WNC Media Center launches new website, posts public records

In an email sent out to subscribers, the WNC Media Center—home of public-access TV station URTV—announced the launch of a new website that includes its public records. The “Public Records” section of the site includes Annual Reports from 2007 to 2009 and Board Meeting minutes that date back from March 2010 to January 2006. The launch comes in the wake of a recent internal audit by Buncombe County that found that the station “failed to adequately understand and comply with open meeting laws.”

In the email announcement, Operations Manager Jonathon Czarny writes that the documents were added to the site “to provide quick and easy access to all public records of the Media Center.” Czarny also notes that the “public records have always been available at the Media Center, the city and even county buildings; but now they are on the website as well.”

The website also features a new blog, as well as a new tab for organizing its calendar of advanced workshops. The center plans to offer several workshops in coming months, including a new one called “Sponsorships 101” that aims to help producers find funding for their projects.

— Jake Frankel, staff writer

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About Jake Frankel
Jake Frankel is an award-winning journalist who enjoys covering a wide range of topics, from politics and government to business, education and entertainment.

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6 thoughts on “WNC Media Center launches new website, posts public records

  1. Oh, goodie. They’ve published incomplete scribbles from meetings past. How gracious and transparent everyone has become now. Let’s give ’em money.
    ………………………..

  2. Jimbo

    Wow. Bitter much? Those guys have a lot to learn about public relations and appearance of transparency, but faulting them for this just shows the true colors of angry children who want to steal the toys to play with in their room.

    How long ’til the ever verbose Ms. Dial pops in to tell us all why this is a bad thing?

    The interesting thing is that if any of the “my way or the highway”, or “I’m smarter and more creative than you” crowds in this community ever actually worked together on anything, instead of sniping at each other for ego sake, Asheville might actually have a fighting chance of resembling the creative, innovative, artsy, funky, insert your cliche here city everyone pretends it to be. The only real claim to fame Asheville has is the over-inflated self esteem capital of the southeast.

  3. “How long ‘til the ever verbose Ms. Dial pops in to tell us all why this is a bad thing? “

    Jimbo, I believe you’ve missed the point of my “ever verbose comments”. The point is and has been, it’s downright ludicrous that we’ve had to wage this (nigh on) 2 year battle to pressure public access to be transparent. After all, it’s public access for gosh sake…it’s original intent was for openness, transparency and a soapbox for everyman, as opposed to tightly controlled main stream media. The big question is WHY?????

    http://www.fcat12.org/home/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=58:what-is-community-access-television&catid=41:what&Itemid=76

  4. Barry Summers

    “insert your cliche here city”

    I believe that was an early draft, but they eventually tweaked it to:

    “Asheville – Anyway You Like It”

  5. Secret Service

    “it’s downright ludicrous that we’ve had to wage this (nigh on) 2 year battle to pressure public access to be transparent. After all, it’s public access for gosh sake…”

    ——————————————–
    See, here’s where you and the other four sour grapes folks get it wrong: The CHANNEL is public access. The CHANNEL is where everyman can have his first amendment soapbox. The CHANNEL is open to everyone.

    In every story ran by the Mountain X, the openness of the CHANNEL to everyone has NEVER come into question. I challenge you to find an article proving otherwise. Here’s one that proves my point.

    http://www.mountainx.com/ae/2009/101409you_make_it_they_air_it

    ———————————————-

    I do agree that your 2 year hissy-fit is LUDICROUS, especially considering this little gem:

    “Czarny also notes that the ‘public records have always been available at the Media Center, the city and even county buildings; but now they are on the website as well.'”

    Are you telling me that you were just too stubborn to go to the Media Center and ask for them? This revelation kills your claims of transparency issues, beacuse the documents HAVE ALWAYS BEEN AVAILABLE AT THE MEDIA CENTER.

    Your beef has always been about whether or not you can video tape the Board Meetings, and that’s all. You’ve been video taping the meetings for almost two years now, right?

    So if the Board Meetings are open to the public AND the minutes have ALWAYS been available to the public AND the Annual Reports have ALWAYS been available to the public AND you’ve been taping the board meetings for almost two years, what’s your REAL agenda here?

    Orly Taits was recently fined $20,000 by the court system for her LUDICROUS pursuit to disprove President Obama’s citizenship and wasting the court’s time. Sounds like we need a little justice here in WNC.

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