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City Council meetings are replayed on Wednesday and Friday, noon and 7:00 p.m. following the Monday evening Regular City Council meeting.
| Chapter Three - Elgibility for Use | Chapter Seven - Program Content | Chapter Eleven - Tape Retention | |||
| Chapter Four - Operational Procedures | Chapter Eight - Use of Equipment |
POLICY OF SOUTH HAVEN, MICHIGAN
CABLE TELEVISION
GOVERNMENT ACCESS CHANNEL 21
The South Haven, Michigan, cable television city government access channel is intended to give residents information about city government services, programs and activities. The channel is to be administered by the Information Services Director at City Hall, which will provide or arrange for videotaping or live coverage of applicable programs, events and spots.
1. CITY COUNCIL 
The City Council shall be the body responsible for resolving issues raised regarding exceptions, variations or modifications to this policy statement. Appeals to the City Council should be directed in care of the Information Services Director and will be considered in a timely manner.
2. INFORMATION SERVICES DIRECTOR
It is hearby established that the City of South Haven, MI., City Council authorize the City Manager to assign the Information Services Director to administer all operations of the government access channel. The Information Services Director will be responsible for informing the City Manager of all activities concerning the government access channel.
Because the channel is intended to provide information about South Haven, Michigan, city government, program requests must come from a city department or city entity as set forth below. Other agencies, governments, groups and individuals, unless they are participating in a city government-originated program, will be referred to one of the other public access channels operated by AT&T of Michigan.
| A. The following city departments and entities are eligible to request programs or air time: |
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| Black River Park | S.H. Area Emergency Services Authority | ||
| Building Department | Leisure Services Department | ||
| City Assessor's Office | Municipal Marina | ||
| City Clerk's Office | Planning & Zoning Office | ||
| City Council | Police Department | ||
| City Manager's Office | Public Works Department | ||
| Economic Development Office | Mayor | ||
| Finance Department | Downtown Development Authority | ||
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| B. City departments and entities receiving air time may invite outside organizations, agencies, governments or individuals to participate in a program as long as (1) such invitees are central to the topic of the program and (2) the city retains control of program content and production. In cases where questions arise as to the inclusion of exclusion of an outside entity or individual, the Information Services Director, in consultation with the appropriate Department Head and/or the City Manager shall be allowed to approve such participation before the program or spot is produced or aired. Appeals of such decisions will be handled and decided by the City Council. | |||
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| C. Declared candidates for any elective public office, and persons advocating any cause, viewpoint or proposed policy of a partisan nature, will not be eligible to appear on the city government access channel unless they appear in a forum which is sponsored by a non-partisan group, in which all candidates or sides of an issue are given equal time. | |||
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| i. For purposes of this cable television policy, a person is considered to be a candidate from the time petitions are taken at or a public announcement is made stating that a person is seeking a public office, whichever occurs first, until the election has been held. | |||
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| ii. This exclusion does not apply to persons who receive incidental airtime as part of a public meeting being cablecast on the channel, nor to officials acting as part of their regular duties when such actions do not involve partisan politics. | |||
| A. Channel - The local government shall operate on AT&T Channel 21 and shall use the designation City of South Haven Government Channel 21 Cable Television. | ||
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| B. Modes of Cablecast - The City shall utilize five basic cable casting modes: | ||
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| i. Live cablecast - Live coverage will be provided. Generally this will consist of cablecasts of City Council meetings and other selected public meetings and events of general community interest as designated by the City Council. | ||
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| ii. Tape delayed cablecast - Many public meetings or events will be videotaped for cablecast at a later period. Some meetings such as the City Council Regular Meeting, will be cablecast both live and subsequently by tape at other convenient times during the week. | ||
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| iii. Locally produced programs - A number of programs will be produced locally to illustrate the functions or operations of various functions of City government. These will include video tours of government facilities such as City Hall, Parks, Utility facilities, or may be on specific City programs such as traffic improvement, streets, building inspection, or budget. | ||
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| iv. Outside resource programs - Much material concerning local government operations is available elsewhere and may be borrowed for local use. This is especially true of public safety/public health programs and training films. This material will be used when appropriate to the City of South Haven. | ||
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| v. "Bulletin board" Information Service - During all hours of operation when no other programming is scheduled, the "Bulletin board" will be used to provide a continuous display of current messages of interest to the public. | ||
| A. The local government channel is not the same as a public access channel, which is provided by AT&T. Access to the local government channel shall be limited to City functions and operations. The Information Services Director within basic guidelines acceptable to City Council must specifically authorize any non-City request for access. Any programming outside of these guidelines must be specifically approved by City Council at a Regular Meeting. | ||
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| i. Public meetings - All public meetings of City policy-making or advisory commissions or boards are authorized for cablecast. The Information Services Director must approve all taping or live cable casting of such meetings in advance. Formal City Council meetings will be broadcast live and taped for re-broadcasting at other times. | ||
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| ii. Informational programming - All City departments may submit requests for programming which they feel are appropriated for the government channel. These may be locally produced. Any programming requests shall be subject to review by the Information Services Director. Only those programs, which are consistent with the overall operating policy of the cable channel, shall be cablecast. City departments must verify in writing that they have obtained authorization to use any copyrighted material. | ||
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| iii. Individual statements - Requests for access to the cable channel for the purpose of advocating a personal viewpoint of policy shall generally be denied unless part of an overall programming strategy to solicit personal interviews with equal time provisions for all. At some point a series of interviews or call-in sessions with various elected or appointed officials may be scheduled as a regular part of the programming. Additional information and specific ground rules shall be established for any such programming prior to implementation. Announced candidates for City offices shall not be permitted to make personal statements over the City channel, except as may be part of formal public meetings or candidate forums sponsored by a non-profit group, from the time of their announced candidacy until after the election, unless a scheduled series of statements from all candidates is programmed and equal time allowed to all. Any such programming would have prior ground rules and policy specifically established in advance. | ||
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| iv. "Bulletin board" information - Information for the "bulletin board" may be submitted by any City department. Messages submitted shall be commensurate with the intent of this policy statement. The Information Services Director shall be responsible for insuring the appropriateness of messages used. | ||
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| v. Program log - A daily log will be kept to record all programming cable-cast during that day. | ||
| A. The Information Services Director will be responsible for scheduling appropriate programs and spots on the channel, and for publicizing the schedule. This schedule, once publicized, will not be deviated from or added to except in emergencies affecting the health or safety of local residents, or at the direction of the City Manager. | ||
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| B. Programming will be scheduled for airing according to the following order of priority: | ||
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| i. Announcements or programs concerning emergencies affecting residents' health or safety. | ||
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| ii. Regularly scheduled, recurring programs, including information series and cablecasts of regular public meetings. | ||
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| iii. One-time, special or non-regular informational programs or airings of meetings. | ||
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| iv. Public service announcements of up to two minutes in length. | ||
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| v. Programs produced by persons, agencies or groups outside South Haven, MI., city government that are submitted by eligible city departments or entities and approved for use. | ||
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| vi. A "bulletin board" service giving printed information on city events and services when other programs are not being aired. | ||
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| vii. Public domain movies for entertainment only, to fill in time slots during non-peak viewing times. | ||
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| C. Meetings and programs, if videotaped, maybe subject to more than one airing. Unless other arrangements are made before the schedule is publicized, such repeat airings will be at the discretion of the Information Services Director. | ||
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| D. In order to allow for proper production, scheduling and publicity, persons requesting programs (other than on-going series that already have been anticipated) must make the request at least four weeks in advance of the intended airing date, except when the program concerns an emergency affecting public health and safety. | ||
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| E. "Bulletin board" messages must be submitted to the Information Services Director at least 24 hours in advance of their first airing except in emergencies affecting public health or safety. | ||
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| i. To maximize the number of messages aired, "bulletin board" messages may not exceed 50 words per page. | ||
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| ii. "Bulletin board" messages normally will not run for more than seven days in a row nor begin running more than two weeks in advance of the event they publicize. General city information will run continuously with no limit on time aired. | ||
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| iii. "Bulletin board" messages must conform to other provisions of this policy. | ||
7. PROGRAM CONTENT, PRODUCTION, AND EDITING
| A. Because the staff of the local government access channel is to be kept at a minimum, city departments and entities requesting a program must be willing to assist in producing the program if asked to do so. This may include furnishing necessary information, gathering together the persons and props to be used in the program, and making on-air presentations as needed. The requesting department or entity also may be asked to pay any unusual production costs. | |||
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| B. Before a program or other spot is scheduled for airing, it must meet minimum technical and broadcast aesthetics standards to be determined by the Inform-ation Services Director. Where a tape, slide show or film has been furnished by an entity other than city government, the Information Services Director must view it before it is scheduled or aired in order to ensure that it meets those standards. | |||
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| C. Programming will be produced by the Information Services Director in the order of priority set out in Section 6 B of this policy. | |||
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| D. Editing Policy | |||
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| i. Public meetings - Any public meeting cablecast shall not be edited or subjected to editorial comment. Meeting coverage shall be from gavel to gavel. | |||
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| 1. Except when (1) the intent is to use brief excerpts as part of a larger program or (2) when technical difficulties interfere. The only exception to this will be when the City Council goes into an Executive Session held per the provisions of the Michigan Open Meetings Act, PA 267 or 1976 as amended, and during which the meeting will be delayed and then rejoined for the conclusion of the regular meeting. | |||
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| ii. Departmental programs - Any programming prepared by or provided by an individual City department may be modified or edited as appropriate to the policies governing channel use, or as dictated by scheduling and manpower requirements. This process shall be under the operational direction of the Information Services Director, with ultimate responsibility for program content resting with the City Manager in conformance with City Council guidelines. | |||
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| iii. "Bulletin board" Information Service - Messages programmed into the "bulletin board" information service shall be edited to provide clarity and to maximize use of the system. The Information Services Director shall have operational responsibility for this editing. | |||
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| iv. "The City of South Haven, its officers, employees, and agents shall not warrant the accuracy of any information cablecast over the cable channel." | |||
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| v. All other programming is subject to editing by the Information Services Director as long as such editing does not alter the factual content of overall intent of the material being aired. | |||
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| E. No promotion, endorsement or advertising for any private business, commercial service or product, profit-making activity, political candidate or partisan cause will be allowed on the city government access channel, nor any solicitation for charitable, civic or religious donations. However, very brief audio and video credit, minus logos or slogans, may be given at the end of a program where special materials or assistance have been donated by a commercial or charitable enterprise. | |||
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| i. The only exception is that any non-profit organization conducting an event within the City limits may submit information about the event to be broadcast on the government access channel. Any profit made from such advertising must be used to benefit solely the event mentioned. | |||
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| F. No slanderous, lewd, obscene or violent material or language will be allowed on the city government access channel. All programming will be considered and fall into the national rating of (G) General Audience. When questions arise as to the admissibility of material or language in this regard, the head of the requesting city department or entity and the Information Services Director will decide jointly whether it is to be aired. Such decisions may be appealed to the City Manager and subsequently to the City Council. | |||
Because of its cost, susceptibility to maladjustment and damage, and the heavy use to be made of it in programming the city government access channel, equipment acquired for the channel is restricted to use for that purpose and must be handled either by or under the direct supervision of the Information Services Director.
Attempts will be made to use community resources and volunteer student interns in programming the city government access channel in order to maximize programming and minimize costs.
It shall be the general goal of the city government channel to have some form of programming available continuously. The general approach will be to utilize live and taped programming when available during weekdays, and to have a continuous running "Bulletin board" service at all other hours, 24 hours a day.
Videotapes that have been made of public meetings (except city council), informational programs and other spots will be kept intact for two weeks after their final airing and then are subject to erasure unless other arrangements have been made in advance. Due to the high cost of videotape cassettes, any tape to be kept more than three months, and any copies to be made, must be replaced with an equivalent amount of blank tape by the entity for which they are being held or to which the copies are being provided. Videotapes of city council meetings will be kept intact for one year as a source of public record, after which time will be subject to erasure unless other arrangements have been made in advance. Videotapes that are the property of the city may not be sold, or rented by anyone. Requests may be made in writing to check out any city tapes for one day only. Copies may not be made of any city owned tape. The Information Services Director will be solely responsible for the condition of these tapes until which time they are destroyed.