Privatizer SF Community TV CEO Zane Blaney Warns That Community Access May Shutdown

This is a bogus statement. The cable owners are taking away money....

"The policies of Blaney and his rubber stamp board hand picked by him has driven community access producers off the station and his agenda has been to turn the station into a operation for non-profits. This has left no money and driven away community and labor support"

It has nothing to do with Blaney.(period)
I think the poster or reposter should consider this:
That station has remained open despite repeated threats of shutdown by politicians and cable operators, and to boot it is now two channels. Not Just One, But Two. That is an accomplishment my friends.
What is a real shame is that the so-called community access producers complain about a organization/public access station that is one of San Francisco's best kept secrets. It is not only a clearing house for all information related to broadcasting and the internet, it is an enabler for those who wish to show the world their talents, share their plights, or just tell their stories.

It is ONE of a kind, and so are the people who run it and work there....

If you don't USE it you WILL lose it....

What nonsense from access bully and mobber Steve Zeltzer. Steve suffers from compulsive lying. The policies of the board have nothing to do with the cutbacks in funding or producers coming and going from access and he knows it. Steve's view of access is that his voice is more important than anyone else's including nonprofits and no one else should have access to time slots, production resources and channel time. Bully Steve is responsible for driving people away from access and killing labor support for it. When access is dead in SF it will be as much the fault of SZ as it is the the policy makers at City Hall, the State Legislature and Congress.

From: "AccessSF Main Desk"
Reply-To:
Date: Wed, 25 Jan 2006 18:25:45 -0800
Subject: Terminated Employee


AccessSF Main Desk
Terminated Employee


Dear Access SF Producers and Volunteers:

I am sorry to have to trouble you with this email, but unfortunately I
need to make a brief statement regarding a recent development at the
station.

As many of you are aware (because many of you have been receiving emails
about it), one of our staff was recently terminated. We would not
ordinarily comment publicly on such personnel matters out of respect of
privacy for the individual involved. Per standard business practices,
personnel matters are always a confidential matter.

In this case, however, the individual has chosen to be very public about
his termination though his sending of unsolicited emails, public websites,
etc. And in this process, he has made many unfounded and untrue
accusations regarding his termination, and other matters. We are not
going to respond directly point-by-point to his many issues. We will,
however, be sending out information that helps clarify a number of issues
about our general operating policies and procedures, separately.

We regret this former employee has tried to drag everyone into this with
or without their permission. We share the concern numerous individuals
have made to us about his use of annoying emails, and we simply wanted to
make a brief statement on record that what he is claiming about his
termination and other operational issues are simply untrue.

Thank you,

Zane Blaney,
Executive Director

Zane Blaney, Executive Director
San Francisco Community Television Corporation (CTC)
Access San Francisco, Cable Channel 29
415-575-4943 - Direct
415-575-4945 - FAX
zane [at] accessf.org


Response to Zane and Marc's Emails This Evening
The Lone Liberal
Dear Access SF Producers and Volunteers:

Did you all get this evening's letter from Zane about me where he states "what he is claiming about his termination and other operational issues are simply untrue"? He further states "We are not going to respond directly point-by-point to his many issues. We will, however, be sending out information that helps clarify a number of issues about our general operating policies and procedures, separately."

I urge you all to call his bluff. I had been urging Zane to communicate with producers and volunteers about his operating procedures since I started working there, but he saw no reason to do so because he didn't want to explain himself. He said he and the SFCTC Board of Directors had a public meeting with producers a few years ago and the audience was so hostile he did not want to repeat the experience. Zane opened his note this evening with "I am sorry to have to trouble you with this", when what he really means is that he is sorry all of us have troubled him.

Please continue to demand answers from Zane and the SFCTC Board of Directors, and use the San Francisco Sunshine Ordinance to gain access to the documents that will show you where the truth lies. Let their own documents speak for themselves, like with this evening's "Upstream" newsletter.

Here I am at home writing an article on SFCTC's so-called "Development Effort" and Marc Smolowitz's "Upstream" newsletter beats me to the punch. Here's a quote from the newsletter that spells it all out, followed by a solicitation (i.e., commercial content) to attend a for-profit seminar.
"Access SF is pleased to welcome local equipment purveyor ***** in to the station's growing community of business underwriters. As part of a multi-year plan to help fund public access operations, in 2005 the station launched a first of its kind effort to engage local businesses and philanthropy as supporters through a PBS style underwriting program"
This solicitation is right up-front at the beginning of the newsletter complete with the *****'s logo, just as you can expect to see so-called underwriter credits for ***** during the interstitials between programs. So in those few seconds between shows, where you hope to see the program schedule, notices of timeslot changes, and public service announcements, you will see more and more commercial underwriter credits.

Go to the Access SF web site page http://www.accessf.org/underwriting_sponsorship.html and see what they're selling and what it'll cost you if you could only afford it.

In the article I'm still writing, I will make a case that the money coming in from this "Development Effort" pales to the expenses, time, and labor devoted towards the effort. Documentation obtained via the San Francisco Sunshine Ordinance will prove the case one way or the other. That's the real reason I was banned from the Access SF premises, so I couldn't request the documents as per the Sunshine Ordinance.

What Access SF needs is some real oversight of Zane's mismanagement. Read my public testimony to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and other articles on my Reform Access SF web site (http://www.theloneliberal.info/ReformAccessSF/).

--
The Lone Liberal Mailto:Michael_Faklis [at] TheLoneLiberal.info
(a.k.a., Michael Faklis) Phone: (415) 614-9102
1221 Jones Street, #7C Pager: (415) 378-9461
San Francisco, California 94109-4238 Http://www.TheLoneLiberal.info/

To Access SF Producers, Volunteers, Staff, and Board of Directors:

Well, I guess Zane missed that mandatory de-escalation training session yesterday afternoon, or he confuses de-escalation with lowering himself. I arrived at Access SF this evening as a volunteer to direct Movie Close-Up. Zane met me in the lobby and asked for a meeting, and I told him I wasn't there to meet with him, but to volunteer on a show. Zane blocked the doorway to the main studio control room and handed me a letter. He told me that effective immediately, I was banned from the studio and that if I didn't leave or if I returned I would be trespassing. How low will this person go to stifle dissenting opinions?

After reading the letter, I wonder if there is a limit to his abuse of authority. In his letter he (falsely) accuses me of "having violated various policies related to theft and/or misuse of confidential or otherwise internal information of the SFCTC".
I never took even a pen from Access SF.
I've always abided by all policies and procedures at Access SF.
I’ve never misused the facilities and/or its contents.

To date, I have not misused or disclosed any confidential information that I may have been exposed to while at Access SF. What I have done is start to speak out and expose Zane’s abuse of authority and miss-management of Access SF, a facility owned by and operated for the residents of San Francisco. I have urged producers, volunteers, staff, and the SFCTC Board of Directors to use publicly available information to learn the truth.

I guess Zane moved me to the top of his enemies list. My apologies to those I may have displaced. Zane must feel very vulnerable to stoop this low to falsely accuse me of theft and ban me from the facility. To all of the producers who asked me to volunteer for their show, please understand that although I am still willing to volunteer, Zane is still in a position to abuse is authority and keep me out of the premises.

--
The Lone Liberal Mailto:Michael_Faklis [at] TheLoneLiberal.info
(a.k.a., Michael Faklis) Phone: (415) 614-9102
1221 Jones Street, #7C Pager: (415) 378-9461
San Francisco, California 94109-4238 Http://www.TheLoneLiberal.info/

In 2002, the San Francisco Labor Council passed a resolution supporting a democratically elected board of directors for community access in San Francisco. Instead of making the CTC board more representative and democratic, CTC CEO Zane Blaney opposed such a democratic structure change that would allow accountability at the station. The only labor representative former UFCW unionist Bill Fiore was driven off the board of the corporation by Zane Blaney and his supporters because he opposed the "lottery" that has eliminated regular local producers. Also former board member David Miles was also expelled from the board for opposing the dictatorial policies. He accused you of using Taliban tactics and that was enough to get him removed from the board. In many cases long time producers have lost their time slots at the station to new producers who take their slot and never produce a show. Since the Zane Blaney regime there is no priority for local long term producers many of these producers have been driven off and no longer produce a show at the station. In fact the number of producers has declined under the present management of the station. In addition the unsavory human relations tactics of CEO Zane Blaney has driven off many of the staff of the station including John Sanchez and others in addition to Michael who was accused by Blaney of stealing without hearing or any due process. The lack of due process at the station is recognized by most of the long term producers. Many have been suspended without a hearing or any democratic process or procedure structure.
Another
The lack of a union for the staff means that many are afraid to speak up about the tyrant in their midst for fear of losing their jobs.
At the same time CEO Blaney has opposed any surveys of equipment problems or other operating problems at the station. There is no form to report a problem in the studio or other areas and the management have refused to have any surveys of the producers about what their concerns and issues are. If fact when there was a Communications Commission before it was dissolved by Mayor Newsom, many of the Commissioners suggested that such a survey be conducted but this was never done by the station management.
Instead CEO Blaney decided that the financial problem would be solved by going to the non-profits and getting them to contribute to the station in return for programming. He hired staff whose job was not to produce programming but to get non-profits to invest in Channel 29. This strategic plan has been a financial disaster and he is personally responsible for pushing this agenda.
At the same time you would think that with all the events, marches and rallies in San Francisco, Channel 29 could be a beacon to the world. Despite the possibility many years ago of getting a van to cover events such as Gay Pride Day, May Day and other events, the station management refuses to allow the station to cover many events live which is quite possible with the present technology.
What is needed is a new democratically structured non-profit that has an elected board and will represent the producers and community. As long as CEO Blaney is in charge and controlling the agenda, this goal will never take place.
Saving Community Access in San Francisco requires a new vision to revitalize community access and make it an vital voice for the people of San Francisco.

Management At Ch 29 and "Battle Of The Network Stars"
http://www.sfbg.com/36/20/news_public_access.html

July 18, 2002

Battle of the network stars
A dispute over San Francisco's public access cable station erupts
By Rachel Brahinsky

For several years Zane Blaney has managed San Francisco's public access cable television station with little visible controversy. Tall, silver-haired, and smooth-mannered, with the cultured voice of a radio broadcaster, he recently offered a tour of his new Market Street television studio. Appearing somewhat nervous, he showed off everything – down to the squeaky-clean bathrooms.

"I don't usually show the rest rooms," Blaney said, "but I wanted you to see the makeup mirror, which some of the producers have been asking for, for years."

Blaney spoke cautiously, and he may have good reason to be concerned about his public image. In just four months the city contract that permits Blaney's group, the San Francisco Community Television Corp., to control public access channel 29 is up for renewal. And just last week an internal struggle that has been festering for more than a year erupted publicly.

It all started with a clash over a basic question: how to dish out time slots for shows. The conflict has escalated into a small war over the future of the channel, reflecting what some say is a deep divide between CTC's board and its programmers. On Feb. 5 board member David Miles, who produces the Monday-night show Skatin' Place, was placed on probation for 60 days by his colleagues.

The station works with more than 100 programmers who produce dozens of eclectic shows like Miles's, which is partly a funk-dance show, partly a skating-enthusiast video zine.

In the past, programmers who had a regular time slot were able to keep it as long as they wanted to. New programmers got in on a first-come, first-served basis. Blaney and several board members opposed the policy because it set up a sort of caste system, where some got first dibs simply because they'd been around for a while. Their proposal, which passed last November, dictates that the channel employ a lottery at regular intervals, to continually reapportion popular time slots.

Miles opposed the plan, defending the right of longtime producers to have seniority. However, his opponents on the 11-member board say Miles is contentious, and they point to a publicly distributed e-mail in which he compared them to the Taliban. Miles has since apologized for the remark, but board members justify the probation, charging that he violated their trust in airing his gripes. In fact, the board has a written policy that prevents members from speaking out publicly against board decisions.

Beneath the personal sniping remains the core issue: should San Francisco's public access station try to develop long-running shows with loyal audiences, or should it prioritize being open to as many voices as possible by switching up time-slot availability on a regular basis?

Miles and Steve Zeltzer, another producer, said that local producers are nearly unanimously opposed to the lottery concept.

The root of the problem, board member Bill Fiore told the Bay Guardian, is that the board is "not fully in touch" with the programmers. "Only two members of the board have been active producers. They've never really used the station's facilities. [Establishing the lottery system] is almost like a company taking the wishes of its workers into consideration last," he said.

Zeltzer, whose show Labor on the Job has run every other Thursday since 1983, was galled by the lottery plan. Zeltzer told us that changing his program schedule could eviscerate the audience he has cultivated in his 19 years on the air.

"Community-access TV is really the only uncensored vehicle for people, which is why we got involved," he said. "It's very critical that it be defended. If you're not on television, you're marginalized, because that's how people get their information."

Though the board has already approved the new lottery process, programmers like Zeltzer are pressing for a revised plan. They also want the station to be run by an elected board (currently it's self-appointed), and they want local programming to be prioritized over out-of-state shows.

For more information on Channel 29 go to http://www.sfctc.org. E-mail Rachel Brahinsky at rachel [at] sfbg.com.