Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
'Storify' of HoL's live tweets of new style area assembly
I know with complete certainty that no one was was out drinking last night. No one was relaxing with their family or out having a meal with some friends, not even just chilling in front of the TV.
How do I know this?
Well I'm just certain sure that you were all glued to my live tweeting of the new area forum.
But just in case on some flukish offchance someone missed it, I've made the tweets, (including pictures and sound files) into a Storify stream.
To read it, click here and give it a couple of seconds to load up.
Below is a clip of what you'll see:
Tags for Forum Posts: area assembly, area forum
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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Thanks for raising the question of reportability, Andy. It's an important one for us all to get our heads round and has a number of dimensions.
I'll start by getting the smaller matters out the way.
1. The Storify should be completely visible to everyone. There's no need to be registered for anything nor to do any more than click and read. So let's see if we can get you to the right page. Can I ask you to try again and click the following link:
Let me know if that doesn't work.
2. The two agendas were published on the site here some weeks back
3. As to what happened, when you're able to click through, I hope you'll see that's what these tweets do. They would have fed through live last night. And, recognising that most people won't have accessed them and also ken to create a permanent record, I 'storifed' them and linked to them above. That's how I chose to report this meeting. I won't be doing a formal write-up this time. I'm sure the Council will publish their account. I'll be interested in people's reactions.
Ok so on to the bigger issue.
The aim of my reporting the meetings this time as with previously Andy, is to augment the degree of openness around local politics in our neighbourhood and to try and encourage wider participation, even if it's only allowing more people to read what went on.
My understanding, confirmed as being shared by the Chair last night, is that this was a public meeting and therefore as far as the law is concerned I was completely within my rights to report it by text, picture or recording. One view says that the law says it's up to each local authority to make up it's own mind. Another says that the only places in the UK in which there is a ban on reporting including by using recording devices is within courtrooms. Haringey Council are to be applauded for their 21st Century stance on this issue. In other Councils citizens reporting on Council meetings has even led to arrest.
This issue has recently got wider prominence when Eric Pickles made it clear publicly that he thinks sites like HoL should be allowed much greater access than many councils currently allow them:
"Many councils are internet-savvy and stream meetings online, but some don't seem to have caught up with the times and are refusing to let bloggers or hyper-local news sites in. With local authorities in the process of setting next year's budget this is more important than ever.
"Opening the door to new media costs nothing and will help improve public scrutiny. The greater powers and freedoms that we are giving local councils must be accompanied by stronger local accountability.
I think reporting on these meetings is important, Andy, and I'll gladly make a statement at the start of each meeting to explain exactly what's going on.
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Permalink Reply by Inkjetpack on
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Hugh,
It is now allowed to use Twitter in court as long as you don't disturb anyone else: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12038088. Legally if its a public place you're allowed to film/take pictures, etc. if you plan to make commercial exploitation of best practise means you should prior notify to protect all parties.
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Permalink Reply by Sapphireblue on
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Interesting,innovative, experimental.... I expect you'll get non technos moaning, but ....its a bit of fun innit... does it get peoples attention? does it start a debate? does it put local info out to a local audience in a new n vivid way? Worth exploring these questions...
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Yen, scarifying twits an interstitial conceit. surry not op to Sissyberry rode - sum elf probs. nt cancer, i hop.
Gad to c mario still petrifying de chair. Brown chare nt a Gina pushover.
Cllrs barbican and schweppes ar rite to beseechdore. Nex time.
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There are a few related discussions on issues with photography in public, here.
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Hi Hugh
1. No it does not work- little wheel goes around and around
2. People should be informed that this was being filmed and broadcast live - so people can then object and request for it not to be broadcast - or their part not to be filmed - that is everyones civil right.
3. Wheel still going round
4. What about all the people who cannot access this
5. Wheel still going round
6. The minutes and actions are the immportant items
7. No I cant access it ? - Wheel still going round around around around
funny the written word works for me?
Andy
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Sorry you can't access it Andy. It's just a webpage.
99% of what you'll see is the written word. Let's hope the page will open for you and once you've read it I'll be interested in your reactions.
I've said my piece on the law.
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Andy, if I can access it probably the dogs in the street can 2.
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Permalink Reply by Liz on
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In an ideal world, meetings like this would be webcast. This, however, is expensive and, in these times of cuts, the expense of broadcasting small public meetings means that it is unrealistic to expect.
However, if local bloggers and tweeters are prepared to use the available 'cheap' technology of a smartphone and a free service like Twitter to responsibly (and I do think that Hugh was very responsible in the way he did this) broadcast key points to an interested audience then I think this is a valuable addition to local democracy. (Newspapers used to provide such a service but they are too stretched to cover all such meetings. In the past, I've been amused to see a comment of mine in an Area Assembly quoted in the Hornsey Journal and pictures of audiences are common. I'm not usually asked my permission or told by the meeting that the press are present. Incidentally, journalists also use live tweeting, Elizabeth Pears was excellent at it, to tell people about what is happening in council meetings and public fora and to interact with interested folk.)
Who is this style of live reporting going to reach?
At 6.30 on a Thursday night, there are lots of people who will not be coming. A lot of people are either at work or coming home from work with one eye on their Twitter app; people with young families especially single parents; people who are ill or disabled; younger people who may not wish to sit in a sweltering room for 2+ hours but who may follow the proceedings on their smartphone.
How might it help them?
It will give them an insight into what happens at the forums and what kinds of questions are asked. It may help to inform them of things that they didn't know about. It may encourage further participation. It helps people who were once active but are hampered by ill health or changing circumstances to still feel part of something (particularly if it was interactive and they could send in questions/comments live)
There is now more than ever a strong call for transparency. People want to know what is being talked about and decided in their name. By widening the possibilities of how you can join the debate, you are likely to bring in more people for whom participation is difficult if the only option is attendance. We do have to accept though that with this transparency, we must all be more willing to be in the spotlight. If you notice Hugh only identified two residents by name, me and Mario, both of whom have shown willing to be identified on issues in other media. No officers were identified by name, except the chief executive. Councillors, of course, were named but that comes with the territory and provided they were reported accurately, useful for their voters to see them in action. Yes, people can read minutes and actions (if they can find them, Area Assembly minutes were often v slow in being released, hard to find on the council website and written in dry jargon off putting to many) but Hugh wasn't setting out to provide an 'official' council report, he was micro (live) blogging an event to help people participate in local democracy. That's more likely to engage people than a dry as dust set of minutes released many days after the event. I think Haringey and its councillors are to be applauded on their enlightened and forward thinking approach to the possibilities that technology opens up (and which are very common in the world of conferences and business meetings)
On the subject of our right to not be filmed/photographed. The genie is out of the bottle on that. Every time we ask for a CCTV camera on our street it gets harder to put back in. We are photographed all the time without our permission and filmed daily by cameras in shops, buses, in the street and just about any public place. We don't know most of the time who is viewing this, how it is used and we certainly are never asked our permission. A notice may warn you that there is filming but of what good is that since it is impossible to opt out except by not using public transport, shopping or walking/driving/cycling in the street? I believe that someone who is blogging a public meeting openly is much more likely to act responsibly knowing that s/he can be identified. I look forward to even more innovation and to a time when being in the room or taking part from home will be given equal respect by decision makers.
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