Freedom of the press is an inalienable right of people in a democratic society, and the right to knowledge is an important element of the philosophy of the American Council of the Blind (ACB). ACB publications have a responsibility to provide accuracy and truth. Publications of ACB must be conduits of information and provide forums of discussion for ACB members and other interested individuals.
The Board of Publications and the ACB editorial staff must be free of obligation to any interests other than promoting independence and effective participation in society.
1.1 Article V of the ACB Constitution sets forth the duties of the ACB Board of Publications (BOP) as follows:
ARTICLE V Publications Board:
A. There is hereby created a Board of Publications consisting of five (5) members whose term of office shall be two (2) years. The Board shall be selected and constituted in the following manner: every odd-numbered year, the President, at the close of the annual convention, shall appoint a chairperson and one (1) additional member of the Board; and every even-numbered year, the annual convention shall elect, by a majority vote in accordance with voting procedures contained in the constitution or in the bylaws, the three (3) remaining members of the Board, provided, however, that no Board member shall serve more than three (3) consecutive terms and no more than one (1) Board member shall be either appointed or elected to the Board of Publications from any one (1) state.
B. 1. A candidate for, or an appointee to, the position of member of the Board of Publications shall be considered to be from the state in which the candidate or appointee maintains legal residence at the time of such election or appointment and shall be considered to be a resident of that state until the end of the term for which the candidate or appointee is either elected or appointed.
2. For purposes of section 1, state shall be defined as the 50 United States and other political subdivisions of the United States, including, but not limited to, the District of Columbia, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and other United States territories.
C. It shall be the duty of the Board of Publications to approve or disapprove employment by the Executive Director of the Editor of "The Braille Forum" and to establish editorial standards and policies applicable to all American Council of the Blind communication formats including, but not limited to, periodicals, the ACB convention programs and ACB brochures, the ACB web site, and ACB Radio.
D. The Executive Director shall have the authority to dismiss the editor of "The Braille Forum," but only with the concurrence of the Board of Publications, after a hearing on the matter.
E. A majority of the Board of Publications may agree to include an editor/producer of any nationally distributed Board of Publications project as an ex officio member of the Board.
F. The Board shall meet at least once each year, and more often if necessary, upon the call of the chairperson or upon the request of not less than three (3) members of the Board of Publications. (End of Article V)
1.2 As provided in Bylaw 6, Section L, the chair of the Public Relations Committee is, by virtue of his/her position, to be an ex officio member of the BOP.
1.3 According to Article IV, Section D of the ACB Constitution, it is the responsibility of the BOP to select one of its members to serve as an ex officio representative to the ACB Board of Directors. Prior to ACB convention elections, the BOP shall make its selection; one of its elected members in odd-numbered years, and a Presidentially appointed member in even-numbered years. If the Ex Officio Board of Directors position becomes vacant it will be filled by the BOP with the same category of member, i.e., elected or appointed. Any vacancy occurring on the BOP shall be filled by the Board of Directors for an elected BOP member, and by the President to replace a Presidentially appointed BOP member.
1.4 The policy regarding reimbursement of expenses for the ex officio BOP representative to the ACB Board of Directors is the same as that applicable to ACB Board members. The expense reimbursement guidelines will be followed that provide for full reimbursement of airfare and ground transportation costs, and room and meal allowance to the BOP ex officio Board member whose term expires at the end of the convention, if not re-elected. The newly elected BOP ex officio Board member then receives only one night's hotel and related meal reimbursement for the post-convention Board meeting, and full coverage for the September, mid-year and subsequent pre-convention Board meetings.
1.5 The policy regarding reimbursement of expenses for other BOP members currently allows coverage for the mid-year meeting of round trip airfare and ground transportation, two days per diem for meals and two nights lodging. For the convention, round trip airfare and ground transportation are covered and a $200 stipend is paid to each eligible BOP member to be applied to overall expenses.
2.1 The BOP serves as an editorial board, independent of other ACB governing bodies. One of the primary duties of the BOP is "to determine the editorial policy of all communication formats and/or media of the American Council of the Blind." Communication formats and/or media include all widely distributed publications such as books, magazines, brochures, handbooks, public service announcements, media releases, radio programs, and the ACB website.
2.2 In the case of a new publication, brochure or materials that will be used for national distribution in a public relations campaign, the BOP should have the opportunity to review and provide input regarding the document before production begins.
2.3 Congressional or regulatory testimony or business/administrative correspondence and legal filings are not covered under the BOP authority.
3.1 The BOP is responsible for the oversight of circulation, usage, and production matters for The Braille Forum, the website, ACB Radio and ACB Reports.
3.2 The BOP shall receive regular reports on these activities from the editor of The Braille Forum, the ACB webmaster, ACB Radio staff and the producer of ACB Reports in order to consider possible changes to improve these services.
3.3 A quarterly report on The Braille Forum from the editor should be sufficient to meet the BOP oversight requirements.
3.4 Reasonable reporting times should be established for other publications or activities as necessary.
3.5 The BOP will provide advice or other assistance within its area of expertise if specifically requested to do so by a state or special interest affiliate officer or editor.
3.6 The BOP does not have oversight responsibility nor authority for state or special interest affiliate newsletters or brochures.
4.1 The producer/editor of a particular ACB communication format and/or media is responsible for the quality and overall content of that publication within the framework of policies determined by the ACB Board of Publications. In recognition of the primacy of communications to the general membership regarding the actions of the National Office, officers, the Board of Directors, and Committees, these communications shall receive priority in all communication vehicles/formats, taking precedence over other content and treated as time-sensitive.
4.2 Decisions regarding specific content of The Braille Forum, the publication of particular letters to the editor, length of articles, etc., should be made by the editor.
4.3 To assist with "The Letters to the Editor" column, the BOP has developed the following guidelines:
A. To be considered for publication, each letter must include a verifiable name, address, and appropriate contact information. Only the name and locality of the author will be published.
B. The "Letters to the Editor" column shall not exceed five (5) large print pages and will be published only on a space-available basis.
C. No single letter shall exceed three hundred (300) words; longer letters will be edited.
D. The subject matter of "Letters to the Editor" shall be as diverse as possible and shall reflect a proportional representation of letters received; redundancy should be avoided.
E. The Letters to the Editor column shall reflect diversity of viewpoint and promote open exchange of differing opinion. A spirit of civility in such discourse shall be encouraged. Criticism, however strident, of the general conduct or specific actions of an individual or body within the organization is permitted. Personal attacks are not within the scope of content deemed acceptable.
F. Letters to the Editor with time-sensitive content shall be given priority for publication over other content, the value of which will not be diminished by a postponed publication time. 4.4 The BOP may make suggestions at any time for the editor to consider, such as format changes, layout recommendations, new columns or specific articles.
4.5 The BOP member serving as ACB ex officio board representative shall be responsible for writing and submitting to the editor a report of ACB Board of Directors meetings within thirty (30) days of the meeting.
5.1 Internal documents developed and decisions reached by the BOP, whether by the full board or committees established by the BOP chair with the approval of board members, shall be regarded as confidential material and will, therefore, not be communicated to others by regular mail, phone calls, e-mail messages, or web sites. Release of such material will be left to the discretion of the BOP chair or the ex officio member of the ACB Board of Directors.
5.2 At its first meeting following the annual ACB elections, the BOP elects one of its members, either voting or ex officio, to prepare minutes of every meeting and submit those minutes for approval by the body. After approval, these minutes are made available to the organization's membership in the same manner as Board of Directors minutes.
6.1 The BOP shall provide, in a timely manner, consultation upon request from the editor/producer of any organization publication or communication vehicle. Such consultation shall not alter the ultimate responsibility of that editor/producer for the production's content.
7.1 Publication in The Braille Forum of lengthy documents of limited general interest shall be left to the discretion of the editor.
7.2 If the editor receives requests for publication of a lengthy document, he/she may elect to publish a notice stating that the document will be made available from the ACB national office upon request.
8.1 The BOP shall annually review and evaluate current costs and bid submissions for the various editions of The Braille Forum.
8.2 At a pre-determined regularly scheduled meeting each year, the BOP shall evaluate the operation of each major publication and consider possible changes that would improve the quality, accuracy and economy of production.
8.3 Every two years, the BOP will evaluate its written editorial policies and update them if necessary.
9.1 The BOP shall establish policies governing the content of the website, and governing its operation except for technical details. These policies shall uphold the principles of freedom of speech, and equal "user-friendly" access to all public areas and services of the website.
9.2 In its oversight of the website, the BOP shall receive, at least on a quarterly basis, a report from the person managing the website. At least one meeting annually with the BOP shall be required of the person managing the website. Reporting shall include, but not be limited to, new features, online forms, links to other sites and associated services, electronic message boards, and electronic mail.
9.3 The BOP shall identify an individual (who does not necessarily need to be a BOP member) to regularly check the site for its accessibility using a variety of access methods including screen magnification, refreshable Braille and speech output technologies. Any concerns regarding accessibility shall be forwarded to the chair of the BOP who will then discuss them with the appropriate staff or committee chairperson.
9.4 The BOP shall have representation on any committee or selection group involved in choosing a webmaster or for writers being contracted for the production of web content or other ACB publications. It shall be the responsibility of the BOP to inform the webmaster or any writer of the publication guidelines of ACB and the responsibility of the BOP to ensure freedom of speech in all ACB endeavors.
10.1 The BOP is responsible for establishing editorial policies and standards for ACB Radio. Overall content decisions are made by the ACB Radio staff; but neither the American Council of the Blind, the Board of Publications, nor ACB Radio is responsible for the opinions expressed on ACB Radio programs.
10.2 The content of programming on ACB Radio shall reflect freedom of expression, diversity of topics and an open and encouraging environment for blind people around the world to express views and opinions. It extends an opportunity to blind and visually impaired people around the world to produce programming on a wide variety of topics.
10.3 Coverage of products on ACB Radio or the unique content of programming should not be considered as an endorsement of a given product or the content of a specific program by the American Council of the Blind.
10.4 ACB Radio should be utilized as a tool to enhance the provision of information about candidates for ACB national office. Such coverage must be carried out in a fair and equitable manner. The practices by which ACB Radio can operate to provide access to information and continue to promote the democratic principles and fair election practices within an ACB standard are outlined below:
A. ACB Radio shall host programs where candidates for office can be interviewed.
B. For purposes of this policy manual, a candidate is defined as an ACB member in good standing who has publicly indicated his/her candidacy for office.
C. In interviewing candidates for office, ACB Radio program hosts shall ask all candidates for a specific office the same questions and apply time for responses in a fair and equitable manner.
D. A mechanism shall be established for listeners to call in with questions of potential candidates. All candidates will be allowed to respond to the listener's question.
E. Candidates who have already been interviewed on ACB Radio shall participate in no additional ACB Radio interviews following release of the nominating committee's report at the annual convention.
F. The Candidates’ Forum shall be recorded and aired on ACB Radio when possible.
11.1 The BOP administers two national writing/communications awards, the Ned E. Freeman Writing Award and the Vernon Henley Media Award.
11.2 The publication of invitations for nominees for these awards shall be made no later than February of the calendar year during which the awards will be presented in all communication formats which are feasible.
11.3 The selection criteria for the two awards are as follows:
A. Ned E. Freeman Writing Award: The BOP will accept submissions for the Ned E. Freeman Award based on the criteria set forth below:
(1) An article must have been first published during the calendar period April of the prior year through March of the year of the award presentation, to be eligible.
(2) All articles published in The Braille Forum qualify for consideration, as well as an article published by any ACB affiliate, which is nominated by the President of an affiliate, or by an affiliate's editor.
(3) Articles which have not appeared in The Braille Forum, may be submitted in any format.
(4) The author of the winning article shall receive a Ned E. Freeman Writing Award plaque at the Annual Convention.
B. The Vernon Henley Media Award: The BOP will accept submissions for the Vernon Henley Media Award based on the criteria set forth below:
(1) The Vernon Henley Media Award is intended to be a vehicle for publicizing ACB throughout the general media and to encourage excellence and accuracy in electronic and print coverage of items relating to blindness.
(2) The Vernon Henley Media Award will be presented to an organization, company, or individual, either sighted or blind, who has made a positive difference in the press, whether in radio, TV, magazines, or daily newspapers, which may change public attitudes to recognize the capabilities of people who are blind, rather than focusing on outdated stereotypes and misconceptions.
(3) Programs and/or articles written and produced specifically for a visually impaired audience, as well as those intended for the general public, are also eligible.
(4) A variety of media are eligible for nomination for the Vernon Henley Media Award. Examples can include: television or radio programs; commercials or public service announcements; videos; articles from magazines, newspapers, newsletters, posters, or any other new or emerging media sources. Submissions should be accompanied by a letter of nomination as well as the sample copy of the item being nominated.
(5) The chair of the BOP shall annually send a letter to affiliate presidents, newsletter editors and other media markets encouraging nominations for the Vernon Henley Media Award.
(6) A plaque will be presented to the Vernon Henley Media Award recipient.
C. Multiple articles or programs submitted by one author or organization for either award will be judged as separate entries. The author/producer shall be asked to identify a single submission to serve as representation of his/her work. In the event the author/producer is unable to choose between submissions, the editor shall be authorized to make that determination.
D. Recipients of the Freeman or Henley award during the preceding five years are not eligible to be considered for the award a second time. Those who are members of the ACB national office staff or who are members of the ACB Board of Directors or of the BOP during the awarding period are not eligible.
E. Submissions for both awards must be postmarked no later than the first business day of April. All submissions should be accompanied by a cover letter providing details about the nominee including name, address, telephone number and e-mail address if known and details about the submission, its origin, and any other pertinent information. The return address of the person making the nomination should be included in the cover letter.
F. Manuscripts will be returned only if they are accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope.
11.4 The selection criteria used by BOP members should be provided in written form to each voting member every year by The Braille Forum editor and are listed here:
(1) There are three choices to make for each award. BOP members should vote for a first, second and third place selection.
(2) First place choices will receive three points; second place, two points; and third place, one point. The individual with the highest point score will be the award winner. While second and third place winners may be given an honorable mention at the time the award is presented, only the first place winner will be awarded a plaque and/or a cash prize.
12.1 The BOP has the overall editorial responsibility for the convention newspaper, telephone newsline services and other convention-related publications. This oversight is directly exercised by the editor of The Braille Forum working in cooperation with other relevant ACB staff and in conjunction with the BOP whenever editorial policy decisions are required.
12.2 Ongoing operation of the press room, publication of the convention newspaper, and the maintenance and updating of the convention newsline service will be under the direct supervision of the editor.
12.3 Underwriting of the convention newspaper, newsline service and/or other convention-related publications by individuals, affiliates, non-profit organizations or vendors either through monetary donations or materials donated or loaned such as braille paper, computers, printers, etc. will be accepted and acknowledged.
12.4 Items published in the convention newspaper and/or newsline are printed as a service. Since space is very limited, priority is given to information considered by the editor to be of greatest interest to convention attendees and may be edited as he/she sees fit.
12.5 Announcements from a representative of the ACB Convention Committee or an affiliate about activities or events taking place during the convention will be accepted without charge.
12.6 The convention newspaper, newsline service and/or other convention-related publications will not print campaign statements for candidates running for ACB national office, nor may the resources of the press room be used to reproduce campaign statements intended to promote any candidate for office.
12.7 The convention newspaper, newsline service and/or other convention-related publications will not accept paid advertisements from candidates regarding their candidacy.
12.8 The convention newspaper and newsline service will not report on the activities or actions of the ACB Nominating Committee or any other closed meeting or executive session of the American Council of the Blind prior to an official report or announcement from the ACB president, board of directors, or designated committee chairperson. The convention newspaper staff will not initiate news stories during the national convention or disseminate information relating to any meeting designated as closed by the ACB Constitution and Bylaws. The newspaper or newsline service may report on information released by the chair of a committee or other official ACB representative following a closed meeting, but that information shall not appear until after it has been released publicly by an official ACB representative, committee chair or his/her designee.
12.9 The convention newspaper will accept paid advertising; the fees to be charged each year will be set by the BOP no later than June 1.
A. For-profit businesses will pay $100 for a 100-word ad for three days or $35 per day.
B. Non-profit organizations and ACB affiliates will pay $10 per day for a 100-word ad which will run for three days.
C. Individuals will pay $5 per day for a 100-word ad for three days.
D. These fees will entitle the advertiser to announce his/her product or service in both the daily paper (available in print and braille) and on the telephone announcement service. Since the telephone service can allow only a limited length of time for announcements, some ads may not run since convention business takes precedence over all advertising.
13.1 The BOP is responsible for coordinating and hosting via a moderator the annual ACB Candidates’ Forum.
13.2 The BOP (except for those BOP members who are candidates for office) will determine the questions to be asked of candidates, and written questions can also be accepted in advance of the Candidates’ Forum. Questions from the audience at the Candidates’ Forum will also be accepted, time permitting.
13.3 The Candidates’ Forum shall be recorded and aired when possible on ACB Radio.
14.1 The BOP shall utilize all available communication formats to inform the membership about all announced candidates, prior to each year's convention elections. A Candidates’ Page shall be created for presentation on the web site, and in other media to the extent feasible. Procedures to insure fair and equitable dissemination of candidate information are as follows:
A. No later than April 1, an invitation shall be published in The Braille Forum and in other media, for any member desiring to stand for election to any national office, to participate in the Candidates’ Page.
B. Each participant shall submit statements of 300 words or less, counting every word, in answer to each of a set of questions developed by the BOP to elicit content intended to inform the membership about the qualifications of each person who is thereby announcing candidacy for office.
C. Answers to questions must be submitted to the editor of The Braille Forum by the deadline established each year by the BOP. Responses may be submitted in print or braille, on computer disk, or by e-mail. Submissions will not be accepted via telephone, voice-mail, audiocassette, in HTML code, or in handwriting. Responses will not be edited for spelling, grammar, or content, but they will be converted to the HTML code to facilitate posting of the material to the web site. Any candidate submission judged to be out of compliance with announced policy by the editor of The Braille Forum will be returned to the candidate for correction to the extent permitted by the posting deadline. If time does not permit correction by the candidate, only compliant portions will be posted.
D. Candidates' statements may contain references to Internet sites or other information sources. However, no live links shall be permitted as this is viewed as a violation of the established 300-word limit.
E. All candidates' statements will be posted simultaneously on the ACB website as soon as possible but no later than June 15. They will remain available until 8:00 a.m. the morning of the election at the annual convention.
F. Candidates’ Page information presented in other feasible communication formats as they become available shall adhere to the same calendar constraints and fairness principles as prescribed for the Candidates’ Page on the website.
15.1 The BOP may, from time to time, either by itself or in conjunction with other ACB entities, sponsor and conduct workshops for affiliate newsletter editors or any other educational activities that could be beneficial to newsletter editors.