Lights, Camera, Activism!
May 08, 2007 Filed in: Bob's
Corner
You are a busy person. And, like other
concerned citizens, you would like to see what is
going on but can't make many, if any, council or
board meetings. Well, the New Jersey Supreme
Court may have the perfect solution.
Two months ago, our state's highest court ruled that citizens have the right to videotape public meetings.
The ruling was made after the Borough of Pine Hill arrested one of its residents for videotaping a council meeting. The court justices unanimously sided with the resident. In his ruling, Chief Justice James R. Zazzali wrote:
Similar issues have arisen on the federal level. Just last week, Senator Barack Obama submitted a letter to the Democratic National Committee requesting that "video from any Democratic Presidential debate be available freely after the debate, by either placing the video in the public domain, or licensing it under a Creative Commons license." Meanwhile, a bipartisan alliance of advocates, from MoveOn.org to RedState.org, from conservative pundit Michelle Malkin to liberal commentator Ariana Huffington, have called on both parties to make all footage freely available for citizens to watch, share and edit.
Granted the importance of video access on both the local and federal levels, isn't it time to make the content of our own public meetings available to all Englewood residents?
As it stands today, if you miss a meeting, you've missed out. The city council provides little more than the official minutes of each meeting. Important public announcements are printed in the back of the Press Journal in the smallest font available. And with so few residents with the time or energy to sit through Englewood's many public meetings, there aren't many of us who know how local politicians are spending our tax dollars or granting special dispensations to, say, insiders or developers. Perhaps some politicians would prefer to keep it this way.
Yet, there is simply no excuse for this. We live in a multimedia age when broadband internet is widespread and online video access is free. Posting meetings online would require the same technology used by the millions of Americans who regularly frequent YouTube.com and Google Video.
There is no reason why public meetings shouldn't be videotaped and placed online. Our city spends far too much money rectifying errors that could have been avoided with more citizen participation.
Such a program could be administered cost-effectively. In Niagara Falls, New York, high school students videotape and produce a cable access broadcast of each council meeting. Likewise, Englewood could set up a community service program that gives school credit to students who videotape and post meetings online. The program would teach students about politics, civics, video production and multimedia technology while providing an important service to the community.
We are a city of 27,000. It is simply unconscionable that the proceedings of our local government are only available to the two dozen residents who regularly attend meetings. A program that encourages more civic participation will ensure more public scrutiny of government operations as our city's population and taxes grow.
Ignorance is no longer bliss for Englewood. It is time to let the sunshine in and the cameras roll.
Two months ago, our state's highest court ruled that citizens have the right to videotape public meetings.
The ruling was made after the Borough of Pine Hill arrested one of its residents for videotaping a council meeting. The court justices unanimously sided with the resident. In his ruling, Chief Justice James R. Zazzali wrote:
Openness is a hallmark of democracy -- a sacred maxim of our government -- and video is but a modern instrument in that evolving pursuit...The use of modern technology to record and review the activities of public bodies should marshal pride in our open system of government, not muster suspicion against citizens who conduct the recording.
Similar issues have arisen on the federal level. Just last week, Senator Barack Obama submitted a letter to the Democratic National Committee requesting that "video from any Democratic Presidential debate be available freely after the debate, by either placing the video in the public domain, or licensing it under a Creative Commons license." Meanwhile, a bipartisan alliance of advocates, from MoveOn.org to RedState.org, from conservative pundit Michelle Malkin to liberal commentator Ariana Huffington, have called on both parties to make all footage freely available for citizens to watch, share and edit.
Granted the importance of video access on both the local and federal levels, isn't it time to make the content of our own public meetings available to all Englewood residents?
As it stands today, if you miss a meeting, you've missed out. The city council provides little more than the official minutes of each meeting. Important public announcements are printed in the back of the Press Journal in the smallest font available. And with so few residents with the time or energy to sit through Englewood's many public meetings, there aren't many of us who know how local politicians are spending our tax dollars or granting special dispensations to, say, insiders or developers. Perhaps some politicians would prefer to keep it this way.
Yet, there is simply no excuse for this. We live in a multimedia age when broadband internet is widespread and online video access is free. Posting meetings online would require the same technology used by the millions of Americans who regularly frequent YouTube.com and Google Video.
There is no reason why public meetings shouldn't be videotaped and placed online. Our city spends far too much money rectifying errors that could have been avoided with more citizen participation.
Such a program could be administered cost-effectively. In Niagara Falls, New York, high school students videotape and produce a cable access broadcast of each council meeting. Likewise, Englewood could set up a community service program that gives school credit to students who videotape and post meetings online. The program would teach students about politics, civics, video production and multimedia technology while providing an important service to the community.
We are a city of 27,000. It is simply unconscionable that the proceedings of our local government are only available to the two dozen residents who regularly attend meetings. A program that encourages more civic participation will ensure more public scrutiny of government operations as our city's population and taxes grow.
Ignorance is no longer bliss for Englewood. It is time to let the sunshine in and the cameras roll.
