Home -
Schedule -
Policies -
Programs -
Contact Us -
Council Videos
COLUMBUS CONSOLIDATED GOVERNMENT ACCESS TELEVISION
POLICIES AND RULES
OPERATIONAL DEFINITION:
Columbus Consolidated Government Access Television (CCG-TV) is an in-house Television Station owned, managed and operated by Columbus Consolidated Government. CCG-TV provides 24 hours of programs and public service announcements cablecast over 3 cable systems that serve the communities of Columbus, Georgia.
MISSION STATEMENT:
CCG-TV goal is to provide programming that will help educate and inform Columbus citizens on events, ordinances and information that may impact their daily lives. CCG-TV will provide live cablecast of City Council, and Planning Advisory Commission meetings. CCG-TV will also provide live coverage of selected public hearings, educational meetings, and local and state government forums. CCG-TV will rebroadcast taped programs twice a day for seven days. CCG-TV will offer broadcast time for programs produced by an outside agency that follow Columbus Consolidated Government guidelines and is approved by the City Manager. Columbus Consolidated Government Access Television will also broadcast public service announcements to be displayed between live cablecast and scheduled tape programs. All ads must follow guidelines established by CCG-TV. CCG-TV will provide video copies of City Council meetings to the Chattahoochee Regional Library and maintain copies of all programs and meetings produced by CCG-TV. All Taped programs produced within 3 years can be made available to the public at a charge of $10 per copy. Please allow at least 24 hours before requested programs can be made available.
LIVE PROGRAMMING:
Columbus City Council Meetings are cablecast live at 5:30pm on the first Tuesday of each month and at 9:00am each additional Tuesday of the month. The meetings are taped and rebroadcast daily at 9:00am and 7:00pm for one week. The Planning Advisory Commission Meetings are cablecast live at 9:00am on the first and third Wednesday of the month. The meetings are taped and rebroadcast at 11:00am and at 9:30pm daily for one week. The dates and times for said meetings may change based on the time allocation and or cancellations of scheduled meetings. CCG-TV will only provide live cable casting to meetings or programs that take place within the council chambers located on the plaza level of the Government Center and approved or requested by the City Manager.
I. Types of Programs:
II. CCG-TV Policy:
All programming cablecast on CCG-TV must be government related or have historical or local appeal to the citizens of Columbus. Programs may include meetings, activities, programs, services, and events of City departments or other governmental entities.
CCG-TV Guidelines for outside productions is as follow:
A. CCG-TV will use approved contracted vendors to assist in video taping meetings and events scheduled and approved by management. (All contracted vendors must go through a yearly bidding process and follow Guidelines set by Columbus Consolidated Government).
B. CCG-TV will accept outside video programs produced by local television stations and established video production companies that comply with professional broadcast quality and standards.
C. CCG-TV will not accept outside production that is shot, edited and produced with substandard video equipment. These programs include VHS camcorders, amateur editing, and audio equipment. The Station Manager will make the decision on the quality of programming to be aired on CCG-TV. The Decision can be appealed to the City Manager.
III. CCG-TV Bulletin Board Announcement Policies
A. CCG-TV will display announcements that advertise community, governmental, educational, historical, health events, meetings and other approved non-profit functions.
B. CCG-TV will display announcements to help promote and advertise animal shelters, city employment listings, recreation and senior centers schedules, educational, health, job fairs, seminars, community watch schedules and meetings, approved non profit group events and meetings, high school reunions and class meetings, community theatre and civic activities.
C. CCG-TV will not display ads that promote political candidates, religious groups, profit-driven businesses, organizations or groups not approved by the City Manager, wording that utilize profanity, lewdness or words not in compliance with the FCC and Columbus Consolidated Government.
D. CCG-TV will not display ads for events that charge an admission.
E. All announcements can be mailed, faxed or emailed to CCG-TV.
F. All announcements are subject to editing to assure the proper number of characters suggested for the assigned page.
G. All announcements must be submitted at least one week prior to event and will be displayed until the day of event.
H. Schedules of job ads, and animal adoptions will be displayed until notification of agency to remove said ads.
IV. Access Priorities:
Following is a list of general priorities that will apply to CCG-TV. The City Manager or the Station Manager may alter the priorities on a case-by-case basis.
A. Programming of an emergency nature involving public safety or health matters.
B. Programming of or about meetings of policy-making bodies such as City Council, Zoning Boards, School Boards, etc.
C. Programming of various City departments, their services or issues.
D. Programming of Federal government, state commissions, and authorities and/or agencies that use public dollars.
E. Programming produced by outside sources that is issue relevant to local government.
F. Programming produced outside that has historical or local interest to the citizens of Columbus.
V. Management of the Columbus Consolidated Government Television Channel:
Management and programming of CCG-TV will be provided by the Station Manager and Staff. CCG-TV is a division of the City Manager’s Office.
VI. Political Programming:
 |
No political programming will be permitted on CCG-TV with the exception of providing factual information on any ballot issue affecting City Government services. |
|
Direct access to CCG-TV for political programming by individual candidate, or supporters of any candidate or issues, will not be provided. |
|
Political programming related to political candidate forums, (where all candidates for a particular office have equal opportunity to participate) may be cablecast if approved by the City Manager. |
VII. Editing Policy:
A. City Meetings or any meeting cablecast on CCG-TV shall not be edited or subjected to editorial comment. Meetings covered shall be from gavel to gavel unless an executive session is in order. Meetings may be videotaped for later re-broadcast.
B. Department programs or any program videotaped by CCG-TV staff or under its supervision may be modified or edited as appropriate. Editing will be based upon an approved script and dictated by scheduling and staff requirements.
C. Bulletin Board-messages or announcements displayed on the bulletin board portion of CCG-TV from sources other than City Government should submit the information in writing to CCG-TV. Editing may be done by staff to provide clarity and maximum use of available space.
D. Requesting person or agency will solely be responsible for any and all copy written material and release forms for all unauthorized persons and places that appear in their submitted video program. This program will not be considered for approval without a signature of requested person or authorize representative of requested agency.
VIII. Endorsements:
At no time will CCG-TV be utilized to endorse an issue, candidate, specific person, company or brand name of a product for consumer use.
IX. Promotions:
Promotional announcements for City-sponsored events will be permitted over CCG-TV.
Promotional announcements for events, charities, or outside organizations in which the City has no official interest or sponsorship shall not be permitted unless directed by the City Manager.
X. Use of City owned equipment:
City owned equipment shall be restricted to authorize City activities, and its use shall be restricted to employees of CCG-TV or trained personnel under the supervision and direction of the staff.
Loaning of equipment for personal or outside use shall not be permitted.
XI. Retention and Ownership of videotapes:
All tapes shall be the property of the CCG-TV. It shall be general policy to retain tapes of staff produced programs, meetings and events for up to six months. The exception to this policy is City Council meetings, Planning Advisory Commission meetings and government, educational public hearings and forums. All tapes will be kept in archives for one year at CCG-TV studio, afterwards will be boxed and moved to the records department for 3 years. At the end of this time, tapes may be reused or stored in a manner other than the original version. Requests for longer retention will be allowed on a case-by-case basis. The tapes of meetings shall not be considered an official record and will not be held liable for inadvertent erasure or omissions.
CCG-TV is a powerful vehicle for keeping the Columbus community informed about City, State, and Federal government. CCG-TV offers the public a wide range of programming primarily designed to show the community the how’s and why’s of local government. Our mission is to provide the Columbus viewing area with timely, accurate, and complete government information. Our vision is to be perceived as the finest government channel in the nation, providing government and community news and information to Columbus residents through the use of programming.