Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
First Harringay Online candidate interview videos now live
HoL is making a series of short interviews with the local election candidates in the three wards of Harringay. The aim is twofold:
All candidates in the wards of Harringay, St Ann's and Seven Sisters have now been invited either directly or indirectly.
I'm very grateful for those candidates who have agreed to take part and have already done an interview. This is not easy stuff for many of them - probably not something most local candidates in most areas have to deal with.
On the other hand, we hope it's a great opportunity for the candidates to get across who they are and what they'd do in a way that's never been possible before.
We've tried to be fair by asking all candidates the same questions.
We've tried to be reasonable by not submitting the candidates to Paxmanesque grillings (as much as I'd have enjoyed that).
All candidates were advised to keep the interviews to between 3 and 5 minutes, but as you'll see some chose to go longer. I'm afraid we don't have the time to to shoot and re-shoot so we've left the videos as the candidates' oeuvres. Only a couple were edited to get them under the YouTube 10 minute maximum.
We hope you you find the videos useful.
Some candidates have yet to arrange an interview. I'm sure that for most it's because they're busy. It may be that for a small number there's a reluctance to submit themselves to scrutiny by the electorate. Of course we'll be letting you know who's who over the coming three weeks.
Our next batch should be up next week.
All are available on the candidates' pages - access via the HoL Local Election home page
Many thanks to Liz for finding time to help out and to Birdy for doing a sterling job on the post-production side.
- to help local candidates explain why they're standing and what they'd do if elected.
- to help local residents get a better feel of who the candidates are and what they plan for our neighbourhood.
All candidates in the wards of Harringay, St Ann's and Seven Sisters have now been invited either directly or indirectly.
I'm very grateful for those candidates who have agreed to take part and have already done an interview. This is not easy stuff for many of them - probably not something most local candidates in most areas have to deal with.
On the other hand, we hope it's a great opportunity for the candidates to get across who they are and what they'd do in a way that's never been possible before.
We've tried to be fair by asking all candidates the same questions.
We've tried to be reasonable by not submitting the candidates to Paxmanesque grillings (as much as I'd have enjoyed that).
All candidates were advised to keep the interviews to between 3 and 5 minutes, but as you'll see some chose to go longer. I'm afraid we don't have the time to to shoot and re-shoot so we've left the videos as the candidates' oeuvres. Only a couple were edited to get them under the YouTube 10 minute maximum.
We hope you you find the videos useful.
Some candidates have yet to arrange an interview. I'm sure that for most it's because they're busy. It may be that for a small number there's a reluctance to submit themselves to scrutiny by the electorate. Of course we'll be letting you know who's who over the coming three weeks.
Our next batch should be up next week.
All are available on the candidates' pages - access via the HoL Local Election home page
Many thanks to Liz for finding time to help out and to Birdy for doing a sterling job on the post-production side.
Tags for Forum Posts: 2010 local elections
Replies to This Discussion
-
Permalink Reply by Hugh on
-
Thank you to the member who kindly offered me a tripod.
The clips are intentionally rough. I wanted citizen journalism type production values to minimise the fuss and paraphenalia of filming. I'm just using my Nokia phone. Apologies to any members who are getting seasick!
-
Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
-
This is really great stuff. Many thanks to the HoLers who put this together and to the candidates who took time to do it. And to the ones who didn't - wake up! You're missing a real opportunity to talk to the electorate!
-
Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
-
Well done Hugh. This is valuable and might encourage greater interest in the political process generally. It'll be interesting come election day to see if in Harringay Ward, there is turnout greater than in the past or than in other Wards.
This is much in the spirit of democracy and we should not forget there are many places in the world where this would not be allowed, even if it were technically do-able.
I also note this effort is not only made in a free country, but by private effort and initiative. We wouldn't expect the council to host such interviews – which remind people of the possibility of change and improvement – in Haringey People magazine, because everything is marvellous already, isn't it? HP is suitable for lining cat litter trays, as was suggested by at least one perceptive Councillor.
-
Permalink Reply by Simon Hester on
-
Hi Hugh
I am a candidate for St Ann's ward. I am a candidate for the Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition and am standing principally on a platform of defence of public services. I have been a candidate on two previous occasions, coming second to Labour and getting a larger vote vote than the Tories, Lib Dems and Greens both times.
Let me know if you want further information - my election publicity should be out and about in a week. You can contact me on simonhester@blueyonder.co.uk or 07736-064-045. I would be happy to be interviewed by you.
Cheers
Simon Hester
-
-
Thanks for raising your hand Simon. Sorry we've missed you out so far. I'll drop you a line. BTW, are you sure that you want to publish your personal contact details?
For those who'd like to see the results that Simon's talking about, all the local 2006 results are given here.
-
Permalink Reply by Katey on
-
No sea-sickness Hugh - these are really good, and I think potentially very helpful and useful to voters ...and you don't seem too scary to me! :)
I think it's a little unfair though to assume those who don't participate are reluctant to submit themselves to scrutiny by the electorate - unless you have direct evidence of this (which perhaps you do?). Any media which has the facility for feedback and comments from users is vulnerable to domination by those with a certain viewpoint ...it may be more that prospective councillors are unwilling to subject themselves to scrutiny, criticism and comment from certain individuals, as they may not feel this is helpful? ...I really don't know and cannot answer for these people. I'm also not necessarily suggesting this is the case with Harringay Online as there are clearly members from all the main parties, and all members are free to comment/blog/start discusssions expressing their views, etc.
I think what you're doing here is hugely important, and it's great to be providing information for local residents ...I've commented before on how impressive Liz's search for information is, and personally I'm really enjoy reading about her mission to gather information. I also think it's good to make people aware that it's not easy to get information about candidates - and I think you and Liz are getting this point across brilliantly.
But it's also good to acknowledge that not all candidates may be comfortable with the way or nature in which this kind of 'research' is done by individual websites or publications, and may chose not to participate for this reason - and not necessarily because they don't want to be scrutinised by the electorate.
-
-
Thanks Katey. I'm sure that most candidates will take part. Those that don't will have their reasons. I don't want to dissect that here either on an individual or general basis. But I hope all can see that what we're doing here is as fair and balanced as we can make it. I've even closed off comments and ratings on YouTube so candidates are not subject to passing bitch-slaps from anonymous YouTubers.
Above all this is new. This is the first elections when "we the people" have had access to the technology to do this type of stuff. Exciting. Important. Scary. Those who take part DO deserve due credit.
-
-
Katey - I'm certainly not implying that those who did not (or are yet to) take part are avoiding scrutiny. I think they are missing out on a way to get into a voters home. I think that there is still a lack of understanding amongst some politicians that electronic media is an important way to get their message across and it's growing in importance. After all, we're typing these things and others are reading them!
-
-
Yes, this is absolutely exciting stuff ...who would have thought just a few years back that a couple of people and a mobile phone could produce something like these videos, which are potentially so useful to so many people! One only has to look back to the last London Mayoral Elections to see the huge increase in the use of electronic media in the candidates campaigns, and the increasingly important role played by bloggers in following proceedings and scrutinizing candidates.
So yes, if candidates chose not to face Hugh's Nokia and take up the opportunity offered by HOL to get their message across they are certainly missing out on AN opportunity to get into voters homes - and I'm sure more will come forward to be interviewed, and will see the efforts those involved have gone to in order to be as balanced and fair as possible.
But let's also recognise that for perfectly valid reasons candidates may choose not to take this particular opportunity, and may well be prefering to engage with voters in other ways. Voters come from all sections of our community, and not everyone uses and embraces community websites at the present time. Applause DEFINITELY due for those who take part, but let's not bash and judge those who don't too much :)
-
Permalink Reply by Liz on
-
I'm not sure that bashing and judging is what is happening here, Katey.
There has been an amazing response to our offer so far, more are lined up to do an interview and we've even had an offer from a candidate that we'd overlooked to do one and, as you have seen, the results have been yet another way that the candidates can get themselves and their message across. This is enormously encouraging, as I said in my blog, because it shows that the candidates are open to new, as well as traditional ways of speaking to people.
The Harringay/St Ann's/Seven Sisters candidates are leading the way not just locally but possibly nationally in being ready to do this. Remember these videos are also on YouTube and therefore open to non HOL members to view too. This is a like a hustings but on a much bigger and more public scale than a room on a certain night at a certain time. Politics is changing and these candidates are showing a grasp of that. Take council meetings, whereas once upon a time you had to go to a meeting to see what was happening which effectively excluded huge swathes of people from finding out what was being said now all council members have had to get used to the idea of being filmed and scrutinised on the internet through council webcasts.
I'm not sure anyone is suggesting it's an either/or thing. The candidates who have made videos are also hard at work knocking on doors and meeting and greeting in the street (saw one today, in fact). There has been some suggestion that we are promoting an 'everything can be done online' approach and that we are somehow disparaging the face to face approach (I don't mean from you but other people in other posts). Actually, some of us believe the reverse is true and that social media will lead to more face to face interaction and hopefully engagement with issues.
As I'm trying to show in the blogs, there are still ways of finding out about candidates who don't want to make a video or engage online but it does make it harder for me (and maybe others) to consider them seriously if you have come to believe, as I now do, that the candidate is more important than the party they represent
-
-
Ok Liz - perhaps Hugh's statement that "for a small number there's a reluctance to submit themselves to scrutiny by the electorate" wasn't a full-body-blow of a bash to candidates :)
...however it was a little jab, to which I responded with my view that I don't think it's fair to state (judge) that candidates are not willing to subject themselves to scrutiny by the electorate because they may on this occasion choose not to participate in HOL's election coverage. I say that because 'the electorate' is not just HOL users, and in this borough there will be many people who cannot relate to, understand or engage with the kind of conversation that takes place on HOL. These people are also the 'electorate'. I don't mean this in any way as a criticism of HOL though.
As you say 'politics is changing' - as is the world in general, and as we all know advances and changes in technology bring with them both fantastic and dreadful things. Yes, to some extent the videos are like a 'hustings', but lets also remember that with a real life hustings candidates are able to answer for themselves at the time, and the debate takes place for a fixed period of time ...with websites the debate continues, criticism, comment and attack continues to be posted until the regulator decides to draw them to a close, and the candidate is reliant on good and fair moderation by those responsible for the site.
There is also the issue for users of picking through the 'bickering' between candidates on forums before you can get to any real information, and it's obvious from comments by some candidates on the forums that they don't appreciate being dragged into this bickering either. I like the way HOL does make big efforts to get to the 'hard facts', and pick out proper factual information through all the sillyness.
I'm very aware of how hard people involved in politics work - whether they are knocking on doors, or generating awareness of issues and their work in other ways using new electronic media. The best councillors aren't always the ones who draw the most attention to themselves, and although anyone involved in politics needs to be resiliant the best candidates aren't always the ones with the thickest skins! In my opinion the best councillors and candidates are the ones who are in touch with and understand the needs of all sections of their community. Whatever your political persuasion I do generally believe that with the exception of a few individuals (as in any arena) people usually get involved in politics, and particularly local politics, because they care about the quality of life of others.
I think you've had a fantastic response to your offer because you are doing what you do extremely well ...the success you're having in getting candidates to agree to be interviewed on video speaks for itself, and all due respect to these particular candidates ...but sometimes it is not as simple as people not being 'open' or 'having something to hide' because they will not submit information to an individual or answer questions from a website ...it is often the medium itself that they are wary/fearful of.
Let's also remember that all forms of media are biased in some way because ultimately they are owned/run/regulated by individuals. One of the problems with forum-based conversation and electronic media is that it gives people the opportunity to rip each other to pieces and leaves people very vulnerable at times to having things posted about them in a public place which are unfair, and the pace at which it operates is so fast. Of course there are people like yourself and Hugh who act as moderators and are always trying to balance things out in a way you see fair, and personally I feel you do a good job of this. But through electronic media there will always be public attacks or comments made about individuals which are unfair and unjustified, no matter how well they are balanced out afterwards.
Perhaps that all sounds very negative (maybe I'll even be labelled a 'Meldrew'?) and of course, as you say, electronic media can potentially offer fantastic opportunities and empowerment to huge swathes of people. I agree that social media can lead to more face to face interaction and engagement with issues, but Haringey is a complex borough, and it's not as straightforward as having a few (fantastic) community websites and everything will be ok. I know you don't think this either Liz, as I've read lots of your blogs and postings, but I am just making a point.
Candidates will certainly reach some kinds of voters through making videos and providing information to websites, but they will not reach everyone ...and in all honesty I feel that the majority of HOL users are those who are politically aware and would probably vote anyway ...and are perhaps not representitive of the 65% of Haringey residents who didn't vote in the last local elections. Perhaps I am wrong - and you know it would be really interesting to see if HOL effects voter turnout in the Harringay ward in this or future elections ...now that would be a real achievement!
I also don't think HOL is discouraging or disparaging about the face to face aproach or in any way intends to be a substitute for this.
-
Permalink Reply by John D on
-
There was one word missing from Hugh's introduction and that was
" a reluctance to submit themselves to video scrutiny ... " Having worked for many years in broadcast television, I know that there are some people who will never come across well on camera, who just don't feel comfortable with the cold, relentess gaze of the camera and don't do themselves, or their cause, justice.
When we put someone in front of a camera, today's audience expects a "performance" as slick as that from the television professionals and the highly-trained media-savvy party spokesmen. While I appreciate the opportunity to put a face and a voice to the names and applaud the HOL initiative to this end, I hope that my vote will not be influenced in the manner of some Nixon / Kennedy beauty contest.
Our future councillors will need to present their arguments well in the Council Chamber and in face-to-face discussions with officials and voters but it would be unfortunate if our opinion of them were influenced by the nudge, nudge phrase - "a reluctance to submit themselves to scrutiny.... " which, to my mind, implies "what have they got to hide ? "
I know that this is not the interpretation that Hugh would wish to have placed on that phrase, which is why the word " video " would have been helpful.
© 2024 Created by Hugh.
Powered by
