- BOSTON (AP) - A federal court
has ruled that nonprofessional news gatherers have the same rights as
professionals,
supporting a community gadfly who claimed she was muzzled by a public
access
cable company.
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- It is the first ruling of its kind, said the American
Civil Liberties Union, which represented plaintiff Patricia Demarest in
her fight with Athol/Orange Community Television.
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- "It will open so many more doors for common citizens
to use public access as a public forum and a place to speak their
minds,"
said Demarest, co-producer of the program "Think Tank
2000."
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- "It's a fight for any common citizen to bring forth
ideas and generate healthy communities."
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- Demarest used the program to accuse local officials in
the central Massachusetts town of Athol of conflicts of interest.
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- But after she broadcast the grilling she gave one
official,
she was suspended by the cable company, whose board is appointed by the
city. The company also changed its rules to ban controversial programming,
requiring broadcasters to get written permission from anyone they
portrayed.
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- Last week, however, U.S. District Judge Michael Ponsor
in Springfield ruled that such shows constitute a "public forum"
and have First Amendment protection.
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- AOTV lawyer Peter Epstein said he had not read the
verdict
and could not comment.
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- The cable company said after several controversial
broadcasts
in 2000 that the regulation requiring written consent was necessary to
prevent unfair coverage.
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- The ACLU argued that would prevent coverage of any public
official.
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- Cable access provides the same opportunity to share ideas
as printed leaflets and soap boxes did in the past, said Bill Newman,
director
of the western Massachusetts chapter of the ACLU.
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- "Citizen producers of shows are entitled to the
same First Amendment protections as producers of shows for large media
outlets," Newman said.
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- The judge essentially agreed, writing that the
requirement
"made news makers news editors. By refusing to sign a release form,
Athol's news makers could ensure that their images did not appear on
AOTV."
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- Ponsor also struck down an AOTV rule that prohibits
broadcasters
from showing illegal acts. Such a requirement, he said, would have
prevented
the broadcast of "some of the most important moments in American
history,"
including footage of the Bloody Sunday attack on civil rights marchers
in Selma, Ala.
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- Copyright 2002 The Associated Press.
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