Township of Monroe, NJ Chapter A134 Governmental and Educational Access Channel

[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council of the Township of Monroe 6-9-10 by Ord. No. O-6-2010-008. Amendments noted where applicable.]

Article I General Provisions

§ A134-1 Findings.

On November 9, 2007 the New Jersey Office of Cable Television ("OCTV"), through the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, issued a Certificate of Approval renewing Comcast of Central New Jersey, LLC's authority to provide cable television service in the Township of Monroe ("Township"). As part of the terms of renewal, Comcast agreed to provide a dedicated access channel to the Township for the purpose of providing local access programming to cable subscribers residing in Monroe. During the franchise renewal negotiations with Comcast, the Monroe Cable Advisory Committee determined the dedicated access channel shall be used for governmental and educational purposes. The Township has determined that the dedicated access channel shall be used for governmental and educational purposes.

§ A134-2 Joint services agreement—Township and Board of Education.

The Township and the Township of Monroe Board of Education ("Board" or "School District") have agreed to enter into a joint services agreement governing the use of equipment and facilities to be used in connection with the production of programming that will be broadcast on the governmental and educational channel.

Article II Rules and Policies

§ A134-3 Rules and policies adopted.

A. The Township and Board have hereunto set forth the following rules and policies relating to the programming to be broadcast over the governmental and educational broadcast channel:

B. Rules and Policies.

(1) The access channel made available by Comcast for use by the Township is designated as a "Governmental and Educational" access channel ("G & E Channel"). As such, the programming content to be provided over that channel shall be limited to content produced for governmental or educational purposes only.

(2) Governmental programming content shall include, but not be limited to, governmental or community bulletin board messages, communications or public service announcements; municipal-related meetings; government business, government business meetings, municipal sponsored events or programs; community-related activities such as parades, conferences or ceremonies, which in the judgment of the Oversight Committee, are of significant value to the community, information regarding the responsibilities, operations and services offered by the Township, county or state that may be of interest to the citizens, public health and safety information, and emergency services.

(3) In connection with the administration of the G & E channel, an Oversight Committee shall be organized for the purpose of overseeing the operation of the channel. Members of the Oversight Committee shall be the Township Administrator or his designee, the Township Media Supervisor and the Superintendent of Schools or his designee. The Oversight Committee shall meet on a regular basis and shall be responsible for addressing issues associated with the administration and use of the channel. The Oversight Committee shall be responsible for determining whether content that is proposed for broadcasting, but generated by an entity other than the Township or the School District, meets the governmental or educational content requirements set forth in this policy. The Oversight Committee shall be responsible for the development of specific operational rules associated with submitting information regarding community events, notices and bulletins so they may be placed on the channel. Such rules should identify the time, place, format and contact person to receive submissions for placement on the channel. Similarly, such rules should include procedures for a third party to submit qualified G & E content for broadcasting. Also, the Oversight Committee shall be responsible for establishing policies regarding the scheduling of programming. Nothing herein shall vest in the Oversight Committee any editorial control over programming produced by the School District itself, provided the programming provided by the school is limited to G & E content, as required by these rules and policies.

(4) Although the Oversight Committee is responsible for overseeing the administration of the channel, the Township Business Administrator or his/her designee shall have the authority to make day-to-day decisions regarding the operation of the channel in the event of an emergency or when the Oversight Committee is unable to convene to address an issue that requires immediate resolution. The Business Administrator or his/her designee shall be responsible for day-to-day scheduling decisions, which decisions shall be made in accordance with the policies of the Oversight Committee.

(5) Educational programming content shall include, but not be limited to, bulletin board messages or communications relating to the School District, programs produced by, or on behalf of, the School District, such as student productions, informational programs regarding School District related matters, instruction-based programming, or school events or programs.

(6) Prior to broadcasting of educational programming, the Board of Education, the Superintendent of Schools or his/her designee, shall determine that the programming content to be broadcast comports with the "educational" description in the policy set forth herein. If educational programming will show the likeness of any students, prior to the taping, filming, and broadcasting of the event/program, the School District shall obtain the written parental/guardian consent of the student(s) to be shown in the broadcast. Events that are open to the public do not require releases to be signed by any of the participants or their guardians.

(7) The access channel provided by Comcast shall not be utilized for any purposes other than G & E programming. Thus, the channel shall not be available for public access programming, commercial programming or political advertising or programming. No programming shall be permitted on the G & E channel if it contains obscene material, sexually explicit conduct, material soliciting or promoting unlawful conduct, or contains content that is libelous, slanderous or defamatory. The following subject matters are also prohibited, except where otherwise noted:

(a) No programming shall be permitted on the channel if it contains commercial advertisements or solicitations for financial support for any group, organization or individual other than as expressly contemplated by these policies;

(b) Political advertising or programming is programming that is intended to influence the election of any candidate to state or local office. Political programming is defined as that programming which, if inserted on the local access channel capacity, would constitute a use by a legally qualified candidate or his or her supporters (authorized or unauthorized) that would give rise to requirements by a cable operator, if such programming were to have been inserted on a cable channel subject to the cable operator's control, to provide equal opportunities and quasi-equal opportunities to other such candidates for the same office or their supporters (authorized or unauthorized) under Federal Communications Commission ("FCC") cable television regulations, e.g., 47 C.F.R. § 76.3(q) and § 76.20S et seq., and related FCC policies, rules and doctrines, including the "personal attack rule." Under this policy, the following are considered news events and are not prohibited political programming: meetings of and hearings before the Township Council, the Board of Education, and Township boards and commissions; debates among candidates for election to a particular office, if such debate is conducted and produced by a neutral third party, each candidate is asked identical questions by a neutral moderator and is given reasonable time to respond, all candidates for such election are invited to attend such debate and ground rules are agreed to in advance by all participants.