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Yellow Springs Community Access Channel Station RulesMission Statement The mission of the Yellow Springs Community Access Channel is to work with local government, community members and community organizations to create and cablecast programs that promote a sense of community and celebrate individual expression, local achievements, learning, cultural exchange, and civic engagement. About the Yellow Springs Community Access Channel (YSCAC) YSCAC provides the residents of Yellow Springs access to the cable communications system, in accordance with the provisions of the Franchise Agreement between the Village of Yellow Springs and Time Warner. The operation of the station is under the direction of the Yellow Springs Cable Advisory Panel (CAP), which advises Council. Residents are appointed to the CAP for 2-year terms by the Village Council. What YSCAC provides · Use of equipment and facilities for the production of local community programming. How Yellow Springs Community Access Channel operates YSCAC operates under these and other policies, rules and procedures approved by the CAP aimed at broadest participation by community members. Village government, Village Council, the CAP, and the station are equal opportunity organizations. A volunteer Station Manager is responsible for the day-to-day activities and functions of YSCAC operations but many functions are delegated to other volunteers. More information about the Station Manager and other positions can be found in the Station Manager Position Description. All CAP and station meetings are open to the public and input is welcomed. The CAP meets on the second Wednesday of every month at 7 pm in Council chambers in the Bryan Center. The YSCAC holds office hours there from10 am to noon each Saturday. Channel 5 has no paid staff, so volunteers are the organization, and the opportunities for volunteers are plentiful. There is an informal "Producer's Group" formed to share help and knowledge among participants creating content for the station. You can assist in panel, station, or group activities including training, production, camera operations, editing, writing, directing, acting, engineering, and more. Not only will you be contributing your time, knowledge, and interest to a unique community resource, you'll have a good time doing it. YSCAC is an exciting and creative place to be.
A permanent resident of Yellow Springs may qualify. Others in the viewing area may be eligible with a resident sponsor but Yellow Springs residents have priority. You must be 18 years of age or older. An adult may cosign for a minor but must assume all responsibilities in all phases of activity. APPLICATION Residents wishing to participate must complete an application form, which lists contact information and interests. Members may be asked to help others in producing programs and helping at the station. TRAINING You must be trained by YSCAC on any equipment being checked out or used. If you have not produced anything for a while, or there is new equipment you have not used, YSCAC reserves the right to insist on retraining before the equipment is checked out. YSCAC will teach users how to use the portable equipment for capturing scenes and to use the editing equipment to prepare content for cablecast. YSCAC is an associate member of the Miami Valley Communications Council (MVCC) which offers many classes including using GL-2 cameras, production and editing. Rules of Portable Equipment use · Reservations for portable equipment should be made at least 24 hours in advance. The maximum time allowed for a portable equipment reservation is 48 hours. · Taking out equipment must be done when there is an equipment volunteer at the station to check the equipment out. At that time, the volunteer and producer will review the equipment and make sure everything is in good and working order. · All equipment borrowed must stay within a 25 mile radius of the Village of Yellow Springs. Exemptions must be approved by the manager or program director. · Equipment must only be used for preparing a program for cablecast on the YSCAC channel. A checkout form must be used to document the equipment and materials borrowed and returned. Private or commercial use of YSCAC equipment is prohibited. · Equipment should be returned when it is not actively being used, so others can use it. Exceptions may be requested from an equipment volunteer or the Station Manager. · Shortly after return of the equipment, the user should have a program to give the station for cablecast. If there are editing difficulties, contact the station for help. · The producer will be held responsible for damaged or lost equipment. Rules of EDITING Equipment use · Reservations for editing equipment should be made at least 24 hours in advance. The maximum time allowed for editing equipment reservation is 4 hours. · Editing equipment must only be used for preparing a program for cablecast on the YSCAC channel. Private or commercial use of YSCAC equipment is prohibited. PROGRAM CONTENT Each producer has complete creative control of the content of each program. YSCAC does not preview programs for content (censor) nor exercise editorial control, except in the situation where it has actual and credible advance notice of probable illegal content. The staff may preview for technical reasons. All programs must clearly identify the title, date, and producer of the program at the beginning and/or the end. PROGRAM RESTRICTIONS Presentation of the following materials is specifically not authorized and may subject the producer or other responsible party to criminal prosecution or civil liability as well as disqualifying him/her from further use of the station: · Advertising material designed to promote the sale of products or services or lottery. · Any unauthorized copyrighted material. · Any obscene or indecent material. · Any deliberate misinformation that may result in harm to any individuals. · Any material that defames any racial, ethnic, sexual, age, disabled, or religious group or any individual member of such group. · Any advocating of violence, or words that are likely to invoke violence. · Any slanderous or libelous materials. · Any noncompliance with applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations. · Credit to funding sources may only be given at the ending of the program using a statement like "This program was made possible, in part, through the assistance of ..." Political endorsement or advertising by or on behalf of candidates for public office, or on behalf or against issues on the ballot. Broadcast of advocacy concerning candidates and issues on the ballot will be limited to formats such as debates and forums sponsored by non-partisan groups.
All programs submitted for cablecast must be formatted as S-VHS, VHS, DVD-VIDEO, or MPEG2 on CD or DVD. Program media should be of good technical quality: a. Audio level should fall within -3 and 0 dB, with reasonable clarity. b. All programs should begin within the first 30 seconds. c. Only one program per tape or disk. d. DVD-VIDEOs must be initialized to start with the first track, no menus e. For maximum compatibility, MPEG files, and DVD-VIDEO disks submitted for multiple play, should have the following characteristics:
PROGRAM SUBMITTAL Programming may be dropped off in the basket in the lobby of the Bryan Center; or mailed to Village of Yellow Springs, 100 Dayton St., Yellow Springs OH 45387 Attn: Channel 5. Videotapes or disks must be submitted in an enclosed case along with a completed Program Release form. Each program or cablecast must be consistent with these rules and procedures. Videotape or DVD, and case must be clearly labeled stating the program title, program run-time to the nearest second, and name, address and telephone number of Yellow Springs resident submitting media. No stick on labels are allowed on CDs or DVDs. Videotapes and DVDs will be available for pick-up within ten business days after submittal. Any media unclaimed after 30 days will be archived, recycled, or discarded at the discretion of the staff. The station is not responsible for loss or damage of videotapes or disks. If station media was used for the master, the producer may make or purchase a copy at cost. \ PROGRAM SCHEDULING Live and rebroadcast programs of local government meetings receive top priority for scheduling cablecast time. Programming produced and submitted by residents or organizations of Yellow Springs is the next highest priority. Programming produced by a citizen or organization of another community, about Yellow Springs or of special interest to the community but sponsored (submitted) by a citizen or organization of Yellow Springs will receive the next highest scheduling priority. Otherwise, applications will be processed and scheduled on a nondiscriminatory basis to ensure that no one person or organization monopolizes cablecast time to the disadvantage of others. YSCAC reserves the right to schedule program at times appropriate to best serve the community. PROGRAM AND MEDIA RIGHTS Ownership, non-commercial copyrights and content responsibilities belong to the producer of the material. However, the YSCAC reserves the right to cablecast any program or any portion of submitted program at anytime and for any purpose. The staff will not duplicate a community producer's program for anyone other than the producer without his/her written permission. COMMUNITY BULLETIN BOARD / ANNOUNCEMENTS Between scheduled programming, channel 5 cablecasts announcements of non-profit, community-related events and services. A brief textual message will be cablecast on an automatic, rotating basis, for several days prior to the event. No commercial products or services may be advertised. Announcements of non-profit events that charge an admission fee can include it in the body of the announcement. Announcements of for-profit events of general interest to the community that charge an admission fee can state that a fee will be charged in the body of the announcement but not specify the amount. Forms for announcements are available in the Brian Center lobby and on the yso.com website. Announcements may be dropped off in the basket below the forms, mailed to Village of Yellow Springs, 100 Dayton St. Yellow Springs, OH 45387 Attn: Channel 5 or submitted by e-mail to channel13@yso.com. Alternately picture files of the announcement may be prepared in computer programs such as Powerpoint or Paint and sent by e-mail or mailed or dropped off in the basket on floppy disk. Files must be in .jpg format and should be between 10 and 100 kilobytes in size. The shape should be close to 4 wide to 3 high, or landscape orientation. Staff may edit messages to fit the limited space on the screen. Responsibilities of the producer All access users are fully responsible for the content of their programs. The producer is responsible for obtaining all clearances for use from the owner of any copyrighted or protected material, including music licensing organizations, program distributors, and any other persons necessary to authorize transmission of program material on the access channels. The producer is responsible for securing all talent releases and ensuring the cablecasting of the program does not violate the rights of a third party. The producer of programs dealing with political candidates and/or issues is responsible for complying with all local, state, and federal election laws. All Community Access users shall indemnify and hold harmless the Village of Yellow Springs, its officers, officials, boards, commissions, agents, volunteers and employees from any and all liability, damage, injury, judgment, including cost of defending claims (including attorney's fees) arising from or in connection with any claim for failure to comply with any laws, rules or regulation of federal, State or local government, or rules or regulations of the Federal Communications Commission, claims of libel, slander or invasion of privacy, claims of infringement of copyright, patent or unauthorized use of any material or trademark, servicemark or image, or for any other injury or damage in law or in equity claimed as a result of, or from, or connected with access user's use of access channel time. The foregoing shall include obscenity claims as well as any and all other claims related to scheduling or programming on Community access channel time. COMPLAINTS or COMMENTS Viewers wishing to file a formal complaint may do so in writing. The complaint will be forwarded to the producer or sponsor of the program, who will be responsible for addressing the complaint. If the station receives a complaint that a cablecast has violated a criminal law or administrative rule related to the content, the station will notify the appropriate law enforcement agency and suspend future cablecast of the program until the law enforcement agency has resolved the legality of the material. Producers with a complaint should try to resolve the problem with the Program Manager first. If unsuccessful, try to resolve the problem with the Station Manager. Third, you may address the CAP in writing. You will then be invited to address them at the next scheduled CAP meeting. glossary Cablecast - Broadcast over cable CAP - Cable Advisory Panel YSCAC - Yellow Springs Community Access Channel MVCC - Miami Valley Communications Council DVD-VIDEO - A disk format playable by set-top DVD players MPEG on DVD - A program encoded in MPEG2 written to a DVD disk BULLETIN BOARD - Automated messaging system
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