[Peace-discuss] Re: [Peace] Public commentaries on WILL

[Morton K.Brussel]

Great and timely news, Kimberlie!

Thanks to you for your persistent and effective efforts on the behalf 
of the local public.
And thanks to all those at WILL who saw the light and helped to make 
this possible.
And thanks to members of AWARE for their persistent efforts to enable 
local commentary on all subjects on WILL.

Mort Brussel


On Sep 20, 2004, at 3:26 PM, Kranich, Kimberlie wrote:

>
>> Hi, all.
>>
>> On Friday, October 1, WILL-AM 580 will debut a new 3-minute weekly
>> commentary slot for the public called "The Public Square."
>>
>> You will start to hear announcements on AM-580 beginning tomorrow and 
>> you
>> will (hopefully) read about it in area newspapers.
>>
>> This Public Square policy was written, revised and finalized by a team
>> consisting of Dave Dickey, Jim Meadows, Jay Pearce, Tom Rogers, Jack
>> Brighton and me.
>>
>>
>> The policy was also influenced by an earlier commentary policy written
>> last April as well as by numerous conversations with AWARE who 
>> submitted
>> commentaries when we had no formal policy.  Your insistence on a
>> nonrestrictive policy that was listener-driven not WILL-dictated 
>> helped
>> move us forward to where we are now.   It was a growing process that I
>> believe benefits WILL and all of our listeners.  I thank the  WILL 
>> team
>> for their work on this effort and members of AWARE .
>>
>> Please feel free to forward the following policy on to listerves and
>> individuals.  We encourage and welcome folks of all stripes to submit 
>> a
>> commentary.
>>
>> The policy is also on our website under the pull-down menu of the 
>> "Find a
>> WILL program" section on our homepage.
>>
>> Thanks.
>>
>> Kimberlie Kranich
> WILL Outreach Coordinator
>> *******************************************************
>> The Public Square on WILL
>>
>> The Public Square is a weekly, 3-minute opinion piece from any AM-580
>> listener on any subject of interest to him/her.
>>
>> WILL is one of very few broadcasters that provides listeners direct 
>> access
>> to other listeners about issues of importance to them.
>>
>> Part of WILL's mission is to stimulate discussion of public issues by
>> providing forums for the exchange of ideas and information. WILL radio
>> does this daily with our call-in programs.
>>
>> The Public Square is an extension of this service that allows the 
>> listener
>> to pick the topic s/he would like other listeners to pay attention to.
>> This allowance is consistent with our mission to satisfy the needs of 
>> the
>> audience we serve rather than our own needs as broadcasters or the 
>> needs
>> of our licensee. Our stations are operated as a public trust.
>>
>> Similar to the public comment section of city council and school board
>> meetings  broadcast on cable stations, The Public Square is both an
>> outreach and broadcast program that gives a direct voice to our 
>> listeners
>> and stimulates discussion.
>>
>> The Public Square Broadcast Days and Times
>>
>> The Public Square airs at 4:45pm on Fridays with repeats at 6:45pm on
>> Fridays and  10:59am on Saturdays.  The Public Square commentaries
>> submissions are also archived on WILL's website.
>>
>> Procedure for Submitting Public Square Commentaries:
>>
>> AM-580 listeners will submit their commentary first in writing.  The
>> submission must also include the commentator's and/or organization's 
>> name
>> that the commentator is representing; the commentator's address, phone
>> number, and email; and a one-to-three-sentence self-description of the
>> commentator and/or organization submitting the commentary.
>>
>> There are three ways to submit commentaries:
>>
>> 1)	The Public Square, c/oWILL, 300 N. Goodwin Ave., Urbana, IL 61801
>> 2)	publicsquare at will.uiuc.edu
>> 3)	Via the WILL website, will.uiuc.edu, look for The Public Square in
>> the pull down menu on our home page under "Find a WILL program."
>>
>> Commentators should submit their work by 5pm on Monday for 
>> consideration
>> for broadcast the Friday of the same week.
>>
>> All commentaries will be limited in length to 3:00 minutes (roughly 
>> 300
>> words) and must refrain from ad hominem attacks. Commentaries that 
>> exceed
>> 300 words will be edited for length.
>>
>> Recording The Public Square
>>
>> Commentaries will be recorded at the WILL studio or over the 
>> telephone,
>> whichever is most convenient for the commentator, at 10am on 
>> Thursdays.
>> When a Thursday is also a holiday, other recording arrangements may be
>> made.
>>
>> Keeping the Public Square Open to Everyone
>>
>> WILL wants to encourage a diversity of opinions in the Public Square 
>> and
>> will air up to 52 original Public Square commentaries a year -- one 
>> each
>> week.   Views of organizations or individuals may appear on the Public
>> Square up to six times a year.   Sixty days must pass between 
>> commentaries
>> from the same organization or individual.  Individuals writing on 
>> behalf
>> of an organization count against both the organization and individual
>> annual allotments.
>>
>> Criteria for Selecting Public Square Commentaries for Broadcast:
>>
>> Our criteria are simple.  The Public Square is open to any individual 
>> or
>> organization that would like to submit a commentary.  We accept 
>> opinions
>> of all types except those that contain ad hominem attacks.
>>
>> There may be instances when WILL receives more commentaries in a given
>> month than the total number of available slots.  When this happens, 
>> WILL
>> will use the following criteria to select commentaries to air:
>>
>> 1)	Is this a commentary from an individual or an organization we have
>> not heard from before?  More weight will be given to submissions from
>> people and organizations not previously heard from.
>> 2)	Is this commentary time sensitive?  More weight will be given to
>> commentaries that contain timely opinions.
>> 3)	Is this opinion unique or has the opinion expressed already been
>> expressed in another commentary?  WILL accepts submissions from more 
>> than
>> one listener or organization on the same topic as long as it furthers 
>> the
>> discussion.
>> 4)	Were the submission guidelines followed?
>>
>> Commentaries that are not aired based on the above criteria, may be
>> considered the following month.  All submissions will be archived on 
>> our
>> website, except those containing ad hominem attacks.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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