Government Channel for government only
Posted on Friday, August 29, 2008
The city's Government Channel will only air programming specific to government activity.
A 3-3 tie on Thursday by the Fayetteville Telecommunications Board could not pass several proposed changes to the city's policy that would have allowed the airing of issue forums or round-table discussions that were not part of a government meeting.
Board members Richard Drake, Aubrey Shepard and Fred Cusanelli voted for the changes. Angie Graves Shelli Bell and Eric Sales voted against them.
The board was following through with its promise to present a policy by the end of August on whether the Government Channel could air discussions not related to government meetings.
Bell, who is the board's chairman, said that if a citizen or private group wished to have a forum discussion aired on television, they could get in touch with the Community Access Television station and use the resources there.
"If the Government Channel did only air meetings, I think it would be accomplishing its purpose," Graves said.
Former cable administrator Marvin Hilton told the telecom board that he would like to see the Government Channel become another public access channel. He tried to convince members that both stations are getting government funding, so there's no reason they should not be open to the public.
"Do you want a specific Government Channel, or do you want multiple public access channels ? "Hilton asked.
Drake was adamant about passing some sort of measure to send on to the City Council. He said the process seemed to take forever and that the vote, in a sense, justified the board's existence.
The discussion ended a four-month debate on what type of programming would be allowed on the Government Channel.
FEEDBACK:
Something to say about this topic? Submit a Letter to the Editor online
