Urbana Public Television Commission Meeting

URBANA PUBLIC TELEVISION COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES Date: Sept 12, 2014, 12:00pm Place: Urbana City Council Chambers 400 S. Vine Street, Urbana, IL Members Present: Peter Folk; Chris Fuller; Dale Sinder; Dana Mancuso; Andrew Wadsworth Members Absent: Carol Inskeep; Marie Polk Staff Present: Jason Liggett; Jake Schumacher I. CALL TO ORDER Chair Folk called the meeting to order at 12:03pm. II. ROLL CALL Attendance was noted. Carol Inskeep and Marie Polk had notified staff they would not be able to make the meeting. III. MODIFICATIONS TO AND APPROVAL OF AGENDA Jake reported two additional communications from the Legal Department that were not on the agenda; it was decided to keep them under Correspondence. IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The minutes of the July 11, 2014 special meeting were unanimously approved, noting one typo. V. CORRESPONDENCE An Urbana resident contacted the City about a locally-produced show that was in her opinion objectionable. In response to her concern, staff clarified to the citizen that the program was a public access production and not a City production, and that we have now in response to her comments added a content flag to programs available on UPTV’s YouTube channel which might contain adult content. Any question or complaints are always welcome to be brought to the attention of UPTV. Correspondence from the City’s Legal Department said that home addresses of individuals addressing Commission can no longer be required. There was also correspondence concerning the need for Page 1 of 3  each Commission to adopt public input policies. A press release on UPTV’s latest award was also included. Commissioner Folk recounted the current practices of the Commission regarding audience participation, to wit: it is included as Item VII, to follow the Staff Report, on each agenda; speakers are given five minutes of uninterrupted time, and may request additional time, which the Commission may or may not grant. This will need to be placed on the agenda of the next regularly-scheduled meeting, to be officially adopted by the Commission. The position of input on the agenda was discussed with no recommendation for changing it, as well as other items on the list provided by the Legal Department. Jake will draw up the recommendations of the Commission, have it approved by the Chair, and then post it along with the agenda of the next regularly- scheduled meeting. VI. STAFF REPORT Jake mentioned again that UPTV had won its first national awards from the Alliance for Community Media, and had now collected the hardware. With the support of the members who produce AWARE On the AIR, UPTV was able to attend and record the Steven Salaita press conference. It received more than 7,000 views in the first 24 hours it was posted, more than twice any response UPTV has had to a recording, and footage was used with an on-screen credit to UPTV by the national news program “Democracy Now!”. UPTV was the only media outlet to make the full press conference available for public viewing. We have passed 1,350 tweets, with 358 followers on Twitter. UHS sports have returned to the air with one game a week aired Saturday and Wednesday evenings. A new monthly production, “It’s All About U”, has been added as another regular staff production. Jason produced several other pieces about city events. The station increased the frequency of broadcast of its public safety pieces on bicycling and safe routes to schools to alert newcomers to the community to these issues. A teleplay by Dr. Rev. Eugene Barnes is airing, as well as WPGU’s Illini Drive’s return to the air, and a member-produced program featuring the Westville Labor Day Parade. A new national series called “Girl’s Talk TV” aimed at empowering young women is now airing. Staff met with the promotional staff assisting City Arborist Mike Brunk to discuss the various means of publicizing the new Legacy Tree program. A highlights reel from the past quarter was shown. Page 2 of 3 VII. AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION There was none. VIII. UNFINISHED BUSINESS With the final pieces of the current FY budget now in place, the first draft of the proposed Policies and Procedures revisions will be presented to the membership at the annual meeting on December 6th. It is staff’s intent to continue to address any policy or procedure changes at that meeting on an annual basis. IX. NEW BUSINESS New Commissioner Andrew Wadsworth introduced himself and was welcomed. Equipment purchase included a Canon camera replacing a staff camera used primarily for our governmental productions, and a compact flash card used in our broadcast server. Staff is currently evaluating a replacement system for the aging server; Jason was able to test-drive all the available options while attending the ACM national conference. The Commissioner asked whether UPTV had a steadi-cam. We don’t but it has been mentioned several times as a possibility. X. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS Commissioner Fuller talked about recent developments in USD#116, including a projected cooking show involving both students and staff. X. SET THE NEXT MEETING DATE AND ADJOURNMENT The next regular meeting was announced for December 12 at 12 noon in the Urbana City Council Chambers. The meeting was adjourned by unanimous vote. Page 3 of 3