1. Programming supplied or produced by local Government agencies.

2. Has highest priority in programming schedule.

1. Content of programs qualifies as an open meeting as defined by Iowa Code and shall be taped and/or transmitted live (where applicable) in its entirety without interruption, with the exception of technical difficulties and/or acts of God. In the case of a closed session, it is left to the Cable Managers discretion to stay and finish the meeting. Channel 18 does not record or transmit closed sessions.

2. The coverage begins with the calling of the meeting to order, and ends with the calling of a recess or declaring of adjournment. Anything occurring in the room before or after the meeting or during a recess is not covered.

3. The chairperson controls the meeting and with the gavel controls Channel 18 live transmissions and most aspects of recorded playback.

4. A live transmission shall not be cut off or a tape edited for the purpose of deleting or altering the content of the meeting. While a meeting is in session we will not exercise prior restraint or electronically censor the words of a speaker or intentionally avoid showing a visual aid because of its content.

5. A tape may be edited in an effort to restore a technically lost or damaged segment, or where some significant production mistake or defect in the system has interfered with the clean transmission of the meeting.

6. We strive to minimize, but can not entirely eliminate, brief lapses in recorded playback of a meeting caused by the necessary replacing of a filled videotape with a blank one in the recorder.

7. Disregard for these guidelines by a Cable Commissioner, the Cable Manager, or a volunteer will result in being banned from any future Government meetings and/or banishment from use of public access equipment and air time for up to one year.

1. Local government meetings will be taped by the Cable Manager by order of priority as set by the Cable Commission and City Council. The Cable Manager shall ensure that the following public meetings are routinely taped for showing on Local Government Access: (in order, by priority)

The following public meetings may be taped at the discretion of the Cable Manager.

2. Local Government meetings can be taped by volunteers under the Cable Manager's direct supervision. Cable Managers say in meeting coverage is final.

3. If there is a schedule conflict of two meetings, a volunteer may tape the lower priority meeting and submit it under public access.

4. If the Cable Manager is unavailable to tape a meeting (vacation, time off, etc.), a volunteer can tape the meeting and submit it under public access.

5. All volunteers must undergo training before they can operate cable equipment. (See training under Public Access).

1. Local Government meetings shall require a disclaimer, unless the meeting is taped live.

2. Channel 18 will not edit a videotape recording of a meeting to remove comments made during the meeting that a speaker later retracts. We will also refrain from running a "crawl" or a character generator disclaimer or correction across the screen during playback advising viewers of the speaker's retraction, nor alter or abridge the playback schedule of a particular meeting tape for such reasons.

1. Local Government programming has the highest programming priority.

2. Local Government meetings shall be shown at least two times with the viewing hours and total number of showings left to the Cable Managers discretion, with appeal to the City Manager and final appeal to the City Council.

1. All master tapes taped by the Cable Manager or volunteers working under Cable Manager are the property of the City of Maquoketa.

2. Original tapes on which meetings are recorded are not loaned out, except under subpoena or similar legal requirement.

3. News media requesting footage for a news story will be referred to the Cable Manager. The reporter must supply his/her own blank tape or purchase one from Channel 18. In all cases with the news media, we ask for and usually receive a simple visual courtesy credit when they broadcast our footage.

4. Master tapes of public meetings will be held for one month following the date the meeting was recorded on. The tapes will then be erased and reused for current meetings. A meeting tape may be preserved longer if a request is made to the Cable Manager.

1. Programming produced or supplied by a recognized official of an educational institution, or instructional/informative programming produced by a local agency (example: Schools Extension Service, Fire Dept., Hospital, etc.).

2. Has second highest priority in programming schedule.

1. The Educational institution shall determine if the program is "educational".

2. There will be no charge to the educational institution for use of access facilities, or for training on access equipment.

3. Educational Access meetings do not require local presence identification and disclaimer.

4. Programs must be submitted one week in advance to allow the Cable Manager time to put it in the schedule.

5. Educational Access meetings, shall be shown at least two times with the viewing hours and total number of showings left to the Cable Managers discretion.

1. Programming produced or provided by a citizen of Maquoketa, IA

2. Any citizen of Maquoketa may be a programmer.

3. Has the third highest programming priority.

1. In accordance with federal, state and local law a program being cable cast live or on tape on the public access channel may not include the following:

A. GAMBLING: A program may not promote or conduct any lottery, raffle, contest or game involving prizes awarded in whole or in part by lot or chance.

B. OBSCENITY: No program, production, or presentation shall include any obscene material; such a determination to be made by a court of law upon the request of the Cable Commission, Maquoketa City Attorney, or any other concerned party.

C. SOLICITATION: The program may not solicit funds or other property of value from viewers.

D. ADVERTISING: The program may not promote the sale of products or services, including prices, or promote or endorse a trade or business.

E. PRODUCTS OR SERVICES: The program may not discuss or show product or services made available by persons, corporations, or institutions which have a commercial interest in the subjects of the programs. It may, however, identify underwriters providing grants or contributions to defray the cost of programs.

F. COMMERCIAL IDENTIFICATION: The program may not promote, or make reference to any product, service, trademark or brand name in any manner which does not in some way correlate with the message being brought forth in the program.

G. MISREPRESENTATION: The program may not contain any material which is intended to defraud the viewer or designed to obtain money by false or fraudulent pretenses, representations or promises.

H. ILLEGALITIES: The program may not contain any material which constitutes libel, slander, defamation, invasion of privacy or publicity rights, unfair competition or violation of trademark or copyright or which may otherwise violate any local, state or federal law.

Program Submissions / Scheduling

1. Programming playback time is on a first come first serve basis and shall be shown at least two times with the viewing hours and total number of showings left to the Cable Managers discretion. Conflicts will be resolved by the City Manager, and final appeal to the Cable Commission.

2. Any program submitted for scheduling must be accompanied by a signed Program Contract. A Statement of Compliance must be on file for anyone submitting a program. Any minor must have an adult co-signer. The party signing the Program Contract assumes liability for program content.

3. Programs must be submitted one week in advance to allow the Cable Manager time to put it in the schedule.

4. Any program submitted by a person or group who is not a citizen of Maquoketa, IA. must have a local sponsor (person or group). This sponsor will be identified in the title or credits of the program.

5. Maquoketa Channels reserves the right to refuse to schedule any tape failing to meet technical standards for cable cast. If any portion of the recorded program would cause viewers to think that the system is having technical difficulties, then the videotape will be returned to the producer with suggestions on how to correct or avoid the problem in the future.

Tapes that are refused for cable cast must be retrieved within 30 days of notification for correction. If not retrieved within that time, the channels reserves the right to erase and recycle or discard these materials.

6. All programs submitted will be on VHS tapes.

7. All programs must be labeled on cassette front and spine of the storage case with the following:

1. Any Citizen of Maquoketa shall have use of the designated access equipment and studio (City Council chambers) free of charge, with the understanding that what is recorded is to be shown on Channel 19 under public access guidelines.

2. Certified users and other participants are asked to keep the studio clear of none essential personnel during production. Smoking, food and drinks are not allowed in the studio or control room without express permission of the Cable Manager.

3. Citizens who wish to use access equipment will reserve the equipment at least 24 hours in advance. Availability is on a first come, first serve basis.

4. Persons wishing to check out equipment will be required to sign an equipment liability form that states that it is the producer's responsibility to produce programming for cable casting on the public access channel, and the producer accepts responsibility for any equipment replacement or repairs resulting from the producer's negligence or abuse.

5. Those under legal age (18) are asked to have a parent or legal guardian sign the liability form the first time they check out equipment. After a legally responsible adults signature has been obtained, the producer need only provide his or her name to check out the equipment.

6. Equipment must be picked up by the person who reserved it.

7. A producer is allotted a one hour grace period to show up to check out equipment. Should a producer fail to show up or call in that time period, the equipment will become available to anyone who calls or stops in to use it.

8. When returning equipment the producer will allow enough time for the equipment to be set up and checked by the Cable Manager or staff. Negligence will be determined by the Cable Manager and if found, the producer will be billed for equipment repair or replacement. Appeal may be made to the City Manager. Until all bills for neglect are paid in full, the producer will be denied use of Maquoketa Access Channels, equipment and facilities.

9. Citizens who wish to use access equipment are required to take and pass a training session on these guidelines and the equipment they wish to use. Only Certified users may operate or check out the equipment.

10. The Cable Manager will schedule training sessions on access guidelines and equipment to be conducted at the Cable Managers discretion. Subjects to include:

Since the only source of funding for the channels is the cable franchise, a small fee is charged to help offset the costs of the training sessions:

Upon successful completion of a training session the user will receive an ID card that will show the equipment the user is qualified to use.

11. Cable Access guidelines are a REQUIRED course.

12. Use of the access studio and editing equipment will be during normal working hours unless special arrangements are made with the Cable Manager or City Manager.

1. In the absence of any written agreement to the contrary, the rights to a public access program remain with the producer.

2. No program will be edited or revised by personnel except with permission of the producer or of a responsible representative of the producing organization. The producer will sign a form giving permission to edit the tape.

3. Except for obscenity (as determined by a court of law), the specific content or views expressed in a public access program are not subject to prior censorship by an office of the government or Access Facility.

4. All public access programs will begin with or be followed by a disclaimer which states:

"The views and content of this program do not necessarily represent the views of the Access Channels, The City of Maquoketa, Cable Manager, or the Cable Commission."

5. As with other forms of free speech, there are significant legal and ethical responsibilities associated with the use of public access facilities and Channel air time. For example, the speaker or producer of any public access program will be fully liable for any programming that violates the law or legal rights of another person, such as copyright violations, libelous or slanderous material, etc. It is the responsibility of the individual user to obtain the appropriate copyright and talent releases for any material used in production and cable casting on public access TV.

6. The user of portable access equipment should be aware of the legal and ethical rights to privacy afforded any person, particularly when production is occurring on private property.

Any person may present a grievance verbally (including by telephone) or in writing to the Cable Manager.

The access facility will make every effort to resolve a grievance immediately.

If the Cable Manager does not feel he or she has the authority to respond to a grievance he or she may require it be presented to the Cable Commission.

The Cable Manager will be responsible for informing the commission of this decision, but it is the responsibility of the person presenting the grievance to make contact with the Cable Commission.

All grievances require the following information in order to be processed:

3. Current home and work phone numbers of all persons participating filing the grievance or the designated contact person.

4. The nature of the grievance clearly stated with relevant details as follows:

5. Once a grievance is received, the Cable Manager will attempt to make an initial contact with the person(s) filing the grievance within five (5) working days.

Failure to follow the grievance policies and procedures as stated above may result in a delayed response to your grievance by the Cable Manager and/or Cable Commission.

Continued failure to follow grievance procedures and policies will relieve the Cable Manager and Cable Commission from any responsibility to respond to your grievance.

When the Cable Manager and/or City Manager determines that there has been an apparent violation of any of the guidelines that have been previously mentioned in this document he/she shall:

1. Send the user written notification of the alleged violation and advise the user of his/her right to meet with the Cable Manager and City Manager before a final determination, including possible sanctions, is made. The user shall be advised that the request for a meeting must be made to the Cable Manager orally or in writing within two weeks of the date of the letter of notification.

2. Immediately suspend the cable cast of a program, provided that the program contains alleged violations of the above guidelines, or provided that continued cable cast of the program would create clear and substantial risk of legal liability for Maquoketa Access. Written notification of the suspension will be sent within 48 hours. Copies of that notice will be sent at the same time to the City Manager and all Cable Commission members.

3. After meeting with the user, or if no meeting is requested, after two weeks from the date the user was notified of the infraction, the City Manager must take one or more of the following actions:

4. The City Manager shall notify the user in writing of a decision to impose sanctions as soon as possible. The user may appeal to the Cable Commission. The Cable Commission has the right to remove or modify any sanctions. Final appeal shall be to the City Council.

The general trends of use of these facilities and equipment will be reviewed periodically by the Maquoketa Cable Commission. Policies will be adopted or altered as the commission feels necessary to preserve and promote the rights of all citizens for equal access to the cable medium.

Citizens' recommendations and concerns may be directed to:

CABLE MANAGER
or
CITY MANAGER

City Hall, 201 E. Pleasant St
Maquoketa, IA 52060
563-652-2835