[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township
of Barnegat 3-10-14 as Ord. No. 2014-06. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The following policy was developed to provide guidelines to
effectively and efficiently manage the overall operation of the Comcast
Government Access Cable Channel for the Township of Barnegat, to define
the function and proper usage of the channel, to identify appropriate
content, to provide direction to the Township staff and to assist
the public in understanding the services offered by the channel. All
programming on the channel shall be the sole and exclusive responsibility
of the Township of Barnegat, at the direction of the Township Committee
and Administration with input and recommendations from the Cable TV
Committee.
The objectives of this chapter are to:
A.
Provide
unedited content of cablecasts of Township Committee meetings and
other municipal public meetings, as designated.
B.
Provide
comprehensive information about programs and services offered to Barnegat
residents by municipal departments.
C.
Provide
information pertinent to Barnegat residents from other local, state,
and federal governmental entities.
D.
Widen
the dissemination of information on the activities of the municipal
government advisory bodies of the Township.
E.
Provide
emergency communications in the event of disaster or widespread service
disruption.
F.
Provide
and distribute programming of interest to the residents, which will
inform, educate and enlighten, as well as encourage participation
in government services, activities and decision making.
The channel shall operate on all cable service providers offering
service in the Township pursuant to a franchise authorized pursuant
to the provisions of the State Cable Television Act, N.J.S.A. 48:5A-1
et seq.
The types of programs shall be as follows:
A.
Live
cablecast. Live coverage of designated meetings and events may be
provided.
B.
Taped-delayed
cablecast. Taped meetings, shows and events videotaped in advance
for cablecast at a later time. Some events will be cablecast live
and will also be taped for later playback.
C.
Staff-originated
programming: approved programming produced by the municipality, to
include programs for local departments, issues related to municipal
government or about groups, committees, boards, etc., that are affiliated
with government.
D.
Outside-originated
programming: approved programming that is related to government that
is produced by an outside source. This programming may be donated,
purchased, rented or borrowed for cablecast.
E.
Bulletin-board
information: messages related to municipal activities, programs, services
and events sponsored in whole or in part by Barnegat or another governmental
unit affecting its residents.
F.
Emergency
broadcasts, as needed.
G.
Promotions.
Promotional announcements for Township-sponsored events, programs
and activities will be permitted. Promotional announcements for events,
charities or outside organizations shall only be permitted when the
event is being held in the Township.
I.
Political
programming.
(1)
The channel is not intended as a mechanism to promote any particular
issue or candidate for public office. However, this provision will
not preclude the channel from cablecasting nonpartisan programs sponsored
by mutual third parties designed to inform and educate the citizens
of election issues and candidates. An example of what is permitted
are debates sponsored by the League of Women Voters.
(2)
Declared candidates, including their spouses and agents, who are
persons who have publicly announced their intention to run for an
office are precluded from advocating any cause, viewpoint or opposed
policy of a partisan nature on the channel 100 days before the election.
(3)
The political programming preclusion described in this section is
inapplicable to persons receiving incidental air time as part of a
public meeting. The preclusion will not apply to any comments made
within the context of the operations of ordinary government business.
A.
All
programming requests will be reviewed by the Cable TV Committee, which
shall make its recommendation to the Administration.
B.
A
weekly log will be kept to record all programming.
C.
The
channel is not to be utilized for announcements from the general public.
Access to the channel shall be limited to municipal, governmental
or quasi-governmental functions and operations. Utilization of the
channel for personal gain is not permitted. The channel is not a public
access channel.
Following is a general list of programming priorities, in order
of priority. The priorities may be altered on a case-by-case basis
by Administration, under direction from the Township Committee.
A.
Emergency
override communication by the Mayor or designee takes priority over
all broadcasts.
B.
Programming
of or about meetings of policymaking bodies such as the Township Committee,
etc.
C.
Programming
of various departments and their services.
D.
Programming
of county, state, federal government and/or Township boards, commissions
and authorities and/or agencies that use public dollars.
E.
Approved
programming produced by the Township or outside sources that is relevant
to local government or interests of the community at large, or identifiable
segments thereof.
F.
Video
bulletin board.
Management of the government access channel shall be by designated
municipal employees, under the direction of the Administration.
Township-owned video equipment shall be restricted to municipal
activities, and its uses shall be restricted to trained personnel.
Loaning of equipment for personal or outside use shall not be permitted.
Programs containing copyrighted materials will be used only
if copyright clearance has been obtained.
A.
The original tape of each public meeting may be maintained by the
channel for production purposes.
B.
Both master tapes and copies will be copyrighted in the name of the
Township of Barnegat.
C.
Videotapes shall not be considered an official record of any meeting
and there shall be no liability for inadvertent erasure or omissions.
