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Posted By: Anonymous Posted On: Jan 27, 2007 Views: 1225	To: Arfy Thanks for explaining editing. I had no idea there was any to do. It bothers me that there's no recording of any kind of these committee meetings, especially as you point out that Mr. Molony points out, "that's where the action is." Even the members have no way of veryifying what was said if a dispute ever arose. Actually, I believe one did between Molony and Schneider in the debate clip when Schneider told him, "You said you'd come back to council when..." and Molony said, "You're wrong." Rock bottom minimum, there should be audiotapes made - for themselves as well as members of the public who might want to hear for themselves.
Posted By: Arfy Posted On: Jan 26, 2007 Views: 1238	tapings When I say "edit" I'm simply referring to to process of preparing it for re-broadcast...slugging in the open and close and trimming the parts out before the meeting actually commences and after it has ended. I mention it simply because folks should be aware that it does require time and effort to put anything on the air. You're right, however, in saying that there should be no "editing" of actual content. And you're also right that there should be a better system for making sure committee meetings are taped and aired. To the Treasurer's point in the "debate" on YouTube, committees are where the real action and serious discussion takes place. Sure...if you REALLY what to go to them you can find out when and where they happen. But committee chairs rarely are eager to have their proceedings viewed and hardly ever make any extraordinary effort to let the general public know when they're taking place. Worse, the cancellation of meetings really screws things up for those of us who try to keep-up.
Posted By: Anonymous Posted On: Jan 25, 2007 Views: 1252	To: Arfy I didn't think videotapes of public meetings were ever to be "edited." Very dangerous practice, don't you think, if NCT were to ever do that? Also, why couldn't a new practice/procudure be considered wherein the Chairs of all council committees ask for their meetings to air, then NCT could post on Channel 4 in advance of the meetings which ones they are able to actually handle? Follow me? Make it an open and coordinated process. The only committee that schedules near-weekly meetings (but cancels many of them for lack of business to conduct that week) is Community Development. The rest don't meet that often. Of course, I understand NCT can't and shouldn't embark on taping all committee meetings independent of the committee chairs, but it seems to me something a whole lot better than what we've got could be worked out so the public be more in the know.
Posted By: Arfy Posted On: Jan 25, 2007 Views: 435	NCT's obligations/capabilities NCT's position in the past has been that, in terms of what goes on the Government Channel, they serve at the request (or whim) of City officials. Same with school channel. It is not NCT's mission to determine programming. They show what they are asked to show. Any other arrangement would leave them wide open, as you touched-on, to charges of favoritism. And while it may not seem like that much of a burden to tape, edit and air all the Finance and Claims Committee meetings, logic would dictate that if they did those (without the specific request of the Chair) they would be obliged to do all other committee meeetings. NCT operates on a very small budget with a very limited staff. They can only do so much before other aspects of their operations like equipment maintenance begin to suffer.
Posted By: Anonymous Posted On: Jan 24, 2007 Views: 465	Televising meetings CBN's blog strongly implied that it's Chairman Sanker's to make the arrangements with NCT. Considering the relative infrequency of F&A Committee meetings, that is, they're not scheduled every week, or nearly every week, like Community Development is, it's hard to imagine airing 8-10 F&A meetings a year would pose a big burden on the NCT staff. Also, CBN's question doesn't ask if ALL F&A meetings should be televised - as things are now, none of them are or have been for several years. However, I think this is an "all or nothing" on these meetings. The minute they didn't televise a meeting, suspicions would get fired up.
Posted By: Arfy Posted On: Jan 24, 2007 Views: 457	Televised committee meetings Would a better question be: Who's responsibility is it to make sure a committee meeting is televised? There's no question that any meeting could be televised. It's simply a matter of resources. NCT has limited staff to be able to shoot and edit every meeting. The rule of thumb, however, has always been that if the committee asks, NCT will make every effort to shoot it and present it. This, it would seem, puts the burden of responsibility on the Committee Chair.