Honolulu City Council Policy Resolutions

ESTABLISHING POLICIES FOR A LEGISLATIVE CABLE PROGRAMMING PROJECT IN HONOLULU FOR FISCAL YEAR 1986-1987.

    WHEREAS, during April and May, 1986, the Honolulu City Council participated in a pilot project to determine the viability of cablecasting public meetings of the City Council and its committees and whether such programming could serve to increase public awareness and knowledge of City government and to encourage greater citizen participation in the local decision-making process; and

    WHEREAS, the project coordinator, who was hired to plan, implement, and evaluate the programming, has reported that the project was a success and enhanced public awareness and knowledge of local government but also reported that the project was too short in duration to allow accurate documentation as to whether citizen participation in the government was actually increased as a result of the pilot project; and

    WHEREAS, the Honolulu Community Media Council, which acted in an advisory capacity to the coordinator and monitored and evaluated the project, unanimously agreed that the programming was successful and that the City Council should continue to cablecast its meetings and hearings in the future and offered policy recommendations which relate to future legislative programming in Honolulu and which have been incorporated herein; now, therefore,

    BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the City and County of Honolulu that the Council implement a legislative cable television programming project in Honolulu for the balance of fiscal year 1986-1987; and

    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the following policies shall govern the legislative cable television programming, broadcasting, editing, and retention:

        1.    Project Responsibility

        The content, scheduling, and operation of all legislative cable television programming shall be under the direction of an independent contractor/production company, which shall consult on a quarterly basis with the Honolulu Community Media Council on all matters pertaining to the programming and which shall report biannually to the City Council on the progress of the cablecasting in Honolulu.

        2.    Air Time and Equipment

        Air time and equipment shall be provided by Oceanic Cablevision for purposes specifically related to the legislative programming project, and no partisan programming or use shall be authorized.

        3.    Program Classification

        Programming shall include tape-delayed cablecasts and limited live cablecasting, as appropriate.

        4.    Programming Content

        All public meetings and other activities of the City Council shall be authorized for programming, including but not limited to public hearings and workshops of the City Council and its Committees.

        5.    Editing

        Cablecasts of public meetings shall be gavel to gavel except when the time during which the program is to be aired is shorter than the length of the public meeting, in which case the cablecast shall begin with the opening gavel and conclude when the air time has ended.

        Cablecasts of meetings shall include coverage of the speaker recognized by the Chair and may include occasional shots of the entire Council or Committee. "Reaction" shots shall not be permitted.

        Cablecasts of public meetings shall not be edited nor subjected to editorial comment, except that editing of technical difficulties and of recesses shall be permitted, and provided that the project coordinator may determine whether supplementary information relating to the topic under discussion may be added to aid the viewer in understanding the issues under consideration, provided that such information shall be of an objective and nonpartisan nature.

        Tapes and cablecasts shall be the property of the City Council.

        Tapes of cablecasts shall be retained by the contractor/production company for a period of four weeks from the date of broadcast at which time such tapes may be reused and the original material erased; provided that in the event of a request for longer retention, such request shall be made to the contractor/production company and, if possible, a replacement tape made available.

        Cablecasts of meetings shall not be considered an official record of the meeting, and there shall be no liability for inadvertent erasure or omissions; and

    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the aforementioned policies shall take effect upon approval of this resolution; and

    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City Council Chair is authorized to oversee the cable television programming project in Honolulu, to publicly advertise for proposals for an independent contractor/production company to be responsible for such cablecasting, to form a committee of three councilmembers which shall select the most qualified contractor/production company, as per the specifications contained in the request for proposals, to enter into contract with the contractor/production company selected by the committee and to expend up to $35,000 for FY 1986-87 for the project; and

                         INTRODUCED BY:

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                                Councilmembers

DATE OF INTRODUCTION:

September 17, 1986
Honolulu, Hawaii

ADOPTED this 17th day of September , 1986.

Policy Resolutions