That thought occurred to me as I sat in the audience Thursday at the annual Sunshine Day observance at Elon University and heard state Sen. Eddie Goodall, R-Union, repeat his call for a study commission to assess the need for televising all legislative sessions and certain committee meetings.
He's right to pursue a study; legislative leaders have not backed the idea of gavel-to-gavel coverage in either chamber, though of course commercial and public television stations provide varying kinds of new coverage on issues. But what the legislature needs is that kind of daily coverage so the public can see what's going on -- and what's not.
Source: Charlotte Observer
Related: This Old State (Jack Betts Blog)
Tracking: NC Senate Bill 701
Commentary
Anyone can afford to stream video these days 24/7/365 through the use of various free services.
A tool such as streaming coverage would increase the awareness of North Carolinians of what is going on in Raleigh, and I'll bet that is the primary reason they'll fight tooth and nail to keep it from being done. Use the link to track the progress of Senate Bill 701, and let your representative know what you think about it.
NC GOP Gubernatorial Debate Coverage
Those of you have have read this blog or Thunder Pig know of my fondness for presenting events via video. And that I prefer to present my coverage as "beginning to end" and let the viewer judge the events on their own merits, or lack thereof.
I plan on doing a live webcast of tomorrow's Gubernatorial Debate from the Bo Thomas Auditorium through the use of a borrowed laptop, and the Blue Ridge Community College Wifi Network. It may not work, because this will be my first test of the idea, but I'll be there to record the event with my cheap digital camera if my even cheaper webcam doesn't work (I paid $16 at Walmart).
Surely our state government can do better than me, a simple blogger using borrowed equipment.
I'll have the coverage here, and will link to my coverage from Thunder Pig and West Carolina Report.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008 8:00:00 PM
What would be great is if the cable companies would do a state version of C-SPAN.
Post a Comment