The U.S. Constitution figures prominently in just about any discussion of public-access TV.
"The First Amendment is a wonderful thing, and everybody's for it -- until somebody says something they don't like," observes David Vogel, longtime general manager of Community TV of Knoxville.
Vogel leads workshops for public-access station managers and community members on how to "achieve a balance " -- as his station's written guidelines put it -- "between the First Amendment right to free speech and cable viewers' right to be protected from unwanted viewing of offensive material."
"The major issue is that you cannot stop speech just because you don't like it," says Vogel. "It must be judged and seen by a court, by a jury that has found [it] in violation of the law. In 27 years [running our channel], we have never had anything fall into that category. We've had programming that people find offensive or in poor taste. But that does not make it legally obscene" under state and federal law, he explains.
"The station manager is actually forbidden by FCC law to dictate what goes on the [air] and what doesn't," Asheville Public Access Commission member Mark Goldstein points out. A public-access station must accept -- and air -- any tape that's submitted. (The law does ban obscenity, but it can be difficult to determine what is legally obscene -- and stations can be sued if banned material is found not to be obscene.)
The station manager, however, is free to decide when and how often to show such programming. If a tape is thought to contain obscene or libelous material, most PATV stations will broadcast it between midnight and 4 a.m., when young viewers are likely to be fast asleep. What's more, the station has to air submitted material only once. After that, if a complaint is lodged, it's up to the local district attorney or state attorney general to decide whether to take the program's creators to court. Of the 88 weekly series Vogel's station now broadcasts, only one is running in the late-night slot.
The overwhelming majority of programming content nationwide, asserts Goldstein, "is clean content, with no issue of this kind" -- a point often overlooked in discussions of obscene programs that grab headlines.
And both men maintain that well-written policies and guidelines will protect stations and their communities from the tiny percentage of genuinely offensive programs. Before a program can get on the air in Knoxville, the producers must fill out a "POP" (potentially offensive programming) form that asks detailed questions about whether the content is graphic, abusive to ethnic or religious groups, violent, etc. If the station's board later determines that the producers lied in filling out the form, the board can deny them future access to the station. (According to Public Access Commission Chair Beth Lazer, the Asheville-Buncombe channel is considering adopting a similar policy.)
"We went through a period a couple of years ago when we had partial nudity and things that people were objecting to -- one county commissioner in particular," Vogel recounts. The controversy -- which led to the POP policy -- centered on a tape of "Fetish Night" at a local bar that showed people being voluntarily cut on their backs. "We are over 40 percent religious programming, and that is everything from Muslim to the Catholic Church to Baptists to small fundamentalist religions. During that entire time, not one religious producer objected. And that is because they understand that in order for them to have their right to speak, everybody must have the right to speak," Vogel concludes.
He also points out that 30 percent of his station's work is with local nonprofit groups. "We have the Nature Center, we have the Medical Auxiliary, we have the Sertoma Youth Center ... you name it. We are a resource especially for very small nonprofits with very small budgets, who can come in for $24 [a year] and do a weekly television program. ... We are the way their message gets out."
"Having a public-access station is a real opportunity for our community," emphasizes Goldstein. "But there's also a measure of trust and faith that we have to have in the community to have a tool like this. We have to have the faith that if something is shown that is offensive or negative, that we're strong enough as a community to address it."
Goldstein served on the board of a PATV station in Somerville, Mass. -- an artists' community he says is very similar to Asheville, with a racially and culturally diverse population.
"It was rare that there was something hateful. But I can remember that when it did happen, that one hateful program was followed by weeks of programs that were positive -- [shows] that people put on because they were so outraged by that one hate program."
So why would anyone have a problem with allowing local pagans, peace marchers, political watchdogs and even KKK members the same freedom to access the airways as our preachers, politicians and nonprofits?
"I personally think the issue isn't as much what those people are saying as the fact that those people live in our community," muses Vogel. "Now, we [in Knoxville] take nothing from the outside. Everything you see on our channel is produced by people who live here. ... So, when somebody sees something that's offensive, the overriding issue is, 'These people with these offensive viewpoints could live down the street, or could shop at the same market I shop at.' People tend to go on their merry little ways in their life, thinking that the whole world is like them. ... People do not want to admit that other people with other viewpoints live in the community. [But] that is reality."
Goldstein feels the same way about the Asheville/Buncombe community. "Particularly after what happened with 9-11, our freedom of speech is one of our most valued rights," he argues. "There's been so little [public] discussion of that. There's been much more discussion about 'what if' -- you know, 'What if somebody says the wrong thing, or what if people I don't like say something?' In my mind, that's one of the hazards of living in a democracy. If you want to go and live under a dictatorship, then you won't have to worry -- you'll never hear anything objectionable. But this is America, and we all need to support an effort like this, because this is what makes America America. ...
"I've been a little bit disappointed that some of our community leaders have not come out and fought for access on those grounds, and have instead chosen to say 'what if.' I don't know about those leaders, but I love it in Asheville. I chose to live here because there's good people here who have good things to say."
-- Steve Rasmussen