Doing News

Bringing the standards and practices of broadcast journalism to the public access facility By Paul D. Berg

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Foreword In a recent article addressing the changing face of public, educational and governmental (PEG) access TV centers today, Kari Peterson, Executive Director of Davis Community TV in Davis, California suggested that as they have matured in their communities, access centers have had to reinvent themselves -- reconsider their basic mission. Where public access was once seen merely as an "electronic podium," standing at the ready for a citizen to come forward and exercise his or her right to free speech, the lessons learned through years of operation within communities have required that access centers meet other demands and expectations of the communities which support them. Many access center directors will have experienced a certain misplaced expectation laid upon them by well-meaning boards of directors or town cable advisory panels. These groups, fresh from a franchise renewal process in which they had asserted that the cable company's local origination channel was not doing the kinds of programs the town wanted, and winning the battle to get that company to give the town its own access channel, now turn to their newly hired access director (You!) and say: "Make us the kind of programs we want to see!" It is easy to see how this situation became confused. First, there were few hard-and-fast definitions in the early days about what local access or origination channels were supposed to do in a community. And the community didn't know what it wanted either -didn't know what to ask for. But as communities came to realize that they've been given what amounts to their own TV station -- in some cases complete with a multi-camera studio, live capability, and even a paid professional or two -- they start to ask (and rightly so!), "Where are the TV programs?" In the early days, access center directors who had studied "the gospel" of PEG access would respond that access centers don't make programs, but that they stand ready to teach citizen volunteers how to make their own programs. To this litany, the committee members would respond with a question which we've all heard, that is more of an angry exclamation: "You mean we have to wait for somebody to want to make a program, and then let them do whatever they want!?" To this, of course, we answered, "Yup!" It was right that the early, growth years of access asserted the free speech, do-what-youwant aspect of the "P" in PEG access. And it is surely the most vital and sustaining quality of our centers today -- the fact that we provide a vehicle for freedom of speech. This right to and means of access must be maintained. But communities have rightly come to understand that the "E" and the "G" in our missions have some potential to build, as Kari Peterson said, "community value." Though the agreements and ordinances under which we operate may be vague on the subjects of educational and governmental access, or they may not have exactly given local authorities the right to demand that an access center produce programming, it is in our vital best interest to fulfill a TV programming need when such a need is identified by our community

2 Doing News! leaders, and so long as it does not contradict our established mission and purpose, or limit the public's right to access. A case in point is the way many access centers handle their town meeting, selectmen or school committee meeting, etc. Most PEG access centers are asked or expected to cover local government meetings. At the same time, most cities and towns do not have a "Government Access" programmer or producer on staff. So the unfunded, unstaffed expectation of the community falls on the shoulders of the often lone and overworked Access Center staffer(You!) who in turn uses his or her creativity to find a retiree, or high school student, or college intern to run the camera at the town meeting. (Failing that, we run it ourselves!) This is not public access: this is government access. In fact, it isn't really "access" at all -- it is origination. When you, the access center employee, set out to make a program (i.e. town meeting), you are no longer providing access. You are producing. Those of us who have been in operation for a number of years know that, as always, "one thing leads to another!" First you produce a damned nice single-camera coverage of the town meeting. Next, something else occurs to someone in town hall: "Maybe it would be nice to show the high school graduation. Could you do that for us?" Pretty soon, the whole world -- or at least every cable subscribing public official in your world -- is expecting you to cover the Chamber of Commerce breakfast, the Boy Scout Jamboree, and even the funeral of the town's oldest living animal control officer, may she rest in peace! You find yourself wanting to say, "We don't produce programs -- we provide training…" But you suddenly realize that is no longer true. You do produce programs. How can you begin saying no to the ever-increasing demand for coverage? Rather than trying to slam closed the lid of this Pandora's Box, it is important to realize that the expectations of the community leaders for your access center may be unfunded and unstaffed, but they are not unreasonable. For years, we hoped and wished and prayed that our communities would come to value us as an important part of community life. In order to reach an appreciation for what we do, they had to be familiar with it, understand it. And those who sought to understand us did the obvious: they turned to our channels and watched. What they saw was a town meeting, a high school graduation, and yes, the funeral of their treasured dog catcher which you inveigled the local MTV punk to cover with his rather eccentric camcorder angles. The widower said, "It was nice." So the community has come to think that you are the local TV station, that "covers things." And they value you for it. Standing firm and telling them you don't cover things makes you only sound foolish when, fact is, by hook or by crook, you DO cover things, or see they get covered. So now, how can you possibly organize your limited resources to meet this pent up and seemingly limitless demand for you to become your town's own "Newscenter 5," covering everything that is born, dies, or does anything in between?

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You've got a certain amount of identifiable equipment resources, so you can limit response to how much is physically possible. But since you often rely on volunteers, your human resources (to the outside world anyway) appear seemingly unlimited. Truth is, they are only limited by your ability to find and use them. One way to organize this madness is to create a "Community News" program. You become the managing editor, and the program becomes the vehicle into which you can funnel all sorts of coverage of local events. This handbook will help you decide if this is the way to go. Of course, as an access center director whose center produces a community news program, you may expect me to argue strongly in favor of such a move. I understand that it may not be right for every town, or even possible. But this handbook presumes you've made the decision, and you want to know how to go about it. At the same time, if the steps outlined here seem not-so-impossible -- and I hope they will! -- then maybe that will help you decide. Producing a local news program in Newton has allowed NewTV to achieve many things on the "to do" list of our Board members, community leaders and other "stake holders." We've become more well known to a broader spectrum of viewers. We are able to cover important local issues that otherwise would not see the light of day beyond latenight Board of Aldermen committee meetings. We've given college interns and community volunteers an opportunity to expand their knowledge of TV production skills, and to use those skills on a weekly basis, in a "real world" project that fills "real world" needs. And, most importantly, the community now more clearly sees a reason for us to exist, which is not to denigrate the importance of our maintaining a free speech medium, but rather to demonstrate that one of the important parts of that freedom is freedom of the press. In this regard, we have given the community a community voice, through electronic journalism, and they are learning how to speak to each other with this voice about matters of mutual concern. This, I think, is not just consistent with the first amendment goals of PEG access, but might stand alone as a single and paramount reason for us to exist. Paul Berg Executive Director, NewTV Newton Communications Access Center, Inc. 90 Lincoln Street  P.O. Box 610192 Newton, Massachusetts 02161-0192 617-965-7200 email [email protected]

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II. Elements of "Broadcast Journalism" Standards of Objectivity & Ethics Note: see professional broadcast industry codes of ethics in Appendices #2 & #3, pp. 17-19 at end of text. Primary source reporting This is what most of us already do. Primary source reporting, at its most basic level, is the live or taped-live coverage of a real world event, without editing or interruption. Coverage of a town meeting, a land use committee hearing, or a baseball game are all primary source coverage. Except for the discussion shows, everything on C-SPAN is primary source material. Excerpts from such live recording are called actualities, or more frequently, sound bites. A definition of primary source reporting would be the presentation to viewers of actual events, either as they occur, or recorded as they occurred in their entirety, without editing. There is another use of the term as it applies to the source of news stories in a community newscast. On occasion, an access producer will decide to present and discuss local news events. He or she may "read from the paper" a story about the mayor's failure to solve a sewage problem, then opine at length about how unqualified the mayor is to hold office. This is not primary source reporting. Reading another journalist's report, or, worse, relying on the press release of an agency public affairs officer is, at best, secondary or tertiary source reporting -- you learn it "second-hand," or "third-hand." The access producer did not see the mayor failing to solve a problem, nor does he know for sure that such a failure occurred. All he really knows is that the paper blames the mayor for the raw sewage in his back yard! To operate within a journalist's canon of ethics one must either carry civic events live, as they happen, or else communicate with the actual participants and report on what they did and said. This would be the process of confirming facts, and of paramount importance to a bona fide news gathering operation. Once again, the primary source on something the mayor is said to have done would be the mayor! Confirmation of facts If you wish to offer community news, you must engage in the reporting of facts. You must not engage in the reporting of rumors, innuendoes, opinions -- well-informed though they may be -- or of any statement which you have not, by some acceptable process, confirmed to be true. Further, although you may well utilize local community newspapers to guide you to stories which are of interest in your community, you must not and may not rely on their reports to confirm your facts.

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Doing News! Example: The local paper is doing a series on how much money several local candidates are raising to run for mayor. The gist of their coverage is that a young challenger has raised "three times more" than the incumbent mayor, and that the incumbent has $20,000 in his campaign fund. To cover this for your community newscast, you may tell viewers that The Daily Courier has reported these amounts, but you must talk to the mayor and his opponents, as well as investigate the same public disclosure forms which the paper used for its story. Otherwise, you are not reporting facts which your news organization has independently confirmed, and you may be infringing on the copyright of The Daily Courier. Finally, the whole point of covering something which the paper has "already done" is not to be a copycat, but rather to add other insight and provide another local voice for residents to listen to. You may discover that the paper is endorsing the challenger, and has somehow exaggerated the facts to make the underdog seem more sympathetic.

The same principle applies even if your entire news operation is "staffed" by community volunteers. When you are enlisting the aid of such volunteers, they must commit to the standards you have established for confirming any facts they report, and when they bring you a news story, they should cite their sources or otherwise disclose how their facts have been obtained and confirmed. Editorial review As an access manager in charge of a newscast, or even as a volunteer assigned to be a Managing Editor of a community news program, you do engage in editorial control over the material in the local newscast. This seems at first in direct contradiction to an access concept, and even the FCC regulation which states that the operators of a PEG access center must not exercise such editorial control over content. But, clearly, producers of programs on your station are responsible for the content of their programs, and by your act of creating a community newscast, you are becoming a producer. You are not exercising any editorial control over the content of all other programs on the channel. And you must clearly disclose who is, in fact, responsible for the content of your news program. Given this fact, what are the requirements of your editorial review? As a Managing Editor or News Director or "Executive in Charge of Production," you have the following obligations and duties:

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Make the final decisions about what goes on the newscast and what gets left out, based on the community's need to know, and a determination of "news value" -- those stories which most of your viewers will find interesting, or which will have an impact on their lives (see News Budget) Assure that journalistic standards and ethics (see Appendices 2 & 3) have been met in the newscast, and that all facts have been confirmed and the reporting of these facts has been professional and appropriate to the subject Assure that "non-news" requirements of the community news program have been met, which may include a fair rotation of duties for volunteers or interns, as well as the inclusion of "special constituencies" within your newscast which may be determined by those community leaders with whom you have a relationship. (Example: a regular broadcast news program in a major market city does not usually feature a daily or even weekly segment by the local mayor. In the case of a PEG access, community news program, this segment

Doing News! 7 may be a regular feature although it may not have any inherent news value. You may also announce the weekly school lunch menu! Hardly news, but possibly your most valuable story to many viewers!) Isolation of opinion, political/commercial influence It is appropriate for newscasts to contain expressions of opinion, but they must be clearly identified as something separate from news reportage. It is not appropriate for any individual, group, organized body or department to exercise editorial control over a newscast without clearly identifying the existence and extent of that control. Therefore, the most difficult problem you may face in undertaking a community news program in your access center is the desire for elected officials and paid administrators to always want a "good face" on their conduct of town business. This issue must be resolved early on in your planning, and in a very open, "above the table" way. If you wish to have a newscast which viewers can rely upon as a relatively unbiased report of facts, you must have the freedom to report facts, even negative ones, about people who may very well be your bosses! If city or town leaders are uncomfortable with this, it is probably not because of the reality of how you will deal with situations in the future, but rather because of an imagined scenario in which "local access producers are out to get me!" or a more general discomfort with "the media." To counteract this fear, send them a copy of the journalistic ethics you aspire to follow. Assure them that you will never report about them personally without having talked to them directly about the report, that they will always be consulted about municipal issues in your reports, and that they may always be given time to respond to reports with which they disagree. Finally, urge them to make proactive use of your newscast -- to use it as a vehicle to get the word out about important issues, ahead of the curve, so to speak, and to keep residents informed about issues which may elicit anger or criticism if not fully understood. It is not advisable for a PEG access news operation to take editorial stands on local issues nor to engage in issue advocacy. This is, of course, the right of news operations everywhere, as part of their freedom of the press rights. However, in order to maintain healthy relations with a broad constituency in your small community, it may be advisable to simply present all sides of an issues with equal attention, and let the viewers support whichever view they choose. In this way, although you may wish to urge support of, say, more money for schools, you may gain your preferred result anyway by better informing those like-minded viewers who then respond as engaged citizens should -- by contacting their elected officials and urging the issue. It may be appropriate, from time to time, to engage in what is termed "news analysis and comment," regarding statewide or national issues which effect PEG access, if only because most local residents have no other source for such news, and may find the issues unfamiliar or confusing. Keeping in mind that your non-profit status prevents you from engaging in political campaigning or election issue advocacy, it is perfectly acceptable to engage in the analysis of issues which are likely to effect your access center (like Telcomm Act of '96), as well as to urge your viewers to express their concerns to elected officials who decide such issues (like their Representative). Once again, such analysis and comment must be identified as such and shown separately from the presentation of news stories.

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Finally, it may be of interest in your community to create a "Your Turn" segment, in which local residents are given a minute or two to express their views on local issues. This too is "opinion" and must be identified as such. (This used to be quite popular with local broadcasters, but the new telecommunications laws no longer require such opportunities.) News Budget The News Budget is a term used by News Directors to describe the process of deciding what gets covered (and what does not), and assuring that there are appropriate equipment and human resources available, and sufficient time in the newscast for the stories. Budgeting involves many different factors such as the relative importance of the story to the audience, interest or uniqueness, timeliness, available crew, available equipment, and any other special consideration. The broadcast news director's chore of news budgeting is much the same as the access center coordinator's task in determining how to meet the endless and competing demands for TV coverage from local community members. If a bona fide news program is established, it must flow from a regular news budget meeting or consideration. This can be a useful structure to both help you decide what community events to feature, as well as to help explain to possibly disappointed "coverage seekers" how exactly you arrive at your decisions.

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9 III. Minimum Production Requirements

In order to produce a local newscast, there are certain minimum production requirements, most of which are within the grasp of any PEG access center or community television station. At its most basic level, a newscast consists of a person (the news reader or anchor) speaking directly to a camera, telling the viewers what happened, what's "news." This reading may be accompanied by on-screen graphics which support or expand the story, either as topic headline, or additional information. In addition, the reader's story may be supported by showing still photographs or video footage of an item or event. Finally, the most sophisticated type of newscast will utilize a reporter, videotaped away from the studio at the scene of news, or conducting an interview with the subjects of a story. All of these types of newscasts begin with a Managing Editor or News Director who decides what story will be told, and then with a News Writer who writes the story to be read. It is possible, in an access environment, to imagine that all of the jobs described above would be done by one person. If we are talking about no more than a weekly newscast for an access operation, it is quite conceivable that an enterprising producer could select three local issues, research them, find subjects to interview, interview them in front of a single camera, edit the interviews into useful segments, write three news stories based on these interviews plus the research, and, finally, read the three stories in the newscast, editing in the interviews in sequence. This process, however, would demand about thirty hours of that lone producer's time in a given week. Not too far from this model, however, is a model which is much more feasible for a small access center to undertake. This model requires a minimum of three individuals: • Reporter/News Writer • Videographer /Video Editor • Supervising or "Managing Editor"/News Director In such a model, the access center staffer would likely be the News Director/Managing Editor. As such, you would determine the News Budget (see above), assign the weekly news stories, develop a segment rundown for the final newscast, and perhaps assist with some of the writing. The Videographer/Editor could be a volunteer or college intern, whose job it is to go to the subjects of your three stories and shoot footage of them answering questions about the stories -- questions you or the news writer have written. In getting to the final form of the newscast, the three would meet together and map out how the stories play, writing appropriate introductions, determine in and out points for

10 Doing News! videotaped segments, and noting what on-screen graphics might be needed, such as lower-third tags. Finally, the News Reader sits at a desk and reads the news stories as written. If you have the capability, you may roll in the video clips as you go, or simply edit the whole thing together after the news reader is taped. Be aware that, in no uncertain terms, this whole process can, and in many cases should be more complex. But in a smaller community, a fifteen-minute newscast shown before each twice-monthly selectmen's meeting and concerning three of the issues they will consider can be worth its weight in gold to that community. Before such efforts, your viewers may have tuned out on such meetings, because they didn't know what they were about. But if they know that selectmen are about to vote a property tax increase, you will be able to lure viewers away from Seinfeld! Types of Program Formats The program described above, whether 10, 15, 30 or 60 minutes long, is a newscast. This format requires, at minimum (see above) a news reader/reporter, and studio camera crew, and may involve remote video production and editing. Certainly, a newscast requires someone to act as News Director, to manage the News Budget, and to make major editorial decision. Typically, a newscast features news stories between one minute and five minutes in length, in which the facts of recent events are presented, as distinguished from longer interview or so-called magazine format or feature stories. It is the format we think of most often when someone says they want to "do the news." But it is by no means the only way to meet a community's demand or desire for a community news program. Our community bulletin boards are a type of news program. Moreover, we can augment the typical fare of community meeting notices with some actual news reporting. Much as news groups provide information on the internet, we can, with perhaps one volunteer news writer, bring the notice of important local events to our cbb's. Presenting school menus and selectmen agendas is a simple and effective way to begin. Although not as "show biz" as a newscast, such a use for the cbb can be a very valuable contribution to community awareness of local events. It may even be possible to make a cooperative arrangement with a local newspaper to actually produce this visual headline service, for the dual purpose of upgrading the value of your cbb and promoting their local paper. Live event coverage is a form of news coverage. Much as CBS may cover the President's State of the Union Address, or CNN the Gulf War, your local station can distinguish itself with such "exclusive" programming as local city or town meetings, high school sports, conferences, hearings, and community group or neighborhood meetings. Many of us already do these things, whether as productions run by the access center staff under the heading of "municipal access," or as programs which interested volunteers produce for the community at large to see. This is not only a news service which we should promote to our viewers and constituents as one of the valuable things we do for the community, but also is a basis on which to expand to produce a community news program.

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In covering local events, you are already engaging in primary source reporting (see p.4). It is almost irresponsible for a community not to provide some municipal spokesperson or elected official to explain the often times arcane actions they undertake in these meetings ("Will the committee on committees please suspend its rule, and permit the committee of the whole to take up the issue which it previously laid upon the table?"!!!) So one way to move from simple meeting coverage to a more beneficial type programming would be to urge the town clerk or city manager to do a fifteen minute intro before each meeting, explaining what issues will be considered or voted on. If you do this, I have news for you: This is "doing the news.!" It may not be as sophisticated as Peter Jennings, but still it involves someone who has factual knowledge of local issues (the official), explaining these issues to viewers. That official becomes, in effect, your writer, editor and reporter. And understand, his or her viewpoint may be colored by virtue of the position they hold. But viewers are quite capable of deciding about that! A news magazine program is by the far the most difficult and complex type of news programming to attempt. The most well-know example is 60 Minutes, now joined by Dateline, 20/20, 48 Hours, and others. These programs take a topic, and cover it in considerable depth for twelve minutes or longer. These segments (for the networks anyway) may have required hundreds of hours of video footage to achieve the finished fifteen minutes. The news magazine segment is essentially a short-form documentary, and as such requires advanced video production skills, including detailed research and pre-production planning, electronic field production, extensive writing, and much editing. Still, such a format can work in the PEG access arena, given availability of a producer or staff person with the necessary talents to produce such work. Such a format can be most effective when a town department calls for "a program explaining the property valuation process," and so on. When faced with such a request, you must be sure to inform the official of the complexity of their request, and therefore the length of time it may take to muster the resources to complete it. Furthermore, you must stress how much involvement on their part will be required, for in such an instance, they become the research and script writing crew. Despite the difficulty of this format, do not overlook the very important fact that a community stakeholder has sought your help or expressed a TV production need you can fulfill. The "News Update" format is one which may be well-suited for your access center's resources, both equipment and human. This is much like a newscast, except shorter! Typically, such a news update would not exceed five minutes in length, and often be only one or two minutes. Still, it is possible to summarize the world's top stories in three minutes on all-news radio, so the format should work for local events. The production requirements are the same as for a newscast (see above), except the need for a strong news writer is even more important -- one who can achieve a concise, clear reporting style, yet still convey the necessary information in this brief format. The advantage of producing a news break, apart from the fact that you have a shorter program to produce, is the fact that you may be able to run such a segment more frequently during the program day, such as between programs, or even as a "psa break" within shows or during selectmen recesses. In this way, you both extend your reach (i.e. gain more viewers), and provide a more visible vehicle for station promotion.

12 Doing News! One final option for news programming is the Discussion/Talk Show , about current events in your community. The talk show, as we all know, is both the most simple production style, and possibly the least rewarding for viewers, if only because so many of them are produced both on access and on broadcast as well. Still, such programming, if well done, can be of great value to the politically aware in your community. The success of such shows depends on the time value of the information being discussed (i.e. is it "old news"?), and, most importantly, on the "talent" who are host and guests on the show. If the people on the talk show are boring, the show will be boring. This, of course, creates great difficulties when the situation involves a less than engaging town official! But even the most trying personalities can be brought to life on camera when challenged to talk about a subject they know well and enjoy, and when joined by other interesting people.

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IV. Issues for Access Centers Paid staff time limitations Clearly the toughest obstacle to producing any kind of news programming at your access center is the limitations on your human resources -- in many cases, you! Where there is only one paid staff person who is expected to provide the community with equal access and training, run the channel, and, oh, by the way, cover the town meeting next Tuesday night, it is easy to say there just isn't time. And, this may be the right thing to say! Nothing in this presentation or text is meant to criticize those who already have a full plate. But, if your community is, on the one hand, looking for more "local coverage" from your station and, on the other hand, you either have a bit of free time, or, failing that, can recruit volunteers to an interesting and challenging project, then you should be able to meet these demands by producing some type of community news. Use of volunteers There are some who will tell you that producing community news with volunteers is either not possible, not practical, or not ethical. (These would be the people who have never done it!) It is not only possible and ethical, but is perhaps one of the most beneficial uses of an access center's resources in terms of community benefits and volunteer benefits. In using volunteers, or community producers, the training and orientation at the outset is of paramount importance. In addition to teaching good TV production skills, volunteers must be made to understand their role in the production team, and, most importantly, recognize that they are part of a team -- no longer the independent, free-spirited voice which they came to exercise as access producers. To work on the news means to bring skills which you may have learned producing music videos, or comedies, or two-hour documentaries about organic gardening to a process in which your skill is the valued commodity. Your judgment and opinion, along with your favorite topic for TV coverage may not be needed! So, the producer who does a weekly show criticizing everything done by the school board may or may not be a good candidate to assign to a story which involves interviewing the school board chair. This is where the News Director (you!) can play a vital role. Another often untapped well of human resources is the local college or high school. College and high school interns have many of the same skills as your community producers, plus they come with a very important added benefit: motivation, primarily in the form of a school grade. Furthermore, the fact is that most college students enrolled in media arts education never get a chance at hands-on equipment use at their schools. Most schools are severely limited in the amount of resources available for student projects. So many young students who desire a career in broadcasting are literally chaffing at the bit to get a camcorder and go do a news story. If for no higher reason, they need such evidence of broadcast journalism talent for their resume reel, and this, from your perspective, should be motivation enough! Commitment of equipment resources

14 Doing News! In undertaking community news in the PEG access environment where all users share the same equipment, it is critical to maintain the equal access, first-come, first-served mandate for equipment usage. Unless a private sponsor can buy equipment exclusively for use by the news program (not an impossibility), you will find your news program generates bad feelings among community producers if the news "always gets the good camera," or worse, "always gets the ONLY camera." This is clearly a hurdle to be overcome. In our operations at NewTV, although the staff member who directs the news program clearly has more easy access to equipment reservations, we have off set this inequity by agreeing that if a community producer requests equipment by the usual process, and none is available due in part to a news production reservation, the community producer wins the stalemate. The news must find other means. Often, the community producer will cooperate in making an early return of equipment, or, in fact, by shooting the story for us -- yet another means of volunteer recruitment! In terms of what equipment specifically one should expect to use in producing a community newscast, this of course depends on the production's demands, but generally… •

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a camcorder plus light kit and handheld microphone, readily available for remote shoots and interviews. (Note: news usually requires less total time per use -- a couple of hours -- than the typical community producer checkout of a day or so, and many news interviews can often be scheduled during the same remote shoot) an edit room to edit field footage into stories "for air" -- i.e. for inclusion in the newscast a studio, or other location in which to tape the news reader reading the news -a well lit and nicely draped closet will suffice!

In addition to these necessities, a few other items will make the production of news infinitely easier… • • •

a word processor for script writing and tape logging a character generator/titler for on-screen graphics a teleprompter for the news reader

The teleprompter may at first seem an exorbitant or frivolous expense in terms of equipment which may be used by other access producers -- Amiga or PC based units cost about $900. However, it can become an indispensable tool for local officials wishing to tape messages to residents, as well as providing a means by which local candidates for office can speak "directly to voters" on camera. Board members like to use it to record appeals to viewers to join the center, or support fund raisers. Citizens can use it to give "editorial replies" on camera. Finally, studio productions by producers with less than sufficient number of crew people can be helped out with a prompter which can be used "live, on-line" to cue talent on set, as well as for prepared intros and outros.

Doing News! 15 Editorial supervision/liability "Whose responsible for this?!" the mayor shouted, when faced with the erroneous report on the local access news program that he was resigning to take up fly fishing! When all is said and done, your news program must have a place where " the buck stops." If your community news program is an all-volunteer operation, you may need to form an "editorial board" of local citizens who monitor the newscast for accuracy and fairness. Otherwise, it is advisable for the access center director to be the News Director or Managing Editor, and take responsibility for program content. Liability for errors ultimately lies with the named producer, but such liability is not of great concern as long as standards of objectivity and fairness are enforced through management or advisory board supervision, and errors are corrected promptly. Community Value Clearly, the most positive aspect of creating a community news program, regardless of type or sophistication, is the fact that it adds community value. By making residents better informed about local issues, and by communicating the necessary information from schools and municipal departments, community news can only serve to improve the quality of life in a community and strengthen the community itself. In addition, community news provides a way for volunteer producers and interns who have gained personal benefits of education and experience from the free services offered at your access center to give something back to the community which provides that access -and, incidentally, gain even more education and experience at the same time. Potential Conflicts & Clashes There is, of course, the potential for conflicts and clashes inherent in the production of community news, as with any new project. But these possible problems are merely the challenges you face in setting out to produce the news: they should be dealt with first. If, in effect, you work for the town manager, and he or she is dead set against a news program, this is a significant obstacle which should be dealt with before proceeding. Or if the relationship with either city hall or your cable operator is strained, and you feel a news program might exacerbate that strain, you need to consider this before you begin. The positives mentioned above are a good place to start. You may find that when the strong potential for community value is presented to your biggest opponents, or least "access-friendly" officials that the very nature of the project and its benefits may be used to turn these negatives around. That is not to promise miracles from a newscast, but to suggest it as a vehicle for change. Community News as Outreach The best way to avoid problems in undertaking a community news program is to involve a wide variety of individuals in the project, and make them all stakeholders in its success. Use a local attorney as your "law correspondent." Get the high school coach involved in sports results. Perhaps the school superintendent or principal could work with an enterprising student to produce news segments about changes in school policy, etc. Since a newscast is really a smorgasbord of different information categories or subjects, its structure is conducive to broadening community involvement in your access center, and tailoring a program to local interests. If you live in a farming community, an

16 agricultural report would be appreciated. report

Doing News! An urban location might value a night life

News Sources A local town or city newscast will have little or no use for traditional broadcast journalist's news sources -- the Associated Press and United Press International wire services. The community newscast producer needs to establish relationships with all of the following key news sources: Municipal officials and departments • Police/Fire Departments - P.R. Lieut. + Chiefs • Mayor's Office • President, Board of Aldermen • School Committee & Administration • City Clerk Other Local Media • community newspapers • broadcast radio & TV • metro papers Communities of Interest • NPO's who want event coverage • businesses… • community groups… • elected officials & candidates • citizens who point out stories In addition to letting all these sources know that you have begun a community news program, it is often helpful to go down the list and make a representative from each of these sources a guest for a brief "feature segment" on your newscast, if feasible. In this way, they gain first-hand experience of your news production effort, and will think of you when they have a message to deliver or news to be covered. Also, it is important to get on the mailing list of every local public affairs or public relations person you can identify within these sources, and elsewhere. There are numerous national publications in which you may list your access center as a "booker

Doing News! 17 of guests." While this may reap a stack of unwanted p.r. from people who have invented better mousetraps, it is also the place where local, state and federal "community relations" types look when they want to reach local "media." Editorial Policies Unique for Community News • "I-Team Reports" It is safer not to engage in so-called "sting" investigative reporting or "enterprise journalism". This is a policy which may change as a center matures or becomes more independent of its municipal funding source, but it is almost a conflict of interest for a news operation to mislead or surreptitiously investigate its governing authority. Such work is best left to the local paper's crusading journalist. If they discover "the dirt," you may feel more comfortable in reporting on their investigation. Otherwise, leave it be! • "Equal Time" Unlike the rest of access, if challenged by a political candidate or community advocate, you must provide "equal time", as provided for in FCC rules. You are controlling the content of your newscast, and therefore, if a candidate feels you have unfairly given time to his opponent, you should readily agree to have the complainant on for an equal amount of time. Keep in mind that equal time laws do not require that equal time be given when a candidate appears a "bona fide newscast;" however, even broadcasters strive to give equal exposure to opponents of candidates they feature in their newscasts. This issue has never been tested in an access environment, but seems hardly worth a fight. Better to have both candidates' fans watching than to divide (and anger) some of your viewers.

• Station Editorials At NewTV, we do not present management editorials, or take positions regarding local issues, nor voice support or opposition for particular candidates/causes. [Note: E.D. has done opinion segments regarding stories effecting the mission of NCAC/NewTV, & public access in general.] • Partnerships for News Projects You may form partnerships with private individuals, elective bodies and public officials, or other local entities in order to achieve a mutual goal of bringing certain necessary information to the viewers. It is rare for conventional newscasters to form such "close relations" with any outside entity, in order to maintain their independence. With community news, it is to everyone's benefit to fully address the issues of concern to certain active community groups or representatives. (Examples: NewTV + League of Women Voters for election results; NewTV and Health Dept. for Drug Survey Report.)

❑ ❑ ❑

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Doing News!

Appendix #1: Newton News - Credit List Below is a typical credit roll list from the weekly edition of Newton News. Added in parenthesis after each name or title is an abbreviation, indicating Paid Access Staff (P), Volunteer (V), College Intern (CI) or High School Intern (HI) Individuals vary from week to week where no name is shown: Managing Editor/Executive Producer PAUL BERG (P)* Senior Producer/News Director MATT MAZZOTTA (P)** Producer/Director JUAN CARLOS FANJUL(CI) Assistant Director (CI) News Reader #1 JOHN FRASSICA(V) News Reader #2 TELEIA SU-FENG(CI) Technical Director/Switcher (V) Audio Operator (V) Graphics Operator (V) Tape Operator (CI) Prompter Operator (CI) Cam #1 Operator (CI) Camera #2 Operator (HI) Camera #3 Operator (CI) Floor Manager (V) Law Reporter - B.J. KRINTZMAN(V) Entertainment Reporter - JULES BECKER(V) Sports Reporter - CARA O'BRIEN (CI) News Reporter #1/Tape Editor (CI) News Reporter #2/Tape Editor (CI) News Reporter #3/Tape Editor (CI) * Total time: 1 Hr/week, typical. Each week, ED Paul Berg meets with News Director Matt Mazzotta for approximately 30 minutes to discuss what stories have been included in the working News Budget for the upcoming newscast. Then, he views the final live newscast from the studio control room from 6-6:30 PM each Monday. ** Total time: 12 Hrs/Week for News Director Matt Mazzotta -- much of his other work as Municipal Access Coordinator provides resource info, etc. for the news during those duties. (i.e. he covers the Board of Aldermen meeting as part of his job, and at the same time takes note of current issues before the Board for news value.)

Doing News! Appendix #2:

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Radio-Television News Directors Association Code of Ethics The responsibility of radio and television journalists is to gather and report information of importance and interest to the public accurately, honestly and impartially. The members of the Radio-Television News Directors Association accept these standards and will: 1. Strive to present the source or nature of broadcast news material in a way that is balanced, accurate and fair. A. They will evaluate information solely on its merits as news, rejecting sensationalism or misleading emphasis in any form. B. They will guard against using audio or video material in a way that deceives the audience. C. They will not mislead the public by presenting as spontaneous news any material which is staged or rehearsed. D. They will identify people by race, creed, nationality or prior status only when it is relevant. E. They will clearly label opinion and commentary. F. They will promptly acknowledge and correct errors. 2. Strive to conduct themselves in a manner that protects them from conflicts of interest, real or perceived. They will decline gifts or favors which would influence or appear to influence their judgments. 3. Respect the dignity, privacy and well-being of people with whom they deal. 4. Recognize the need to protect confidential sources. They will promise confidentiality only with the intention of keeping that promise. 5. Respect everyone's right to a fair trial. 6. Broadcast the private transmissions of other broadcasters only with permission. 7. Actively encourage observance of this Code by all journalists, whether members of the Radio-Television News Directors Association or not. Unanimously Adopted by the RTNDA Board of Directors August 31, 1987

Appendix #3:

The Society of Professional Journalists, Sigma Delta Chi Code of Ethics

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The Society of Professional Journalists, Sigma Delta Chi, believes the duty of journalists is to serve the truth. We BELIEVE the agencies of mass communication are carriers of public discussion and information, acting on their Constitutional mandate and freedom to learn and report the facts. We BELIEVE in public enlightenment as the forerunner of justice, and in our Constitutional role to seek the truth as part of the public's right to know the truth. We BELIEVE those responsibilities carry obligations that require journalists to perform with intelligence, objectivity, accuracy, and fairness. To these ends, we declare acceptance of the standards of practice set forth: I. Responsibility The public's right to know of events of public importance and interest is the overriding mission of mass media. The purpose of distributing news and enlightened opinion is to serve the general welfare. Journalists who use their professional status as representatives of the public for selfish or other unworthy motives violate a high trust. II. Freedom of the Press Freedom of the press is to be guarded as an inalienable right of people in a free society. It carries with it freedom and the responsibility to discuss, question, and challenge actions and utterances of our government and of our public and private institutions. Journalists uphold the right to speak unpopular opinions and the privilege to agree with the majority. III. Ethics Journalists must be free of obligation to any interest other than the public's right to know the truth. 1. Gifts, favors, free travel, special treatment or privileges can compromise the integrity of journalists and their employers. Nothing of value should be accepted. 2. Secondary employment, political involvement, holding public office, and service in community organizations should be avoided if it compromises the integrity of journalists and their employers. Journalists and their employers should conduct their personal lives in a manner that protects them from conflict of interest, real or apparent. Their responsibilities to the public are paramount. That is the nature of their profession. 3. So-called news communications from private sources should not be published or broadcast without substantiation of their claims to news values. 4. Journalists will seek news that serves the public interest, despite the obstacles. They will make constant efforts to assure that the public's business is conducted in public and that public records are open to public inspection. 5. Journalists acknowledge the newsman's ethic of protecting confidential sources of information. 6. Plagiarism is dishonest and unacceptable. IV. Accuracy and Objectivity Good faith with the public is the foundation of all worthy journalism. 1. Truth is our ultimate goal. 2. Objectivity in reporting the news is another goal that serves as the mark of an experienced journalist. It is a standard of performance toward which we strive. We honor those who achieve it. 3. There is no excuse for inaccuracies or lack of thoroughness. 4. Newspaper headlines should be fully warranted by the contents of the articles they accompany. Photographs and telecasts should give an accurate picture of an event and not highlight an incident out of context. 5. Sound practice makes clear distinction between news reports and expressions of opinion. News reporters should be free of opinion or bias and represent all sides of an issue.

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6. Partisanship in editorial comment that knowingly departs from the truth violates the spirit of American journalism. 7. Journalists recognize their responsibility for offering informed analysis, comment, and editorial opinion on public events and issues. They accept the obligation to present such material by individuals whose competence, experience, and judgment qualify them for it. 8. Special articles or presentations devoted to advocacy or the writer's own conclusions and interpretations should be labeled as such. V. Fair Play Journalists at all times will show respect for the dignity, privacy, rights, and well-being of people encountered in the course of gathering and presenting news. 1. The news media should not communicate unofficial charges affecting reputation or moral character without giving the accused a chance to reply. 2. The news media must guard against invading a person's right to privacy. 3. The media should not pander to morbid curiosity about details of vice and crime. 4. It is the duty of news media to make prompt and complete correction of their errors. 5. Journalists should be accountable to the public for their reports and the public should be encouraged to voice its grievances against the media. Open dialogue with our readers, viewers, and listeners should be fostered. VI. Pledge Adherence to this code is intended to preserve and strengthen the bond of mutual trust and respect between the American journalists and the American people. The Society shall--by programs of education and other means--encourage individual journalists to adhere to these tenets, and shall encourage journalistic publications and broadcasters to recognize their responsibility to frame codes of ethics in concert with their employees to serve as guidelines in furthering these goals. Code of Ethics adopted 1926; revised 1973, 1984, 1987. VISIT www.rtnda.org FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT RADIO & TV NEWS