Do you agree with these? What are the responsibilites of broadcasters?

[BBr...@aol.com]

Following up on today's earlier post, here is the model voluntary code
recommended by PIAC.

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MODEL VOLUNTARY CODE OF CONDUCT FOR DIGITAL TELEVISION BROADCASTERS

1. Broadcasters are public trustees. As public trustees, broadcasters have
public interest
obligations, most of which are met voluntarily, not as a result of
governmental mandate.
Many of these obligations are simply good business. Some of them may or may
not be good for business; they are followed because of the important
democratic, economic, cultural, and civic functions of those who provide
television programming for the American public.

The Federal Government also imposes some public interest obligations on
broadcasters,
and throughout the history of broadcasting, it has seriously considered
imposing additional
obligations. It has restrained itself partly because of its understanding of
free speech
principles and partly because of its belief that broadcasters are
voluntarily doing what
should be done.

2. Most broadcasters take their public interest obligations seriously, going
well beyond the
requirements of law. 1 Whether or not it is profitable to do so, they offer
public service
announcements; provide educational programming for children and take account
of their
particular needs; offer many community services; cover substantive issues in
a serious way;
serve the diverse social groups that represent the full community of
viewers; avoid exploitation and sensationalism; offer programming for those
who are deaf and hard-of-hearing
and others with disabilities; help promote both accountability and
deliberation; and give
detailed and serious attention to important public issues, public debates,
and elections.

3. The purpose of a code is to reflect an explicit and voluntary commitment
to certain basic
principles and aspirations, and to help ensure that broadcasters generally
act as public
trustees, and are not penalized in the marketplace for doing what public
trustees should do.
A code helps to ensure that broadcasters promote the educational, civic,
cultural, and
democratic goals of television, to counteract the short-term pressures that
sometimes
threaten to compromise those goals, and to reflect good practices on which
there is a broad
industry and public consensus.

4. In a period of remarkable innovation with respect to communications
technologies, it is
especially important that those who provide television programming continue
to promote
the democratic, educational, and other goals historically associated with
broadcasting.
Broadcasters should use the extraordinary opportunities provided by these
new technologies to carry out these time-honored goals, with particular
reference to providing educational and democratic services, and to serving
the diverse range of people, and the diverse
range of social groups, who enjoy and learn from television.

RESPONSIBILITY TOWARD CHILDREN

1. Broadcasters have an obligation to serve children. Educational
programming can serve as a
supplement to schooling and to good parenting; harmful programming can
undermine the
efforts of parents and schools alike. Sometimes parents have a hard time
monitoring the
viewing habits of their children, and broadcasters should help them.
Broadcasters have an
obligation to provide beneficial and educational programming for children.

2. Broadcasters should attempt to ensure that children are not exposed to
excessively violent
programming or programming that is otherwise harmful to or inappropriate for
children.
Broadcasters should avoid programming that encourages criminal or
self-destructive
behavior; they should also be sensitive in presenting sexual material that
children might
encounter.

3. Programs designed primarily for children should take into account the
range of interests
and needs of children of various ages, from instructional and cultural
material to a wide
variety of entertainment material. In their totality, programs should
contribute to the
sound, balanced development of children to help them achieve a sense of the
world at
large and make informed adjustments to their society. In seeking balance,
broadcasters
should attempt to provide programming for children of diverse ages,
recognizing that
television is watched by very young children and also by near-adults.

4. Because of the potential importance of television to children's
development, and to their
feeling of belonging to their community, broadcasters should serve children
of different
religious, demographic, racial, and ethnic groups.

5. Each broadcaster should endeavor to provide a reasonable amount of
educational programming for children each week. Broadcasters should also
endeavor to inform viewers of
whether the programs are not suitable for children of various ages.

6. Children are allowed to watch programs designed primarily for adults, and
broadcasters
should take this practice into account in the presentation of material in
such programs
when children may constitute a substantial segment of the audience.

7. Broadcasters should take care to ensure that advertising or promotional
materials on
programming directed toward children is appropriate for the relevant
audience , and that it
does not contain exploitative or excessively violent materials.

8. Television can play a significant role in preparing children for the
rights and responsibilities
of citizenship. Broadcasters should therefore endeavor to provide
appropriate news and
public affairs programming for children, including news relevant to children
in the local
community.

COVERING ELECTIONS

1. A well-functioning democracy depends on access to information and ideas,
particularly in
the context of elections. An informed citizenry is vital to a democracy that
prizes both
accountability and deliberation. Television should play a constructive role
in promoting
these values; new and emerging technologies should be harnessed to this goal.

2. Each station should devote a significant amount of time to coverage of
Federal, State, and
local elections, as well as initiatives and referendums, and to the
substantive issues involved
in the electoral process.

3. Coverage should be substantive and issue-oriented. It should not
emphasize the sensational
and the prurient. It should concern itself with claims and disagreements on
matters of
substance. Consistent with the exercise of legitimate station discretion,
stations should
endeavor not to give excessive or undue attention to sensational accusations
or to issues of
"who is ahead, at the expense of other issues.

4. Each station should provide ample opportunity for candidate-related and
candidate-
centered programming, focusing on races and candidates that the station
believes are
important and deserving of attention by its viewers. Stations may, at their
discretion, use a
combination of means -- including debates, interviews, features, and grants
of free time to
candidates -- to achieve this goal.

5. In the 30-day period before an election, each station should endeavor to
provide, at minimum, 5 minutes of candidate-centered programming each night,
between 5 p.m. and 11:35
p.m. Stations should choose the important races and candidates, and choose
the appropriate formats, from 1-minute presentations by candidates to
mini-debates to features to
interviews to free airtime. The 5 minutes need not be contiguous. Consistent
with station
discretion and democratic goals, it is preferable to ensure that candidates
provide something other than short "soundbites" (an appropriate goal is 1
minute or more of speaking
time).

6. Stations are encouraged, in any election period, to give special
attention to the most
important elections and elections issues, whether they are Federal, State,
or local. Consistent
with the exercise of legitimate editorial discretion to select the most
important races and
themes, stations should endeavor to provide reasonable access to candidates
for State and
local office as well as to Federal candidates for office, and also to
proponents and opponents of ballot initiatives. Stations should therefore
not adopt any blanket policy of refusing to sell time to candidates for
office and those seeking to express views on ballot initiatives.

7. Coverage of elections should be fair and balanced.

8. Each station should ensure that its coverage of elections, initiatives,
and referendums, as
well as its candidate-related and candidate-centered programming, is
closed-captioned to
the extent that providing such captioning does not impose an undue burden on
the station.

TREATMENT OF NEWS, PUBLIC EVENTS, AND EMERGENCIES

News

1. A television station's news programming should be both substantive and
well-balanced.
Especially because they serve educational and democratic functions, stations
should devote
substantial attention to both local and national issues of general importance.

2. Morbid, sensationalistic, or alarming details not essential to a factual
report, especially in
connection with stories of crime or sex, should be avoided. News should be
broadcast in
such a manner as to avoid panic and unnecessary alarm. News programming should
attempt to avoid prurience, sensationalism, and gossip.

3. News reporting should be factual, fair, and without bias.

4. A television broadcaster should exercise particular discrimination in the
acceptance,
placement, and presentation of advertising in news programs so that such
advertising
should be clearly distinguishable from the news content.

5. Commentary and analysis should be clearly identified as such.

6. Pictorial material should be chosen with care and not presented in a
misleading, sensationalistic, or prurient manner.

7. All news interview programs should be governed by accepted standards of
ethical journalism, under which the interviewer selects the questions to be
asked. Where there is advance
agreement materially restricting an important or newsworthy area of
questioning, the
interviewer should state on the program that such limitation has been agreed
on. Such
disclosure should be made if the person being interviewed requires that
questions be
submitted in advance or participates in editing a recording of the interview
prior to its use
on the air.

8. Stations should make an effort to devote enough time to public issues to
permit genuine
understanding of problems and disagreements.

Public Events

1. A television broadcaster has an affirmative responsibility to be informed
of important
public events and to inform the public of these events, in order to provide
coverage
consonant with the ends of an informed and enlightened citizenry.

2. The treatment of such events by a television broadcaster should provide
adequate, substantive, and informed coverage of relevant issues, including
issues of local concern.

Emergencies

1. Broadcasters should provide accurate and timely coverage of emergencies
and disasters,
sufficient to inform members of the public about the relevant problem and
how to avoid
danger to themselves and others. Coverage of emergencies and disasters
should avoid
undue alarmism and sensationalism.

2. Broadcasters should endeavor to provide textual presentations of all
emergency programming in real time and ensure that such presentations
incorporate substantially the entire
text of the audio portion of such programming.

COMMUNITY RESPONSIBILITY

1. Television broadcasters and their staffs occupy positions of unique
responsibility in their
communities and should conscientiously endeavor to be acquainted fully with
the
community's needs and characteristics in order to better serve the welfare
of its citizens.

2. Requests for time for the placement of public service announcements or
programs should
be carefully reviewed with respect to the character and reputation of the
group, campaign,
or organization involved; the public interest content of the message; and
the manner of its
presentation.

3. Public service announcements should not be relegated to off-hours, such
as late night and
early morning, but should be distributed throughout the broadcast day and
during
primetime.

4. Stations should devote substantial time to the provision of public
service announcements.
Typically, broadcasters have provided well over 75 public service "spots"
per week; 2 they
should endeavor to continue this practice, as community needs dictate.

5. Broadcasters are encouraged to engage in various public service
activities such as telethons,
blood drives, and related activities in order to give assistance to
charitable causes locally and
nationally.

6. In accordance with the educational and democratic functions of
broadcasting, stations
should provide reasonable access to those members of the local community who
wish to
use the airwaves to discuss issues of local concern. Broadcasters should
therefore provide
appropriate coverage of topics of particular concern to the local community.

7. Broadcasters should offer programming that serves the needs of diverse
members of the
local community, including traditionally underserved and disadvantaged
groups. Broadcasters should be sensitive to the diversity of the communities
that they serve and attempt to
fulfill their responsibility to the full range of relevant groups, including
but not limited to
religious, demographic, racial, and ethnic groups.

CONTROVERSIAL PUBLIC ISSUES

1. Television provides a valuable forum for the expression of responsible
views on public
issues of a controversial nature. Television broadcasters should seek out
and develop with
accountable individuals, groups, and organizations, programs relating to
controversial
public issues of importance to fellow citizens and give fair representation
to opposing sides
of issues that materially affect the life or welfare of a substantial
segment of the public.

2. Requests by individuals, groups, or organizations for time to discuss
their views on controversial public issues should be considered seriously
and on the basis of their individual
merits, and in the light of the contribution that the use requested would
make to the public
interest, and to a well-balanced program structure.

3. Broadcasts in which stations express their own opinions about issues of
general public
interest should be clearly identified as editorials. They should be
unmistakably identified as
statements of station opinion and should be appropriately distinguished from
news and
other program material.

4. Stations should give attention to controversial issues of distinctively
local concern.

SPECIAL PROGRAM STANDARDS

1. Anti-social behavior; crime. The treatment of criminal activities should
attempt to
convey their social and human effects. The presentation of techniques of
crime in such
detail as to be instructional or invite imitation should be avoided.

2. Violent materials. Violence, psychological but especially physical,
should be portrayed
responsibly, and not exploitatively. Presentation of violence should avoid
the excessive, the
gratuitous, the humiliating, and the instructional. The use of violence for
its own sake and
the detailed dwelling upon brutality or physical agony, by sight or sound,
should be
avoided. Programs involving violence should venture to present the
consequences to its
victims and perpetrators. Particular care should be exercised where children
may see, or be
involved in, the depiction of violent behavior.

3. Sexual violence. Programs should not present rape, sexual assault, or
sexual violence in an
attractive or exploitative light.

4. Sexually oriented material. Obscenity is not constitutionally protected
speech and is at all
times unacceptable for broadcast. Where significant child audiences are
expected, special
care should be exercised in addressing sexual themes; in particular
children, should not be
depicted as sexual objects for the control and use of others. Consistent
with artistic
freedom, programming that involves sexuality should not be exploitative,
humiliating, or
demeaning. In evaluating programming involving sexuality, broadcasters
should consider
the composition of the audience, the context in which sensitive material is
presented, and
the scheduling of the relevant programming.

5. Self-destructive behavior: drugs; gambling; guns; alcohol.

(1) The use of illegal drugs or the abuse of legal drugs should not be
encouraged or
shown as socially acceptable. Glamorization of addiction, drug use, and
substance use
should be avoided, especially when children are likely to be viewing.

(2) The use of gambling devices or scenes necessary to the development of a
plot or as
appropriate background is acceptable only when presented with discretion and
in
moderation, and in a manner which would not excite interest in, or foster,
unlawful
betting, or be instructional in nature.

(3) Consistent with artistic freedom, the use of guns as instruments of
unlawful violence
should not be glamorized or encouraged.

(4) Consistent with artistic freedom, the use of liquor and the depiction of
smoking in
program content should not be glamorized and should generally be de-
emphasized.
When shown, they should be consistent with plot and character development.

6. Professional advice/diagnosis/treatment. Professional advice, diagnosis,
and treatment
should be presented in conformity with law and recognized professional
standards.

7. Subliminal perception. Any technique whereby an attempt is made to convey
information to the viewer by transmitting messages below the threshold of
normal awareness is not
permitted.

8. Hatred of social groups. Consistent with the commitment to robust public
debate,
stations should not use group-based hatred in an exploitative manner, and
stations should
attempt not to fuel hatred against members of any social group, or to
promote racial,
religious, ethnic, or sexual violence.

9. Humane treatment of animals. The use of animals, consistent with plot and
character
delineation, shall be in conformity with accepted standards of humane
treatment.

10. Game programs; contests. Quiz and similar programs that are presented as
contests of
knowledge, information, skill, or luck must, in fact, be genuine contests;
and the results
must not be controlled by collusion with or between contestants, or by any
other action
which will favor one contestant against any other.

None of these provisions shall be understood or interpreted to restrict
appropriate artistic
freedom or the expression of diverse views on public issues.

RESPONSIBILITY TOWARD INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE DEAF AND HARD OF HEARING

1. Broadcasters should ensure that their programming is responsive to the
needs of citizens
with disabilities. To this end, broadcasters should ensure that programming
is accessible,
through the provision of closed captioning and other means, to the extent
that doing so
does not impose an undue burden on the broadcaster. Particular efforts
should be made to
provide full access to news and public affairs programming.

2. Citizens who are deaf and hard of hearing are sometimes at risk of a form
of disenfranchisement or even physical danger, because steps are not taken
to ensure that television
broadcasting is available to them. Technological means exist to overcome
this problem;
these means are increasingly available and feasible.

3. To the extent that no undue burden is involved, stations should take
special steps to ensure
that information about disasters and emergencies are fully accessible to
those who are deaf
and hard of hearing, including captioning in "real" time.

4. To the extent that no undue burden is involved, stations should attempt
to carry out the
responsibilities described in the preceding sections in such a way as to
ensure as to ensure
reasonable access by those who are deaf and hard of hearing.

REVISIONS AND ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY

1. There shall be a continuing committee entitled the Television Code Board
to be composed
of not more than nine members, all of whom shall be from subscribers to the
Television
Code. These members shall be appointed by the President of the National
Association of
Broadcasters, ensuring reasonable participation by each network and by an
appropriately
diverse range of subscribers.

2. The Television Code Board shall meet twice each year.

3. The Television Code Board is authorized and directed:

(1) To consider and recommend amendments to the television Code;

(2) To provide special recognition of those stations that have provided
excellent public
service in the preceding year;

(3) To consider claims and charges made by the Code Authority General
Manager about
noncompliance with the Code;

(4) To withdraw the NAB seal from any station for continuing or egregious
violations, in
accordance with the provisions below; and

(5) To compile detailed information about compliance with the Code and
public service
activities by television broadcasters, and to make such information
available to the
public.

4. There shall be a position designated as the Code Authority General
Manager. The Code
Authority General Manager is authorized and directed:

(1) To maintain a continuing review of all programming material presented
over television;

(2) To receive, screen, and clear complaints about television programming ,
compliance
with this Code, or amendments to this Code;

(3) To define and interpret words and phrases in this Code;

(4) To develop and maintain appropriate liaison with relevant and
appropriate private and
public institutions;

(5) To inform, promptly and responsibly, any station of complaints and
commendations;

(6) To make recommendations about amendments to this Code;

(7) To provide recommendations for special recognition for excellent public
service in the
preceding year;

(8) To make public all relevant information about compliance and
noncompliance with
this Code and about public services and public interest activities of
broadcasters.

ENFORCEMENT

Compliance with this Code is voluntary, and not mandatory, on the part of
all stations.
Compliance and noncompliance will be treated in the following way:

1. A seal of approval will be given to those who are shown to comply with
its provisions.

2. Special public recognition may be given to those stations that have
compiled an excellent
public service record in the past year. Such recognition may be awarded for,
among other
things:

(1) Meeting the needs of children in a sustained and creative way,

(2) Offering substantive and extended coverage of elections, including
interviews, free air
time, and debates.

(3) Offering substantive and extended coverage of public issues,

(4) Providing outstanding news programming,

(5) Providing opportunities for discussion of problems facing the local
community,

(6) Charitable activities.

3. At the time of license renewal, a notation will be given to the FCC that
there has been
compliance or continuing or egregious noncompliance with the Code. This
notation will
lack any legal force or effect.

4. The Television Code Board shall monitor compliance and report to the
public the names
of complying, noncomplying , and specially commended stations.

5. The Television Code Board should report continuing or egregious
violations of the code
to Congress, the public, and FCC on an ongoing basis. These reports will
lack legal force
and effect.

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