Chapter 301. Programming Standards for Municipal/Governmental Educational Access Cable T.V. Channel

Chapter A301 PROGRAMMING STANDARDS FOR MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTAL/EDUCATIONAL ACCESS CABLE T.V. CHANNEL

§ 301-1. Definitions

§ 301-2. Limitations

§ 301-3. Producer

§ 301-4. Personnel

§ 301-5. Programs

§ 301-6. Standards

§ 301-7. Appeals

§ 301-8. Program Review Committee

§ 301-9. Repealer

§ 301-10. Severability

§ 301-11. Effective Date

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the Township of Gloucester 6-12-95 as Ord. No. 0-95-28. Amendments noted where applicable.]

Be it ordained by the Township Council of the Township of Gloucester, in the County of Camden and State of New Jersey as follows:

§A301-1. Definitions.

For the purpose of this ordinance, the following terms, phrases and words shall have the meanings given herein;

BOARD OF EDUCATION - shall mean the Black Horse Pike Regional School Board of Education

GOVERNMENTAL/EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES - Shall mean those purposes associated with official governmental or educational meetings, acts, notices and functions, and shall include the listing of sports and cultural events.

PRODUCER - shall mean an entity which creates or presents a program for boradcast. The Producer is soley responsible for the content of theprogram and for the compliance with program standards established herein.

PRODUCTION - The acitivities of the Produceer and its staff in connection with theprogram.

PROGRAM REVIEW COMMITTEE- shall consist of member chosen as set forth in this ordinance.

MUNICIPALITY - shall mean the Township of Gloucester, in the County of Camden, State of New Jersey.

§ A301-2. Limitation.

No program which fails to meet the standards established by this ordinance shall be broadcast on the Municipal Governmental/Educational Channel.

§ A301-3. Producer.

Only the Mayor of the Township of Gloucester, and the Superintendent of the Black Horse Pike Regional School Board of Education and the Superintendent of the Gloucester Township Board of Education shall serve as Producer. All activities relating to the production of a program shall be directly under the control of the Producer.

§ A301-4. Personnel

Nothing herein shall preclude the use of paid professionals or of unpaid volunteers in the production of a program, provided however, that such persons or entities are under the direction and supervision of the producer.

§ A301-5. Programs.

Persons or entities that wish to have a program considered for airing shall first submit FOUR(4) copies of the program on VHS format video tape to the Producer. The purpose and content of any program shall be exclusively governmental or educational. The Municipal governmental/Educational Access Channel is not to be used as a public forum or as a general public access channel.

§ A301-6. Standards.

The objective of this ordinance is to create standards that will present programs of the highest possible quality. Program content, community interest, aesthetics, artistic excellence, professionalism and technical quality are vitally important and will be rigorously evaluated when determining whether a program is to be approved for broadcast.

a) No advocacy. No promotion or advocacy of any political or religious doctrine, philosophy, point of view or position shall be permitted, whether local, state, national or international in scope, and whether direct or implied, overt or subtle. This standard of "no advocacy" is an absolute prohibition and the doctrine of equal time is not sufficient to overcome it.

b) No Commercials. No commercial message of any kind, whether paid or not paid, shall be permitted at any time. The names of contributors who have assisted with the cost of production may be displayed in block letters for an aggregate period for all such names is not to exceed fifteen (15) seconds at the beginning and again at the end of each program, addresses, telephone numbers, products and services are not to be permitted.

c) No Obscenity. Prohibited at all times are images, language and themes which are pornographic, lewd, lascivious, obscene or vulgar, or of a derogatory, demeaning or offensive to people of any race, creed, color or ethnic background.

d) News. Nothing herein shall preclude balanced news reporting or balanced coverage of newsworthy events, provided however, such reporting or events shall not be for the principal purpose of stating, promoting advancing or advocating a particular political religious doctrine, philosophy, point of view or position.

e) Community Calendar Nothing herein shall preclude the timely announcement of bona fide civic or cultural events reasonably expected to be of interest to the citizens of Gloucester Township.

§ A301-7. Appeals.

Any person, 18 years of age or older, whose primary residence is in the Township of Gloucester, may appeal a producer's decision to approve or disapprove a completed program for broadcasting. To appeal, a written notice of the appeal must be submitted to the Clerk of the Black Horse Pike Regional School Board of Education.

The Notice of Appeal:

a. must be typewritten.

b. must include the applicant's full name, residence addresss, day and evening telephone number(s).

c. must clearly identify the single program whichis the subject of the appeal

d. must state the entire reason and basis for the appeal.

e. must be accompanied by five (5) video tape VHS format copies of the program which is the subject of the appeal.

f. must be signed by the applicant.

When the notice of appeal is incomplete form, a copy of said notice of appeal will be supplied to the producer by the Clerk of the Board of Education. The producer will have tne (10) days to respond to the Board Clerk with a written response to the appeal.

The program, notice of appeal and producer's response will be reviewed by the Program Review Committee, and a written ruling of a majority of the committee will be delivered to the appellant, Producer and Board Clerk within twenty eight (28) days will be deemed a decision in favor of the Appellant. If the Committee's ruling grants approval to broadcast, then it implicitly states that the program meets the programming standards and no further reason for the ruling need be given. If the ruly denies approval to broadcast, thenit will state only the section of the programming standards that the committee has determined are violated by the program. No elaboration, additional reasoning or specific programming guidance is to be given bythe committee, as it is the producers responsiblility to determine the corrective action required to cure any deviation from program standards.

Notice of appeal seeking to prevent the broadcast of a program must be received in complete form not less than thirty (30) days prior to the scheduled broadcast date. Once a complete notice of appeal is received, no acceleration of the broadcast schedule will be permitted. Notice of appeal received in complete form less than thirty (30) days prior to the scheduled broadcast date, will not cause a delay in the scheduled broadcast but will be heard nevertheless, and any ruling thereon will be used as a non-binding guide by the producers in approving future programs for broadcast, and by the committee in ruling on future appeals.

§ A301-8. Program Review Committee

This committee shall consist of three members; one member from Township Council, chosen by Township Council; one member of the Black Horse Pike Regional School Board of Education, chosen by the School Board; and one member from Gloucester Township School Board of Education, chosen by the School Board.

§ A301-9 Repealer

All ordinances or parts of ordinances inconsistent with the terms hereof are hereby repealed to the extent of such inconsistency only.

§ A301-10 Severability.

If any section, paragraph, subsection, clause or provisions of this ordinance shall be declared by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such decision shall not effect the validity of this ordinance as a whole or any other part thereof.

§ A301-11. When Effective.

This Ordinance shall take effect immediately upon its final passage and publication in accordance with law.