Encouraging the City to Study the Feasibility of Implementing a Local Public Polling System (2)

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The Basic Idea "Talk of the Town" (working title) will be a regular on-going "discussion /talk" program on the public access channel, MATV channel 99, and video steaming on the internet. At its start, TT could be regularly scheduled in prime viewing time, once per week for two hours. After a trial period, it is anticipated that TT would evolve to a daily one-hour program. Further growth could come with a second daily time period, perhaps in the morning or afternoon. Time periods could also be expanded. Each show could consist of half-hour topic"blocks." A host/moderator and citizen commentators would be in-studio to discuss the topic. Viewers will have an opportunity to telephone or e-mail questions to the host. A means to poll viewers and tally results is targeted for the future. Guest commentators for each topic would be rotated. "Talk of the Town"would intend to have all perspectives of an issue represented. The studio technology would be designed for simple operation. Rather than a full production crew operating cameras and staffing the control room, the TT studio would be outfitted with multiple, inexpensive robotic cameras controlled and operated by the host. Additional staffing would be required to screen telephone calls. The "character"of the studio would be preserved to give the feel of a talk show environment. Organizational Structure MPBC recommends that a separate non-profit entity be established for administrative structure, operations and accountability. Perhaps the original Public Access Consortium that advocated for the reinstatement of the channel could form the core group? This committee would appoint an Executive Producer and establish an Editorial Committee. The Executive Producer would select the host/moderators, guests, and provide all coordination. The Editorial Committee would monitor content and research and establish topics for discussion. The overriding objective of"Talk of the Town" is to provide an outlet for a diverse range of opinion, with representation of all races, genders, and ages. This program becomes the public's media platform. TT would be totally operated by the new entity. MPBC would only provide support services, as it does for MATV, and remain content neutral. All editorial direction must come from the citizen committee. Potential to be on WNIT Although MPBC keeps MATV operations and programming totally separate from WNIT/PBS programming, MPBC would consider a variation of TT as a weekly feature on WNIT if the program is successful and we determine it benefits the civil discourse of community issues. The program may also have the potential of carriage by a radio station.