Requirements of the Community
Advisory Boards (CABs) by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB)
A brief summary of the materials available at the CPB
website and abstracted below:
The Community Advisory Board meets regularly, has meetings open to the
public, and makes its minutes public, for example on the station's
website. Notice for its meetings is well
publicized in advance and is sent to anyone known to have an interest in
attending. Notice is to be given on air,
on the website, in the newspapers, by email to those interested…
The membership of the CAB represents the diverse needs and interests of
the listening community. It reviews the
station's programming, community service, and impact on the community, and
whether the station is meeting the educational and cultural need of the
community.
It is intended to provide the
public the opportunity to be heard on station programming, community service
and impact on the community of major policy decisions – that is, to provide a vehicle for effective
community input.
The station is to document the
existence of the community advisory board, the mechanism used to determine its
composition, organization, schedule of meetings and attendance records, the procedure for open meetings, the method
used to give reasonable notice to the public, examples of notices of open
meetings, examples of statements of explanation for closed meetings, and other
information indicating community response, if any, to the open meetings, the role that it plays with respect to the
station, and its position relative to the organization of the station.
Each station is encouraged to
fashion its own maximum involvement of the community beyond the minimum
requirements. It is CPB's position that only through
enthusiastic and vigorous efforts can the intent of the Congress, as reflected
in the law, be fully realized.
Extracts below are copied and pasted from CPB
materials at
http://www.cpb.org/stations/certification/cert3.html
http://www.cpb.org/stations/certification/cert1.html
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its advisory board meets at regular intervals
The board should be reasonably representative of the diverse
needs and interests of the communities served by the station.
holds open meetings preceded by reasonable notice
to the public. All persons shall be permitted to attend any meeting of the
board, or of any such committee or body…
The purpose of the
advisory board is to provide a vehicle for effective community input to the
station's governing body about station programming, community service and
impact on the community from the station's major policy decisions. Congress
believed that the establishment of community advisory boards would assist the
stations to develop programs and policies that address the specific needs of
the communities that they endeavor to serve.
The advisory board
is intended to provide the public the opportunity to be heard on station
programming, community service and impact on the community of major policy
decisions. All stations are encouraged to establish whatever mechanisms will be
most effective, under local circumstances, to accomplish this congressionally
established goal.
Each station is
encouraged to fashion its own maximum involvement of the community beyond the
minimum requirements. It is CPB's position that only
through enthusiastic and vigorous efforts can the intent of the Congress, as
reflected in the law, be fully realized. Therefore, CPB recommends that
stations make copies of the minutes of all open meetings available to the
public on the station Web site, by mail, or at the station's office upon
request.
The board shall be
permitted to review the programming goals established by the station, the
service provided by the station, and the significant policy decisions rendered
by the station. … The board
shall advise the governing body of the station with respect to whether the
programming and other policies of such station are meeting the specialized
educational and cultural needs of the communities served by the station,
and may make such recommendations as it considers appropriate to meet such
needs.
all meetings that are required to be open to the
public must also be preceded by "reasonable notice to the public." "Reasonable notice" normally means
notice that is both reasonably expected to inform and appropriate to the
purpose of the notice. Notice should be directed toward those individuals who
could be reasonably expected to have an interest in attending the meeting.
Notice should also be given in a manner that could be expected to reach such
individuals.
PBS, NPR (or their successor organizations) and any licensee
or permittee of a public broadcasting station must --
1. Open the meetings of its governing
body and any committee of its governing body to the public;
2. Open the meetings of its community
advisory board or any advisory body of the governing board to the public;
3. Give reasonable notice to the
public of the fact, time and place of an open meeting at least one week (7
days) in advance of the scheduled date of an open meeting;
4. Allow all persons to attend any open meeting of the board, committee
or advisory board, without requiring, as a condition of attendance, that the
person register or provide such person's name or any other information, except
as would be reasonably required to maintain a safe meeting environment;
Minimum compliance
for "reasonable notice" requires that:
1. Notice is placed in the "Legal Notices" or the radio and
television schedules section of a local newspaper in general circulation in the
station's coverage area; or, notice is available through a recorded
announcement that is accessible on the station's phone system; or, notice is
available through an announcement that is accessible on the station's Web page;
and
2. Notice is communicated by letter,
e-mail, fax, phone, or in person to any individuals who have specifically
requested to be notified; and
3. The station makes on-air
announcements on at least three consecutive days once during each calendar
quarter that explain the station's open meeting policy and provide information
about how the public can obtain information regarding specific dates, times, and
locations.
Each recipient of a
CPB station grant… shall develop documentation indicating the manner of
compliance with this requirement. This documentation shall contain
information that will indicate, for example, the recognition of the open
meeting provision by the relevant boards and committees, the procedure for open
meetings, the method used to give reasonable notice to the public, examples of
notices of open meetings, examples of statements of explanation for closed
meetings, and other information indicating community response, if any, to the
open meetings…The documentation shall
be kept at a reasonable location by each station…
Each community-licensed station …is to develop documentation
indicating the manner of compliance with this requirement. This documentation shall indicate, for
example, the existence of a community advisory board, the mechanism used to
determine its composition, organization, schedule of meetings and attendance
records, the role that it plays with respect to the station, and its position
relative to the organization of the station. Continued documentation of the
activities of the advisory board is also encouraged.