The CRTC recently released a Notice of Consultation on the NCRA/ANREC's Proposed Codes of Conduct and Proposed Guidelines and Best Practices that together could replace current codes developed by commercial broadcasters.

Submitted in July 2011, the proposed Codes and Guidelines cover matters related to complaints, programming standards, advertising, and employees and volunteers.

Currently, when a complaint is received by the Commission about programming broadcast on an NCRA member station, the Commission has stated (in CRTC 2010-499) that it uses the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) Code of Ethics to guide its determinations of whether or not content is of high standard for campus and community radio licensees. 

We believe that codes developed by the commercial sector are, in many cases, not a good fit for our stations, because they were developed to suit needs and values which can be very different from those of c/c stations. In the community radio sector, we develop our priorities, services, and broadcast content based solely on the needs and interests of the community -- as stated by community members themselves. We fulfill those needs independently, without concern for corporate interests or profit.

Many NCRA members came together in developing the proposed Codes and Guidelines. But given that each station reflects its own community, we have proposed that the Codes and Guidelines be voluntary for NCRA members.

Click to access:
The CRTC Call for Comments
The NCRA's cover letter explaining the process and rationale behind the code
The Proposed Codes of Conduct
The Proposed NCRA/ANREC Guidelines and Best Practices 

The deadline for comments is February 16, 2012.