programs containing copyrighted materials will not be broadcast without proper copyright authorization. Staff submitting programs for broadcast are responsible for obtaining all necessary copyright clearance, and shall hold Channel 13 harmless in any case of copyright infringement.
  4. Copyright for creative properties (original scripts, music, artwork, etc.) shall accrue to the owner / creator of said property. Agreements between the owner / creator and Channel 13 will contain the following  assurance:
    1. Owner / creator shall grant Channel 13 copyright clearance for the use of the property in an agreed-upon manner
    2. Each party agrees to notify the other of any distribution of the program
    3. Programs will not be sold, commercially distributed or loaned without prior approval of the Communications Manager and Station Manager
    4. Programs, which have as the primary purpose to promote commercial / profit-making services, political candidates, products, trade or business will not be broadcast on Channel 13
    5. Channel 13 will not endorse any consumer products
  5. Programming on Channel 13 shall adhere to the following restrictions and programming is prohibited that contains:
    1. any advertising of a commercial product or service nature
    2. any information concerning any lottery, gift enterprise, or similar promotion offering prizes based in whole or part upon lot or chance
    3. any direct solicitation of funds
    4. any material that would violate any Federal, State, County or Municipal statute or law
    5. any material that promotes religious beliefs or religious philosophies
    6. any obscene, indecent, defamatory material any political advertisement by or on behalf of legally declared candidates for public office; and endorsements of ballot issues.
  6. These Policies and Guidelines will be reviewed and revised on an as-needed basis.

Political Programming
Political programming will not be permitted on Channel 13 with the exception of providing factual information on any ballot issue affecting City or County government service. Direct access to the Channel 13 for individual candidates or supporters of any candidate or issues will not be provided.

Upon declaration of official candidacy, City Council members will be shown on Channel 13 only while serving in their official duties as duly elected City Council members. Any other use of their image during the official campaign period is prohibited.

Editing

  1. Any City meetings cablecast shall not be edited or subjected to editorial comment. Meeting coverage shall be gavel to gavel including any breaks or intermissions. Meetings will be recorded for later replay. No editing of content of such meetings will be permitted except as may be required by Federal Communications Commission regulations or other applicable federal or state laws or regulations.
  2. Any program videotaped by Channel 13 may be modified or edited as appropriate by the video operations facility. Editing will be based on approved script, dictated by schedules and staffing requirements. 
  3. Bulletin Board: Messages programmed into the bulletin board portion of Channel 13 will be submitted by City of Greensboro departments. Editing by the video operations facility staff to provide clarity and maximize utilization of pages available may be required.
  4. The City of Greensboro does not guarantee the accuracy of the information cablecast by Channel 13. No agents, employees or officials of the City of Greensboro, or Public Affairs shall be held liable for the cablecast of inaccurate information through either human or mechanical error.

Promotions
Promotional announcements for City-sponsored events will be permitted on Channel 13. Promotional announcements for events, charities or outside organizations in which the City has no official interest or sponsorship shall not be permitted.

Equipment
Use of Channel 13 equipment shall be restricted to Channel 13 employees only. Loaning of equipment for personal or outside use shall not be permitted. Use of Channel 13 media production facilities shall be limited to Channel 13 employees and others trained and under direct supervision of the facility's qualified personnel.

Ownership of Recorded Material
All recordings shall be the property of Channel 13. It shall be a general policy that all staff produced programs, meetings or events shall be retained for a period of at least six months. The recordings shall not be considered an official record of any meeting, and there shall be no liability for inadvertent erasure or omissions.