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RICH HADLEY

Thinking around.

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Press Record: Ledbury's Democratic Leap Forward

7/10/2014

1 Comment

 
Last week’s first ever video-recorded Town Council meeting represented a small but decisive step towards greater democracy and openness in Ledbury.
Years of argument about the wisdom of taping or broadcasting proceedings, and worries about technical feasibility, were settled last Thursday (2 October) when Andrew Harrison, a local resident, simply set up his video camera and hit the record button. 
He was taking advantage of the new openness regulations passed by Parliament in the summer outlawing the prohibition of recording local council meetings. Like many local councils, Ledbury has clung determinedly to standing orders forbidding the recording of any of its meetings, even though it had the power itself to grant this.
Contrary to fears, Andrew’s initiative didn’t cause the roof of that serenely ancient building to come crashing down mid meeting. Instead, debate was orderly and unremarkable, taking  place in just the way it always has.
The tape was made using an elderly digital video camera without external mike situated at the back of the room. The footage is not super high quality because of low lighting levels and difficult acoustics in the Market House, but the result is a clear and watchable record of the meeting.
Some councillors spoke clearly and passionately, others muttered inaudibly, some were crisp and to the point, others rather more prolix. One of the by-products of the exercise might be that town councillors (and I include myself) will be more aware of their presentational style in meetings and consequently sharpen up their delivery for the benefit of the public and their colleagues.  Time will tell.
Undeniably, a lot of town council proceedings hardly make for rivetting viewing. What we can expect however, is that on topics of concern, members of the public will be fascinated to see first-hand what is actually said and by whom.  It is to be hoped that the days of mangled third hand accounts and disputed claims arising from town meetings, are a thing of the past. What we have now is a true record.
The very positive benefit of a video record of meetings is for local democracy. Anyone with access to the internet will now be able to know precisely what their elected representatives are saying and deciding on their behalf. Armed with that knowledge, they will be able to make informed choices at election time.

1 Comment
logosblogger
8/10/2014 04:42:39 am

Thanks to Andrew Harrison for this initiative; Ledbury now has a multi-media record of town council meetings. Hopefully it will continue, inspire of initial concerns. I remember similar disquiet when video cameras were introduced to the House of Commons; it is now considered unremarkable. Such is the path to democratic transparency.

Although the technical limitations imposed are understandable, the efforts expended in the on-screen labelling of various sections of the meeting are extremely helpful. The viewer may not have the agenda or supporting documentation, so on-screen context-setting is important.

The video also has an introductory text panel that explains the reasons behind the video experiment. This is again very helpful but greater emphasis needs to placed on this information; it is currently very easy to miss it. Perhaps it can be added as a hyperlinked text?

Thanks again for taking the time and trouble to do this.

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