Proposed Public-Access TV Curbs Argued in Orange

An overflow crowd of about 75 people attended a City Council meeting Wednesday to discuss proposals to regulate programming on the city’s public-access channel on cable television.

The proposed regulations would allow restrictions on some programming. For example, a cable operator would be able to reject programs if they are judged to be obscene or if they are of a commercial nature.

The channel is controversial because it includes a gay-oriented soap opera and a news show. One resident, Lois Barke, questioned whether the city should have a public-access channel at all.

“Do we have to have a public-access channel, and, if so, are we willing to go to court and spend the money we may have to, to defend our choices?” Barke asked the council and members of the Community Video Advisory Board.

But some people at the meeting said the proposed restrictions were tantamount to censorship.

“We have a problem of censorship by minority,” Mack Schneider commented.

Others supported cable access as a forum for a diversity of ideas and expression, such as those represented by the Orange County-based Spectrum News Network, the gay-oriented news program that Barke complained about.

About five speakers defended public access, while three others voiced concerns about specific programs.

“The gay-lesbian community is part of Orange, and when you’re talking about responsible programming, that means representing the entire community,” resident Tom Fulton said.

The strongest retort to accusations of censorship came from Ben Pruett, the cable board’s acting president.

“We won’t be censoring programs,” he said. “Our intent is to provide a responsible process by which (public-access program) producers’ needs are represented and the interests of the citizens of Orange are represented.”

The council has not yet scheduled a vote on the issue.