CALLING ALL NEWSROOMS! ACCESS TO DPS RECORDS--WE NEED TO HEAR FROM YOU
At a recent Iowa Freedom of Information meeting with IA Dept. of Public Safety Commissioner Kevin Techau, Commissioner Techau agreed to rewrite the agency's paper incident forms to provide more information from Iowa troopers. He also agreed to meet again with the Iowa FOI Council to discuss problem areas needing to be addressed to ensure access to information. Techau , the state ombudsman's office, and the state Legislature, want to know if getting reports on traffic accidents or other information from state troopers is a statewide problem…While there have been anecdotal reports from broadcasters throughout the state…we now need specific reports of instances where, for example, troopers have refused to give out information. If your Newsroom has had ANY difficulty getting access to reports from area troopers, please let the Iowa FOI Council know ASAP. This is a tremendous opportunity to try and improve the situation…but we need your help and input in order to do so. Please e-mail this information to FOI Executive Secretary Kathleen Richardson at Kathleen.Richardson@drake.edu. Thanks for your help.
NEW OPEN RECORDS HANDBOOK AVAILABLE
The 11th edition of the Iowa FOI Council's Open Meetings/Open Records Handbook is now available. The book includes texts of Iowa's access laws -- Chapter 21 & 22 of the Iowa Code -- plus frequently asked questions about the law, Iowa Supreme Court decisions and AG opinions. IBA has mailed copies of the handbook to all Iowa News Directors.
2005 SCHOLARSHIP PROMOS
Watch your mail --2005 Q-Mac/IBA Broadcast Scholarship will be sent out shortly. IBA is offering five broadcast scholarships worth up to $3,000 a year, to qualified Iowa students interested in a radio/television career. The IBA scholarship program is fully funded and administered through our charitable foundation - the Quarton-McElroy/IBA Endowment Fund. Scholarships are available to Iowa high school seniors and college students, and may be used at an Iowa two-year or four-year college / university to pursue an education in broadcasting. Application forms are available online at www.iowabroadcasters.com, or from the IBA office.
RAB SALES TRAINING REMINDER
RAB's 3-day Radio Sales Training Academy is coming to Des Moines February 28 - March 2 with two separate sales programs. Through the support of the Q-Mac/IBA Endowment Fund, IBA is offering all dues paying members a $300.00 per student discount for the first 40 students who register! Multiple student discounts and RAB member discounts are also available to participating stations. For registration information, contact Bob Lawrence at the RAB, 888-276-2729 or blawrence @rab.com.
HOUSE PANEL MARKS UP INDECENCY BILL
The House Energy and Commerce Committee has marked-up H.R. 310, the "Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act." The bill, authored by House Telecom Subcommittee Chair Fred Upton, is all but identical to the indecency legislation the House passed last March. You will recall that bill would: 1). Increase the maximum fine for an indecent broadcast to $500,000 per violation. 2). Implement a "three strikes" rule. 3). Express a non-binding "sense of Congress" that the industry should adopt a code of conduct. 4). Make it easier for the FCC to fine non-licensees (i.e. talent and artists) and 5). Require the GAO to study the relationship between media consolidation and indecency. Positively, the Upton legislation does include "culpability" provisions requiring the FCC to take into account market size, station size and the ability to pay. The bill also includes measures to indemnify TV affiliates in certain instances where the offending programming comes from the networks.
IBA CALLS ON CONGRESS
From February 27-March 2 IBA board members will be in Washington calling on Congress and attending this year's NAB State Leadership Conference, where legislative and regulatory issues are the focus. On March 2nd they will go to Capitol Hill to meet with Iowa's Congressional Delegation. IBA continues to make these Congressional meetings a top priority behalf of all Iowa broadcasters.
EAS SUMMIT
State Emergency Communications Committee Chairs Joe Schloss and Jim Davies will be attending a nationwide EAS Summit on behalf of IBA February 26th in Washington, DC. The summit is intended to be a pro-active effort by broadcast leaders to review problems and work to improve America's Emergency Alert System.
MID-WINTER MEETING
Over 130 broadcasters attended the January 27th Mid-Winter Meeting and Sales Seminar in West Des Moines. Thanks to all who helped make the day such as success!
