Hi! I want to invite David Jolliffe, Arielle Elizabeth, and the board members of Berkeley Community Media to be on a show I am doing. In general the show will be about the philosophy of public access and the current move in
A main reason why I am doing the show is the new rules confuse and disturb me. Maybe I should outline my concerns about the new rules and my understanding of public access. I know that Berkeley Community Media has other duties and responsibilities associated with running /maintaining Channel 33, the governmental /educational channel. I am only talking about our public access channel, Channel 28.
As I understand it, a public access channel is for the residents of the city to have an uncensored and free channel that will air tapes that they make themselves or like to sponsor so that others of their fellow citizens can be exposed to the content. Such a channel is the residents’ artistic, cultural, and political outlet, their soap box. As I understand it, Berkeley Community Media is the “third party“ which the city of Berkeley has administer our community public access channel, providing equal and easy access for the residents of Berkeley. So the “community“ of the community public access channel is the residents of the city of
BCM will prioritize the scheduling of series in the following order:
1.) Series that are locally produced using BCM facilities and equipment.
2.) Series that are locally produced that do not use BCM facilities and equipment.
3.) Series that are made outside of the San Francisco Bay Area. These will be considered “Import” Series.
This seems to violate the equal access for the residents of
When we asked about this, Arielle responded: “As Programming Coordinator, I personally feel that it is important that all producers should be treated equally. The new policies were written specifically to give all of us (including myself) guidelines on how programming will be scheduled. These policies are designed to promote fairness and equity among the entire membership. Nobody will get special treatment from now on.”
I assumed she meant all producers who belong to BCM will be treated equally and fairly. But the BCM members who use BCM’s studio and equipment will get special treatment. Again the community in the community public access channel is the residents of
I’m one of those residents who have created programs for b-tv for many years outside of BCM’s studio system, creating a platform for a wide range of community voices. I have donated to BCM over the years because I value BCM… I value public access. But I did not join BCM because I don’t use BCM’s facilities… And I am not a joiner. But when the new rules were leaked out and it was clear it was definitely a disadvantage in terms of keeping my time slots if I was not a BCM member, I became a member. Then it turned out it doesn’t matter because I don’t use BCM’s facilities. Obviously this is a case of different basic philosophies of community public access. I am eager to look at and explore the differences.
But it gets worse! According to the new policy outline:
“- All series producers will be required to have an active membership on file at Berkeley Community Media.”
This excludes at least ninety eight percent of the
Moreover, as I understand it, legally the content of the shows that play on the public access channel is the sole responsibility of the resident who created/submitted/sponsored the shows. The courts have consistently ruled that the city and the body, be it the cable company or an organization such as BCM, that runs the public access channel may not restrict the contents of public access shows. This is a basic principle of public access. The city can decide not to have a public access channel. But if it decides to have one, it can’t restrict the content. The totality of this legal fire wall surprised even me! During my research for this, I went to the FCC’s official web site and found this:
“Federal law permitted a cable operator to prohibit the use of a PEG channel for programming which contained obscene material, sexually explicit conduct, indecency, nudity, or material soliciting or promoting unlawful conduct. However, The U.S. Supreme Court determined that this law was unconstitutional. Therefore, cable operators may not control the content of programming on public access channels with the exception that the cable operator may refuse to transmit a public access program, or a portion of the program, which the cable operator reasonably believes contains obscenity.”
from http://www.fcc.gov/mb/facts/pegfacts.html
So, with the exception of obscene material as defined by law, there is not room for restriction of content of public access shows. “Indecent“ shows must be aired between and Personally I always have felt more comfortable in the freedom of late night slots, even when most of the time, the content of the shows does not require late night slots. What is troublesome about the new rules is they appear to invade the content control of the resident producer /sponsor. Such invasion would be illegal, as I understand it. These invasions are not sexy. They are not focused on nudity, eroticism, or profanity. But they do appear to be designed to shape and control the content of the shows. For example, the new structure creates a two-tier system of kinds of series available.
Types of Series
1. Three Airs Per Week Series – A three airs per week series is available to producers who are consistently creating new content. This type of series airs no more than three times a week. Producers must submit at least six (6) new episodes of their program each season to be considered a three airs per week series. Producers must submit at least two (2) new episodes of their program at the beginning of each season in order to qualify as a weekly series.
2. One Air Per Week Series – A one air per week series is available to producers who sporadically create new content. This type of series airs no more than once a week. Producers must submit at least one (1) new episode of their program each season to be considered a one air per week series. Producers must submit at least three (3) old episodes of their program that they wish to replay throughout the season in order to qualify as a one air per week series.
As if this is not a clear enough attempt to control and shape the content of the shows, the new rules go on to define what new is new enough!
— New episodes for three airs per week series must be submitted every 45 days. A new episode is defined as a program that, in whole or in substantial part (75%), has not previously aired on Channel 28.
— A series will be cancelled if new episodes are not submitted in a timely manner.
— False identification of an episode as “new” will result in immediate cancellation of a series.
All of which is a very clear breach of the legal fire wall around the sole responsibility of the resident producer /sponsor for the content of her shows. Moreover the threat of immediate cancellation sets up a very disturbing power structure. The reason for this new, and probably illegal, rule is not at all clear. And this dreadful rule is being applied to residents who consistently are in fact creating programs for b-tv. So let us explore the reasons for, and the legality, of this rule.
There is a lot more we can explore on the show. So I will end. So when would be a good time for you guys to come over to tape the show? I am also sending this letter to the local newspapers because I believe that this warrants a deep community discussion. After all, b-tv is OUR community channel… Or at least it is supposed to be!
In Freedom,
Frank Moore