HomeMy WebLinkAboutRES 89-170 R E S O L U T I O N
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE
CITY OF BEAUMONT:
THAT the policy for the operation of City Scope 31 , the Municipal
Information Channel on the TCI Cable Television System, as set
forth in the attached policy, be, and it is hereby, adopted.
PASSED BY THE CITY COUNCIL of the City of Beaumont this the
22 day of August , 1989.
Mayor -
4r-.22��
CITY OF BEAUMONT "CITY SCOPE 31" OPERATING POLICY
OBJECTIVES
The primary objectives of the City of Beaumont "City Scope 31 " , a
municipal cable channel , shall be as follo::a :
A. To disseminate information abou'_- municipal services
and programs.
B. To provide additional information to citizenry
concerning City departmental programs , procedures and
other related activities and events.
C. To provide emergency information to the citizens of
Beaumont.
D. To provide dissemination of legislative activities
through cablecast of City Council and other
departmental meetings.
E. To supplement public safety information/activities of
the Beaumont Fire and Police Departments.
OVERALL POLICY
A. Programming
"City Scope 31 " is established to provide
non-editorial , direct information to the citizens of
Beaumont concerning operations and programs of their
City Government.
B. Operations
"City Scope 31" shall operate as a function of the
Department of Public Libraries-Community Services in
such a manner as to enhance service to the public and
other city departments. Liaison and exchange
relationships with other municipalities involved in
programming/cablecasting may be established and
maintained. Cooperative arrangements with local
educational broadcast and cable companies , and other
production groups may be established for efficient
operation and dissemination of information to the
community.
OPERATIONAL PROCEDURES
A. Channel
The local government shall operate on cable channel 31
and shall use the designation of "City Scope 31" .
"City Scope 31 " Page Two
B. Modes of cablecast
The City channel shall utilize combinations of the
following casting modes:
1. Live cablecast
A limited amount of live coverage is
anticipated under this policy subject to
budgetary and administrative restraints .
It will consist of cablecasts of City
Council meetings and City sponsored events.
2. Tape delayed cablecast
Many public meetings or City sponsored
events will be videotaped for cablecast at a
later period.
3. Local Municipal produced programs
Programs will be produced or obtained to
illustrate the functions or operations of
forms of City government. These may include
videotaped public service announcements,
Police and Fire Department information and
departmental activities and events.
C. Access policy
The local municipal channel "City Scope 31" is not
the same as a public access channel. Access to the
municipal channel shall be limited to City functions
and operations.
1 . Public meetings
Public meetings of all municipal legislative
bodies including City Council , advisory
boards and commissions are authorized for
cablecast.
2. Informational programming
City departments may request informational
programming of the municipal access cable
channel . Programming requests shall be
subject to a production/cablecast evaluation
by the "City Scope 31 " management personnel .
Only those programs which are consistent
with overall operating policy of "City Scope
31 " shall be cablecast .
"City Scope 31 " Page Three
3. Individual statements
Request for access to the "City Scope 31"
for the purpose of advocating a personal
viewpoint shall be denied unless it is
part of an overall programming strategy to
solicit personal interviews with equal time
provisions. Additional information and
specific rules shall be established for
programs operating as a series of
interviews,, or call-in sessions with
elected or appointed officials. Announced
candidates for City offices shall not be
permitted to make personal statements over
"City Scope 31" except in formal public
meetings/seminars.
4. Emergency access
Preemption of cablecast programming will
be allowed in declared emergency
situations at the discretion of the City
Manager
D. Editing policy
1. Public meetings
Any public meeting cablecast shall not be
edited or subject to editorial comment.
However, editing of technical difficulties
will be permitted. Supplementary
information to aid the viewers in
understanding various issues may be
provided.
2. Departmental programs
Any programming prepared or provided by an
individual City department or produced by
Municipal TV may be modified or edited as
appropriate for cablecast.
3. Errors
Should human error result in cablecast of
incorrect information, the City of
Beaumont and the employees thereof shall
not be liable for the inaccuracy of the
information.
"City Scope 31" Page Four
E. Endorsements
At no time will "City Scope 3111 , the
Municipal Channel , endorse specific brand
names of products for consumer use.
F. Promotions
Promotional announcements for City sponsored
events and public service announcements for
City agencies are acceptable for
cablecasting.
G. Use of City equipment
Use of City-owned video and related
production equipment shall be restricted to
"City Scope 31" .
H. Retention of tapes
Retention of the operation and production of
information for video tapes of programs shall
be determined by policy of "City Scope 31"
management personnel. Tapes will be reused
and original material erased if no request
for retention has been made in advance.
Videotapes shall not be considered an
official record of meetings and there shall
be no liability for inadvertent erasure or
omissions.
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